Do I Have to Pay to Charge My Electric Car?

How to Charge an EV for Free

A lot depends on where you live because there are, interestingly, far more free EV chargers in Scotland than in any other region of the UK.

Although there aren't as many free EV chargers in Northern Ireland, a larger proportion of charging stations are free – around 70% of public charging units are complimentary.

In contrast, there are around 480 free chargers in Greater London, but that is only 4.5% of the total units available to use – most EV chargers are on-street paid-for units with pricier rapid charging functionality.

Choosing the Right Free EV Charging Station

Finding a free EV charger is only part of the puzzle because some of the most economical charging stations are also very slow and need several hours to charge a standard EV battery to full capacity.

Devices are generally split as follows:

• 9.7% are slow chargers
• 84.9% are fast chargers
• 5.4% are rapid chargers

A free charger may be a false economy if you are in a hurry or need a fully charged car battery for a longer trip.

Switching to a paid rapid charging station costs roughly double the cost of the electricity for a quick charge at home; if you regularly need to recharge your battery as quickly as possible, long-term it will be more cost-effective to install your own charger and take advantage of cheaper off-peak overnight tariffs.

Most on-street chargers, free or otherwise, are categorised as slow, whereas the charging stations in supermarkets, garages and shopping centres tend to be fast.

How to Find Free EV Charging Stations

Of course, a lot depends on your location – you are significantly more likely to have a free EV dock close by if you work or live in a major city centre. Most free chargers are positioned in places where the provider wants to incentivize you to stay longer:

There are roughly 1,355 free EV charging stations in UK supermarkets.
693 public car parks offer free EV docks.
Car dealerships and forecourts currently have around 532 free EV charging units.
Hotels and other accommodations offer 466 complimentary charging docks.
Other potential locations include retail parks, workplace car parks, universities and colleges, hospitals, park-and-ride venues and leisure centres.

Types of Free EV Charging Stations

The nature of a free charging station will vary between venues. Supermarkets including Tesco, Lidl, Sainsbury's and Aldi offer limited free docks – although if all the spaces are taken, you either cannot charge your car, need to wait, or must use a paid-for rapid charger instead.

These tend to be 7-22 kW chargers because the faster options are premium – only the slower chargers are free to use.

You can also find charging points at Waitrose, Asda and Morrisons, although these require either a subscription or a PAYG payment.

Pros and Cons of Free EV Chargers

The obvious benefit of a free EV charger is that it is free! However, that doesn’t necessarily mean they are always the best option, particularly if you don’t have hours to wait for a recharge or aren’t keen on spending a significant amount of time parked at a supermarket.

If you are covering longer distances, it is better to install an efficient rapid charger at home or pay for an ultra-rapid charge because you can top up your battery in a fraction of the time, cutting it down from seven to eight hours to around 30 to 50 minutes.

Free chargers also have access restrictions, so they might be:

• Only open to paying users of the venue.
• Open to those with a loyalty card or account.
• Available only during opening hours.
• Limited to one or two stations.

It is also important to check the parking restrictions. For example, a car park might have free EV charging, but you still need to have a valid ticket for the duration of your stay to avoid being fined or clamped.