EV charging pricing, explained

Our blog series breaking down what goes into the price you pay and why it matters.

EVs for All! Affordability of E-mobility

Aaron Fishbone, Director of Public Policy | GreenWay

3 March 2026

Widespread EV adoption depends on broad access. Ensuring that people of all income levels who want to go electric can access an EV and charge it at a reasonable cost is therefore both a social imperative and a market necessity.  

As the EU and Member States review policies that affect the uptake of EVs and roll-out of EV charging, they are asking a critical question: how do we ensure that the shift to electric mobility does not leave lower- and middle-income households behind?

With close to 8 million battery electric vehicles (BEVs) on European roads and EVs becoming an increasing share of monthly sales volumes in many Member States, e-mobility is moving definitively into the mainstream and so the focus on affordability is timely.

Broadly, the affordability topic breaks down into affordable access to the vehicles and then to charging. Let’s look at them one by one.

Expanding vehicle access

  • Declining costs of EVs

  • Growing 2nd hand market

  • Targeted incentive measures

  • Competitive Total Cost of Ownership (TCO)

Like most technologies, EV’s started with higher end, premium models which manufacturers could sell for more while refining their R&D and manufacturing processes.

Think about the first portable phones – the Motorola DynaTAC 8000X - cost approximately $10,000 in today’s terms. Nowadays, you can get a smartphone for around $300.

We already see a similar trend with electric vehicles. EU OEMs have announced several EVs priced below €25,000 for 2026 and 2027 – e.g. the Renault Twingo and Twingo EV-Tech, the VW ID.1 and ID.2, the Škoda Epiq, and the Fiat Grande Panda Electric.

These lower-cost models are designed for large-scale adoption and will significantly broaden access to EV ownership across Europe, while increasing the diversity of makes and models available to consumers to suit different lifestyles, housing situations and needs.

While broad based e-mobility is still relatively young, there is a growing pool of used EVs and their second-hand market is growing quickly across Europe (Germany, France, UK, Latvia, Slovakia). Many of these second-hand vehicles come from fleet operators and leasing companies cycling vehicles out, which is why these companies are widely understood to be linchpins in the EV transition in Europe. 

Access to EVs is further promoted through social leasing programs – whereby public support reduces the monthly lease/ownership costs of a vehicle significantly (up to ~200 EUR/month) for income eligible customers.

This solution is a proven, successful intervention, as seen in France and Washington State, USA. In both markets, the programs sold out quickly, showing real demand for EVs among income qualifying households.

But the cost of purchasing a car is not the whole picture. To better assess such an expenditure, one must consider the total cost of ownership (TCO).

TCO refers to not just the purchase price of a vehicle, but also the costs of charging, maintenance, depreciation and taxation, etc., which factor into its "total cost". On this important metric, EV leasing/ownership is cheaper in 22 EU countries, according to the 2025 Ayvens/Leaseplan Car Cost Index. TCO is sensitive to national variations in taxation and diesel/petrol prices, where policy can play an important role in improving the case, as the recent experience in Belgium clearly shows.  

Charging – the more affordable solution?

  • Best value: mix of home, workplace and public charging

  • Charging prices: product of energy prices and network costs 

  • Marketplace for renewable energy credits – solution to lower costs

The most affordable way to charge is a proper balance of home, workplace and public charging.

Home and workplace charging both offer users the opportunity to plug in for extended periods of time, pay commercial rates (or even free or negative pricing), and charge “off peak” when energy is most plentiful and prices are lowest.

Workplace charging plays a crucial role in ensuring that even those without home charging benefit from stable, low-cost access.  Because commuting patterns are consistent, and charging can take place during long parking periods, these loads can be predicted, optimised and used by aggregators to provide grid buffering services.

Public AC charging plays a similar role as workplace charging and fills an important gap for those without access to home or workplace charging.

Meanwhile public fast and ultrafast charging is the equivalent of buying a latte at a café rather than making it at home. It is a vibrant, competitive market in most Member States, with multiple professional charge point operators (CPOs) and mobility service providers (MSPs) competing for EV drivers.

