There are major differences between European countries in the costs of charging an electric car. For a charging session, the price can vary by almost 20 euros, according to an analysis by the Dutch website Energievergelijk.nl.

This independent energy comparator has requested the charging costs of 198 fast charging stations in 26 European countries. The site looked at three providers: Shell Recharge, Chargemap and the Tesla Supercharger network. The average price for charging (from 20 to 80 percent) in Europe is 35.69 euros, which amounts to 73 cents per kWh, according to the analysis by Energievergelijk.nl. Luxembourg emerges from the research as the cheapest country for EV drivers.

The test car in the study is charged from 20 to 80 percent for an average of 22.63 euros. This is good for 49 kWh of power and a range of approximately 250 kilometers. The kilowatt-hour price in Luxembourg is 46 cents. Charging rates are also favorable in Iceland (60 cents per kWh), France and Norway (both 62 cents), the study states. The costs for charging along the highway are the highest in the Czech Republic and Italy. Here a session costs approximately 42 euros (86 cents per kWh). This is almost 20 euros more than in Luxembourg.

The United Kingdom is also one of the expensive countries with a charging rate of 84 cents per kWh. In the Netherlands, the average cost for a charging session is 35.06 euros, which translates to 72 cents per kWh. This means that the Netherlands is in the middle of the pack in the Energievergelijk.nl study, around the European average. “The significant price differences between providers underline the importance of transparent price information. Not only in the Netherlands, but also in the rest of Europe,” says Koen Kuijper, energy expert at Energievergelijk.nl.

The research also shows that the costs between charging card providers differ per country. For example, charging via the Chargemap card costs an average of 37.07 euros in the Netherlands and 42.24 euros via the Shell Recharge subscription. This can be a few euros cheaper via some subscriptions, such as 50five and Ecotap, but the costs may be higher abroad because the price agreements are different there.

Tesla drivers enjoy a financial advantage if they use the Superchargers that are part of the Tesla infrastructure. The average charging costs within Europe are 20.13 euros, 32 cents less than for all other EVs. According to the analysis, Denmark is the most favorable for Tesla drivers. Here a charging session costs 10.20 euros (21 cents per kWh).