Limited EV charging stations in Europe prompts company providing them to charge OVERTIME FEES

07/22/2024 / By Ramon Tomey

Due to limited charging stations for electric vehicles (EVs), a Dutch company that operates them has resorted to charging EV drivers overtime fees.

Watts Up With That (WUWT) reported, citing an article by German EV news outlet Elektroauto-News, that charging station operator Allego is now levying an extra fee for users whose EVs take too long to charge. The move, according to the German outlet, aims for “fairer distribution.”

Allego’s so-called “blocking fee” at all its fast EV chargers in Europe went into effect on July 1. According to the company, the introduction of the fee is necessary to ensure fair and timely access to charging stations. It added that the fee aims to prevent EV drivers from occupying the charging stations for longer than necessary.

Moreover, the company defended the 45-minute grace period before the fee applies. Charging a 70 kilowatt-hour battery from 10 to 80 percent usually lasts about 45 minutes, if one assumes an average charging speed of 65 kilowatts (kW).

“This period of time is a reasonable guideline based on the current possibilities of EVs,” Allego wrote. However, there are EVs that do not make it from 10 or 20 percent to 80 percent in 45 minutes, at least in winter.

WUWT pointed out: “For example in Germany, if drivers take more than 45 minutes to charge their electric cars at an Allego fast charger, then they will have to pay an extra €0.25 ($0.27) for each additional minute of charging beyond 45 minutes.”

“The measure is intended to ensure a fairer distribution of the charging infrastructure and prevent unnecessary over-parking. So if you stand at the charging station for an hour longer, you pay almost €15 ($16.40) extra.”

Blocking fee aims to reduce long lines at EV chargers – or is it?

According to Elektroauto-News, Allego’s blocking fee is designed to reduce the long charging lines occurring at charging stations, especially as millions of Europeans head out on their summer holidays.

But WUWT begged to differ, pointing out that the fee translates to an additional burden on EV drivers. “Either they leave the charging station not fully charged and look for another charging station, or they pay extra to charge fully,” it warned.

The German outlet also mentioned limitations to the power grid as a justification for Allego to impose the blocking fee. “The company cannot build as many charging points everywhere as desired, it wrote, arguing that doing so would worsen “the increasing delays in the installation of new chargers and stations.”

The company pointed its finger at “network restrictions in many European countries,” including Germany, for these aforementioned delays. “In Germany, too, the grid capacity is considered a bottleneck in many places,” it continued, adding that these issues with the power grid cause EV charging station projects to encounter severe delays, if not total failure. (Related: To reduce grid stress, electric companies can remotely disengage electric vehicle (EV) chargers – leaving drivers STRANDED during times of peak energy use.)

A November 2022 report by management and consulting firm McKinsey & Company highlighted the issues EV drivers face in Europe, charging stations for their electric cars among them.

“Prospective EV buyers want assurances that they’ll be able to charge their vehicles conveniently, but each additional EV driver creates more competition for access to public charging points. A 2019 McKinsey survey found that more than half of consumers’ concerns about EVs involved batteries, charging and driving range. Without enough charging stations to allay drivers’ anxieties, the adoption of EVs could slow,” the company said.

It also gave an example of how multiple drivers charging their EVs at the same time could strain the power grid. “Highway rest stops with public fast-charger parks could experience extreme peak loads during prime travel hours. For commercial vehicles, new chargers could draw as much as one megawatt (mW), equal to 1,000 kW of electricity,” McKinsey warned.

“These sorts of locations will require grid upgrades or backup storage solutions. A highway rest stop simultaneously servicing 20 trucks and 10 cars with fast chargers could experience peak electricity demand of about 20 mW – equivalent to that of a city with 20,000 inhabitants.”

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Watch Gary Franchi expounding on the issue of EV drivers shifting back to gasoline-powered vehicles in this clip.

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