But what shapes the prices EV drivers pay among those charging options? Wholesale energy prices and the structure of grid fees are among the largest drivers of prices for EV drivers – and are within the remit of Member States and National Regulatory Authorities to adjust. 

The Renewable Energy Directive III obliges Member States to create credit marketplaces for renewable energy supplied to EVs, covering both public and private charging. These market-based systems generate additional revenue for charging infrastructure without requiring public subsidies. Failing to implement them can result in higher charging costs for consumers.

Network fees are also a major cost component for charge point operators and are reflected in the final price paid by EV drivers. Since these fees are regulated nationally, authorities can adjust their structure to reduce costs. Innovative models – such as the e-tariff schemes in Poland and Slovakia, which vary fees based on infrastructure utilisation – demonstrate how smarter regulation can lower operating expenses and ultimately reduce charging tariffs.

Creating a marketplace for flexibility services, remunerating EV users, and/or creating a market role for aggregators, as is popular in the Nordic countries, are all additional steps that national regulatory authorities could take to generate new revenue streams for EV owners. Many such markets exist in Europe today, but the landscape is very uneven.

Conclusions

E-mobility is no longer a niche product for early adopters or the well-off. With ambitious policies in place, Europe can ensure faster scaling and roll-out of all components that comprise the e-mobility value chain, so that all consumers benefit from this transition.

“E-mobility” is increasingly just”‘mobility” - a smoother, cleaner, increasingly common and increasingly cost competitive alternative to combustion engine vehicles.

As detailed above, there are numerous existing products and solutions available to ensure broad access to affordable EVs and charging. The EU and Member States have additional policy levers they can use to further strengthen these markets and enable their populations to drive electric, including:

  • Providing a clear and stable regulatory framework that sustains investor confidence and enables scale. This includes consistent CO₂ targets, predictable market signals, and harmonised rules to accelerate deployment.

  • Implementing marketplaces for renewable energy credits for EV charging, as already authorised under REDIII, to unlock new revenue streams and lower the total cost of ownership for drivers.

  • Working with their National Regulatory Authorities and regulated utilities to address network fees so they support the fleet needs and business models in recharging EVs

  • Establishing robust frameworks for smart charging and vehicle-to-grid (V2G) services, enabling EV owners to participate in energy markets and earn from grid flexibility.

  • Supporting a corporate fleets proposal which can provide a clear demand center for new EVs and generate consistent turnover and new inputs to the second-hand market  

  • Expanding social leasing schemes across more Member States, and strategically using public procurement and leasing cycles to strengthen the second-hand EV market and improve access for lower-income households.

  • Yes. EV prices are declining as manufacturers scale production and introduce lower-cost models. Several European OEMs have announced EVs priced below €25,000 for 2026–2027, including the Renault Twingo EV-Tech, VW ID.1 and ID.2, Škoda Epiq, and Fiat Grande Panda Electric.

  • In many cases, yes. When considering Total Cost of Ownership (TCO; which includes purchase price, charging, maintenance, insurance, and resale value) EVs are already cheaper than comparable internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles in 22 EU countries, according to the 2025 Ayvens/LeasePlan Car Cost Index. EVs typically also have lower maintenance and fuel costs.

  • Yes. The second-hand EV market is growing rapidly. Many used EVs come from fleet operators and leasing companies replacing vehicles after a few years. This expanding used market significantly improves access to lower-cost EVs for households with limited budgets.

  • Social leasing programs are public support schemes that reduce monthly EV leasing costs for income-eligible households, often to around €200 per month. These programs have proven successful in France and Washington State, USA. Social leasing expands access to EV ownership without requiring large upfront payments.

  • The most affordable charging strategy is a balanced mix of home, workplace, and public charging. Charging at home or work allows drivers to benefit from lower commercial electricity rates and off-peak pricing. Public fast charging is convenient but typically more expensive – similar to buying coffee at a café instead of making it at home.

