- The cost of charging an electric vehicle at public stations in Europe varies significantly by country, with Iceland, Portugal, and Finland offering the most affordable rates.
- Norway and Slovenia have the highest EV charging costs, despite Norway’s high renewable energy share, due to factors like higher overall energy prices.
- Countries with a greater reliance on renewable energy sources generally have lower EV charging costs, while those with expensive energy imports tend to have higher prices.
This chart, via Visual Capitalist’s Pallavi Rao, shows the average cost to charge an electric car for 25 minutes per 100 km at a public station in various European countries. Data is sourced from the European Alternative Fuels Observatory (EAFO), as of 2024.
To account for variance between electric cars, a Tesla Model 3 was considered for this dataset.
Price information was sourced from public DC fast-charging stations.
The EAFO then calculated one average price per country.
The Cost of Charging an Electric Car in Europe
For most of Europe, charging costs vary between €5-10 per 100 km. Cheaper outliers include: Iceland (€2.9), Portugal (€3.2), and Finland (€4.6).
Euronews reports that Iceland’s abundant renewable energy sources drive down the EV charging price.
On the other hand, in Norway and Slovenia charging costs jump to €17-19 per 100 km. Of course these values are also a reflection of sources of electricity, energy prices, and taxes within the country. In Norway, for example, prices are 25% more expensive than the EU average.
Generally speaking, countries with a higher share of renewable energy have lower prices, while countries with expensive energy imports (like Germany) have higher prices.
EV adoption has been steadily ticking up around the world. Norway leads with an 80% share of EVs in all cars sold in 2023. Of the top four countries by EV adoption, three are from Europe.
As the home to some of the world’s richest countries, Europe has the ability to set up charging infrastructure that is crucial to increasing electric car use.
In 2012, Norway’s EV adoption rate stood at 3%. At 2024, it’s closer to 90% Check out Norway’s EV Market Keeps Charging Ahead by creator Chartr to see how the tide turned.
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