Many people wonder when looking to invest in an electric vehicle if EV charging stations are free and the good news is that yes some of them are but with the rise in energy costs they are getting more few and far between.

When charging your EV at home it can become expensive. especially with the cost of electricity at the moment. Charging your car at home may not be as expensive as petrol or diesel but it is not free and your electricity bills will rise.

It is important to be realistic when using a free EV charging point as with most things you do not usually get things for free. It is also worth remembering if the EV charging point is free of charge it is likely to be in high demand so dont rely on them as your only source of charging your EV as you may be dissapointed and also indeed be stuck without charge.

The best places to find free of charge EV charging stations are usually public car parks especially in supermarkets or shopping centres. Businesses do this as it is a great way of attracting more customers to their stores, Some of the supermarkets known to offer free EV charging points include Tesco, Aldo, Lidl and Sainsburys but it is worth checking online to see if they offer this before assuming. Tesco are offering higher speed charging also at some of their Tesco Extra sites providing customers with 2,400 free 7kWh charge, this will top your charge up for about 25 miles if you use this whilst shopping in Tesco for around an hour.

Free EV charging points can also be found at some hotels, leisure centres, garden centres, restaurants and even hospitals. However there is likely to be a clause at most places stating you must be a paying customer to use the free EV charging points.

If you are looking for an EV charging point and you are not sure where there is one in your vicinity you can use Google maps, open charge maps or Zap map to search. Simply search the area you are in, click on the charge point and it will tell you if it is free to use.

Saying this as much as it may sound fantastic to charge your EV for free it may still be worth paying or to use your at home charger as searching for a free charger is time consuming and they charge at a much slower speed therefore it can take several hours to charge your veichle. 

If you would like to disucss EV charging or have any questions contact our friendly team today and we will be happy to help.