Audi unveils e-tron electric SUV charging pricing structure, it’s not simple or cheap

With the e-tron electric SUV now hitting some European markets, Audi is unveiling its charging pricing structure for owners of the vehicle to be able to charge within cities and when on the road.

Audi’s system involves several options for different tiers that gives owners access to more than 72,000 charging points in 16 EU markets with a single contract and charging card.

The German automaker offers two options.

One of them is “City tariff” which costs €4.95 per month on top of a €7.95 fee per level 2 charging session and €9.95 fee per DC fast-charging session (up to 50 kW).

The second option is “Transit tariff”, which gives you access to Ionity’s new 150 kW charging stations for long-distance travel.

It costs €17.95 per month and the pricing per session is the same for level 2 and DC fast-charging up to 50 kW, but when using the up to 150 kW stations from Ionity, you will pay €8.00 per charging session for now and they will eventually switch to a model of €0.33 per kWh.

These are the prices for the German market and the company says that more pricing information is going to be released as they expand.

Here’s the breakdown of the prices:

Electrek’s Take

That is not cheap. We were complaining about Tesla’s new Supercharger prices, but it’s not that bad in comparison.

I guess the City Tariff is not that bad if you make sure to wait until the battery is almost completely depleted and you charge it fully since it’s a single fee per session and not based on how long you charge or how much energy you get.

That said, a home charging solution would likely be cheaper in the long-term in most cases if it’s a possibility depending on your home situation.

Now if you want access to that Ionity network, you have to open your wallet. If I understand this correctly, you have to pay 18 euro per month just to start. On top of that, if you want to take advantage of the e-tron’s full charge rate, you are going to pay €8 per session just to plug in and another €0.33 for every kWh.

Let’s say someone who is doing long-distance regularly, like once a week, and needs to stop for a 80% charge at a Ionity station every week, it’s going to cost them an almost €40 per charging session under this model.

The good news is that Audi is giving it away for free for the first year for new e-tron buyers, but they are going to get you after those first 12 months.