Aldi and Lidl charge for electric car charging in Germany

For years, retail chains have lured shoppers by offering free charging for electric cars while they shop. Particularly Aldi and Lidl have built up an increasingly dense network of e-chargers in their car parks.

By now, the time of free charging is over almost everywhere. After Aldi made customers pay for charging electric cars in June, claiming that electricity cannot be given for free on the long run, also rival Lidl started to ask money for car charging in September.

At standard EV-stations (AC) with a charging capacity of up to 43 kW, charging costs EUR 0.29 per kWh. At fast-charging EV-stations with a charging capacity of up to 149 kW (DC), it would be EUR 0.48 per kWh. At each EV-station with a charging capacity of 150 kW or more, customers can charge their electric vehicles for EUR 0.65, Schwarz Group said.

These prices also apply to Lidl’s sister company Kaufland.

The company reasons the introduction of the charges by saying that this “will ensure the convenient integration of e-car charging into the daily lives of customers in the long term and the expansion and maintenance of EV-stations in the future”.

Lidl took the first step towards asking money for car charging earlier: since March, EV-stations can only be used via the Lidl Plus shopping card system. Customers will also be able to pay directly via this system in the future.

Handelsblatt