Audi’s e-tron Charging Service has launched in Europe, with single contract and charging card enabling access to more than 72,000 charge points in 16 different countries.
Although not yet available in the UK, Audi is sure to roll-out the service into the market, but has started initially with Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and Switzerland.
The system looks to make accessing a large number of charge points easy for Audi e-tron customers, with a single point of payment and RFID access card trying to remove the need to sign up to multiple networks.
Which networks in the UK will be available to use with the e-tron Charging Service is yet to be discovered, as are prices, though costs for many of those countries above are available. The expanding ultra-rapid EV charging network Ionity will certainly be one of those available in the UK with the service, as Audi is a partial stakeholder, and has Ionity-specific pricing announced elsewhere.
Prices are split between a City tariff and Transit tariff, with the below costs quoted for the German market. A monthly fee of 4.95 euros applies for the former, and is aimed primarily at urban drivers, while the latter is designed for regular long-distance drivers, and costs 17.95 euros a month.
In what is becoming an increasingly uncommon system in the UK, the e-tron Charging Service has a fee per charging session, rather than on a per kWh rate. According to Audi, the current German quoted prices are on a session basis because of the restrictions of legal calibration regulations.
As such, on top of the monthly subscription, there is a 7.95 euro cost per AC charging session at speeds of up to 22 kW on both tariffs. Rapid DC charging at up to 50 kW has a 9.95 euro fee per session on both tariffs too, though Transit customers have an introductory price of 8.00 euros per session on Ionity chargers, which will top up the e-tron at a rate of up to 150 kW – though the chargers are often capable of up to 350 kW.
There is also a cost of 0.33 euros per kWh quoted, though whether this is the planned future German Ionity tariff, the costs of charging on Ionity elsewhere, or something else again isn’t clear.
The service looks to make cross-Europe travel easier, with drivers charged at the local rate wherever they charge, but still able to use one card and pay with a single account.
Audi says that the service will be rolled out in another six markets before the end of the March, when the UK is likely to hear of costs and available points for e-tron buyers here.