  • EV charging prices are primarily influenced by:

    • Wholesale electricity prices

    • Grid and network fees set by national regulators

    • Infrastructure investment and operating costs

    • Market competition among charging providers

    Network fees are a major cost component and are regulated at national level.

  • Yes. Under the Renewable Energy Directive III, Member States can create marketplaces for carbon credits linked to EV charging. These market-based systems generate additional revenue streams for charging operators without requiring public funds. Not implementing such systems can result in higher charging prices for consumers.

  • No. While early EV adoption was driven by higher-income consumers, nowadays falling vehicle prices, growing used markets, social leasing programs and lower operating costs are expanding access across income levels. Policy design and energy market regulation play a key role in ensuring equitable access.

How are public EV charging prices formed?

19 May 2025

Maxwell Philp, Director of Public Relations | Plugsurfing & Corpay

Public EV charging prices are about much more than electricity. They reflect the full cost of building and running a reliable charging network – and that involves infrastructure, operations, service layers, and policy stability.

Charging Point Operators (CPOs) set the base price for public charging, covering installation, rent, grid fees, maintenance, and energy costs. On top of this, e-Mobility Service Providers (eMSPs) – like Plugsurfing – add costs for customer access, payment processing, platform development, and customer support services.

At Plugsurfing, we process pricing data from over 500 CPOs across Europe. Rates vary by location, charging speed, and sometimes even time of day. Some are fixed, some are dynamic. Our role is to make this complexity manageable for drivers, OEM partners, and fleet managers alike so that they can stay in control.

One common misconception is that charging prices should fall as electricity prices drop. But many of the costs behind public charging – from customer support to hardware upkeep – are fixed. And while some operators buy energy on the spot market, many rely on longer-term contracts to avoid price shocks. Grid tariffs, too, tend to rise as networks expand.

There’s another layer to this: policy stability. Clear, long-term regulation gives investors confidence. When policies shift unpredictably, capital becomes more expensive, projects slow down, and charging costs rise. Stable rules help keep borrowing costs low, expand infrastructure faster, and ultimately give drivers better value.

If we want EV charging to be affordable and future-proof, we need to understand the full cost stack – and build a policy environment that supports long-term investment. Prices may not always follow the energy market, but with the right foundation, they can stay predictable and fair.

How do operators ensure a reliable charging experience?

5 June 2025

For Charge Point Operators like GreenWay, the utilisation of a charging station is the most important metric. For EV drivers, this translates into a number of key factors: the convenience and ease of access to the location, the reliability of the network, whether the charger delivers the advertised power, the availability of nearby amenities, and, though not actually a top priority, the price.  

(A recent survey of GreenWay customers ranked these factors in order of importance:

  • 24/7 availability

  • Free parking

  • Guaranteed connector power

  • Power of the charging station

  • Distance from major roads

  • Number of charging stations at one location

  • Possibility of payment by card*

  • Proximity to services (shops, restaurant, toilet)

  • Ergonomics of the charging station (cable length, width of parking spaces)

  • Charging station amenities (e.g., roofing, monitoring, lighting, trash bins)

  • Aesthetics and cleanliness of the station and the location surroundings

* In Croatia, the ability to pay by card is the second most important factor, as these chargers are highly used by customers of other EMPs during the holiday season.)

Responsible operators of EV charging equipment take a number of steps to ensure the reliability and uptime of their network.

It begins in the procurement phase. At GreenWay, we carry out thorough due diligence and compatibility testing across a wide range of products to determine which are of sufficiently high quality, compatible with our software, reasonably priced, and supported by reliable after-sales service. Products are tested before being added to our network, and only then do we place an order.

When installing charging stations, we follow the manufacturer’s specifications to ensure optimal performance, safety, and warranty coverage. This is especially important for public fast-charging hardware, which is often located outdoors, exposed to the elements, and used frequently by a wide range of people.

Maintenance schedules are set according to manufacturer specifications – different chargers require different inspection intervals – but each charger is physically inspected at least once per year. Remote monitoring via our charge point management system enables us to detect and address many issues as they arise. We also encourage users to report any problems with the hardware or location, so we can resolve them as quickly as possible. In parallel, we ensure that our stations are easily discoverable via navigation apps and roaming platforms because visibility is essential to both user confidence and charger utilisation.

