Access and start fees

What it is

At some stations the venue adds a fixed fee for using the charger, charged once per session, on top of the price per kWh. In the app it appears in the plug's cost line, for example:

Cost 2€ + 0.43€/kWh

That reads as: €2 to start, plus €0.43 for every kWh you take.

Why it exists

The fee is set by the venue, not by EV Loader, and it usually pays for the parking space the charger occupies as much as for the charger. A hotel or a car park giving up a bay for a charging car is giving up a space it could otherwise use, and a short session that only takes a couple of kWh would not otherwise cover that.

It is shown before you start, and it is part of the total the app quotes you.

It is not the temporary hold

Two different things, and they are easy to confuse:

• A start fee is real money for the session, a few euros, set by the venue.
• The €35 hold is not a charge at all. It is released after you unplug. See The €35 temporary hold.

Working out the cost of a short stop

A start fee is a larger share of a short session than a long one. At €2 plus €0.43/kWh, taking 5 kWh costs €4.15, so €0.83 per kWh in practice. Taking 30 kWh costs €14.90, so €0.50 per kWh. If a station near you has a start fee and you only need a small top-up, it is worth comparing with a station that does not.