What is a blocking fee?
The blocking fee is a fee that some charging station operators charge so that the charging stations are not occupied for an unnecessarily long time. With some charging providers, it is due after 2 or 4 hours; with other providers, you still have a certain amount of time to pick up or repark your electric car after the charging process is complete.
Who charges blocking fees?
It is not so easy to summarize which providers and operators charge blocking fees. Some major providers, such as EnBW or Shell, charge blocking fees after a certain downtime. And so does BMW Charging. With regional providers, it usually depends on the time period and area in which you charge your car. Even at Tesla, the regulation on the due date of blocking fees does not apply the same everywhere.
If you charge your electric car with a larger provider, you can usually access the information about it on the website or in your app. It gets even more complicated when the charging station you want to charge at is on a public parking lot or private property (e.g. at a gas station). There are separate parking regulations or the owner's house rules.
It is therefore always worthwhile to keep an eye on any notices or signs so that you don't experience a rude awakening when invoicing.
What are the blocking fees?
The fees for “blocking” a charging station differ from provider to provider. Some, such as EnBW, charge 10 cents per minute if you electric car Leave it at the charging station for too long. This is also how Shell handles it in its roaming area. Both providers have a blocking fee of 12 euros per charging process. Blocking fees are charged for a period of 240 minutes or more.
With BMW Charging, you have to dig a little deeper into your pocket if you leave your e-car at the charging point for too long. Even 20 cents per minute are charged here, starting from a total downtime of 90 minutes. As soon as you at a fast charging station If you charge your e-car for more than 3 hours from BMW Charging, it even costs an additional 6 cents per minute (a total of 26 cents per minute).
Tesla's Superchargers can be even more expensive: At transport hubs and motorways, 50 cents or even 1 euro per minute can be charged. The latter happens when all charging points at the station are occupied. There is also no maximum rate here.
It is best to check whether your provider charges blocking fees and how high they are from the corresponding website or app.
When do blocking fees start to be charged?
As mentioned in the paragraph above, there are no uniform standards as to when blocking fees become due. Some providers have agreed on a period of 4 hours during which there are no blocking fees - such as Shell Recharge and EnBW. BMW Charging, on the other hand, charges such a fee after just 90 minutes.
With the Tesla Supercharger, you pay from just €0.50 per minute when your charging is finished and half of the charging points at the station are occupied. However, this is usually limited to stations on motorways or other junctions. There are generally no blocking fees in the city.
Some regional operators also charge blocking fees for occupying charging stations. However, these are usually cheaper - as an example: the charging network increase in northern Bavaria requires only 5 cents per minute. They also regulate more precisely when the blocking fees are due: During the day, usually even after 4 hours - as with EnBW or Shell Recharge - at night, between 10 pm and 8 am, there is no blocking fee.
Also interesting: How does the charging price at the charging station come about?
Are blocking fees useful?
Most operators argue that charging a blocking fee is based on the small number of charging stations and thus want to help ensure that charging points are quickly opened up for the next e-car drivers. Surveys show that most electric vehicles certainly see a right to exist for these fees in order to avoid long-term parking at charging stations — for example as a substitute for paid parking spaces in the surrounding area — and to give everyone the opportunity to charge range.
The problem: At no point is it centrally recorded when blocking fees are charged and how high they are, as each operator and provider has their own policy. If they agreed on a standard, the issue would be easier for e-car drivers to understand.
In addition, when calculating blocking fees, the charging speed of the column should be considered: At a fast DC charging station, 4 hours are almost too long, for slow ones AC charging stations It may be too short, as a full charge can take 5 hours or more here.
The faster expansion of the charging infrastructure so that there are enough charging stations available at all times would certainly be even more welcome. Then you can save yourself the hassle of charging blocking fees.
Either way, we appeal to all electric vehicles: Stay fair and quickly free up the charging station for the next electric car after charging. This gives more drivers the opportunity to charge their e-cars — and the mobility turnaround is getting a step closer again.