Firmware updates provided by the hardware manufacturer are included in our standard contracts, ensuring cybersecurity, up-to-date compatibility with the latest EVs, and ongoing interoperability.

Uptime – the percentage of time a charger is operational and available to the public – is one of our key performance indicators. In addition to the preventive measures mentioned above, we maintain a dedicated service and maintenance team. This team, or a contracted local partner in areas where we don’t have nearby staff, is ready to respond to issues requiring on-site intervention within 24 hours.

Of course, even if the charger and energy infrastructure are functioning properly, customer-side issues may still arise, from confusion about how to start a session, to connectivity or payment problems. Under no circumstances do we want an EV driver to be stranded or left without support. That’s why we provide 24/7 customer assistance, in both the local language and English, through our Customer Help Centre. Our team is trained to guide users through the charging process and resolve a wide variety of issues. More complex cases can be escalated when needed.

While costly, these efforts are essential to building and operating a public EV charging network that customers can rely on.

At GreenWay, we’re proud of our 98.4% uptime rate, our 97.8% connectivity rate, and our over 90% customer satisfaction rate.

Aaron Fishbone, Director of Public Policy | GreenWay

Why don’t EV charging costs drop when energy prices do?

12 June 2025

Many people think that charging at a station simply means purchasing energy so that if the price of electricity goes down, the price of charging should automatically follow. This doesn’t happen because it’s much more complex than that. Charging a car at a public charger is not the same as charging at home or at a workplace, for starters. In addition, charging operators are not just "energy resellers" who simply pass on the electricity price to EV drivers.

Charge Point Operators face significant investments in designing, building, installing, and maintaining charging stations to provide a reliable and seamless charging experience. All these costs must be factored into the price of the service offered to the consumer.  

One cost is the cost of the charger itself, which is higher for Direct Current (DC) fast chargers that are usually placed at public locations. Then, CPOs invest in maintenance, customer service, software updates, and payment systems to keep stations running smoothly and securely.   

The price of charging depends also on the energy contract: some CPOs use spot market opportunities to save money, but this can lead to price spikes. To avoid this, many operators prefer long-term contracts for stable and predictable rates. Long-term agreements help CPOs avoid the price spikes of the spot market, but in turn it means that charging prices won't drop immediately when energy prices fall. 

The CPO pays also for grid tariffs due to the connection of the charging station. Grid tariffs often stay the same but can also increase when the grid is upgraded to meet EV demand.  

These infrastructure and operational costs remain even as the price of electricity decreases; that is why public charging prices can remain relatively stable even when energy prices are lower.  

Chiara Corradi, Policy Manager | ChargeUp Europe

Expanding electric vehicle charging infrastructure is no small feat. Charge Point Operators are making significant investments to build and operate charging stations across Europe, ensuring the infrastructure is ready as more people make the switch to electric mobility.

At this stage of the market, many charging stations are still operating with relatively low utilisation rates. That’s because, although EV adoption is growing, the number of vehicles on the road is still catching up. To keep expanding ahead of demand, CPOs need to maintain a pricing model that ensures long-term financial sustainability. Over time, as more EVs hit the road and usage increases, economies of scale will help bring costs down.

This is where policy predictability becomes essential. A clear, stable regulatory roadmap — backed by consistent and credible political commitments — gives companies and their investors the confidence to make large, long-term investments. It helps unlock the capital needed to grow the network at the pace the transition requires.

On the other hand, policy uncertainty comes at a cost. When governments send mixed signals through shifting targets, unclear timelines, or inconsistent support, it undermines market confidence. Investors become more cautious, financing becomes more expensive, and ultimately, the cost of building and operating charging stations rises.

In short: to keep EV charging affordable and accelerate the clean mobility transition, we need consistent, long-term policy signals — not uncertainty.

How does policy unpredictability affect costs?

17 June 2025

Alessandro Lazzarini, EU Affairs Lead | Fastned