For comparison’s sake, there’s still a € 5 “Mercedes Me Charge M” package, now also available per month. This gives you access to a € 0,65/kWh rate at IONITY Deutschland (for example).
Norway
Who can talk about electric vehicles in Europe and not look at Norway? Not me! The tariff at IONITY has been exceptional for years at NOK 1,70/kWh. This will rise to NOK 3,49/kWh and it’s important to stress this is below local AC levels still(!) (At € 0,32/kWh it’s still an incredible price really, looking forward to visiting Norway again!)
The French exception
France is becoming “a safe space for EVs” it looks like, with incredible rates along the new highway stations especially (no Mercedes needed).
Mercedes drivers paid € 0,30/kWh at IONITY France for a long time, and this will rise to € 0,35/kWh.
The not so lucky ones
Belgium (110% increase to € 0,59/kWh), The Netherlands (150% increase to € 0,55/kWh), the list goes on.
Italy (90% increase to € 0,59/kWh), Great Britain (104% to £ 0,53/kWh), Spain (41% increase to € 0,48/kWh).
The competition
More will be written on (fast) charging around Europe, 2023. I recently built this Tesla Public Supercharging pricing update page, in many countries right now fast charging at Tesla is very competitive to other players and in The Netherlands it even competes with local AC charging rates.
Imagine living in Belgium, you could be better off at Fastned with their gold package, that costs the same as this new IONITY deal, but clearly has no influence on your AC needs. That’s also where Tesla (without a charging card/service) cannot be competitive (yet!)
What’s next
I expect a lot of announcements and emails from “all the others” pretty soon. But clearly strategies per brand could differ and some could decide “to take a hit” and offer the audience lower prices for longer. It’s very important to stress I understand prices had to change, and it’s pretty amazing if you ask me that for example AC prices (at least in a place like The Netherlands) still offer pretty steep discounts compared to “what you pay on the street”.
With a Mercedes “L package” at € 12,90/month you get an instant 50% discount on AC charging in a place like Amsterdam to give just one example. So it’s definitely not just bad news. I really love you can now just walk away from any offer anyway when you feel like it! You might sell your vehicle. It’s simply unfair to have to sign up for a year. What’s a year?
My newsletter is coming back this year, since Mr. Tweet killed my old host, you will have to find me here (if you signed up in the past I got you covered!)
