E-cars are still in the minority in the districts of Erding and Freising. Of the 90,789 registered passenger cars in Erding as of January 1, 2021, only 2,274 were hybrid vehicles and 1,290 electric cars, which means a share of 2.5 and 1.42 percent. In the Freising district, there are 3,907 hybrid and 1,990 electric vehicles out of a total of 110,049 registered passenger cars (as of April 1, 2022), i.e. 3.5 and 1.8 percent.
A jungle of locations and different payment methods
The trend is increasing everywhere, but potential buyers regularly ask themselves two questions: how far can I get with full batteries – and where can I recharge them? If you own a home with a garage, you can install your own charging station, a wall box. The others, jokingly known as “lantern parkers”, have to fight their way through a jungle of locations for e-charging stations, charging plugs and different payment methods.
Charging stations are few and far between, especially in rural areas
If you enter the keywords “E-Gasstation” and “Erding” or “Freising” on Google, several pages will be displayed, including “www.goingelectric.de”, for example. There are currently 18 locations with 43 charging points of various types for charging electric cars in Erding. At “https://e-tankstellen-finder.com/” there are also a total of 18 e-charging stations. Those who live in the city of Erding will find it relatively easy to find a charging station. There are also a few in Dorfen and Taufkirchen. And in between? Yawning emptiness. Also north of Taufkirchen and south of Dorfen.
Things are looking a little better in the Freising district. The result of the “e-tankstellen-finder” is: “82 e-filling stations were found” for the district. At “goingelectric” it says: “We currently list 24 locations with 89 charging points for charging electric cars in Freising in our charging station directory.” In the Freising district, however, there are significantly fewer charging stations in the countryside.
The appropriate cable is also required
Finding an e-charging station does not mean that you can actually charge your vehicle there. In almost all cases, there are two versions of the public charging station: with alternating current (AC) and mostly 22 kilowatts of power and with direct current (DC) and at least 50 kilowatts (kW), with which the Stromer has enough juice for 50 kilometers again after ten minutes may have.
But you also need the right cable for this: the European standard plug type 2 is used on the AC columns, the symbol of which is vaguely reminiscent of a shower head pressed flat at the top, and the CCS plug is usually used on the DC columns. How quickly an electric car is fully charged depends on several factors: how big the battery is and how quickly it can be charged – and the size of the charging station, which can range from 3.7 kilowatts to 7.4, 11 or 22 up to 100 and 120 (in the case of Tesla vehicles) or up to 350 kilowatts in the future.
The e-charging station at the district office in Erding is operated by Stadtwerke Erding.
(Photo: Renate Schmidt)
At the district office in Erding, for example, there is a charging station from Stadtwerke Erding with two type 2 sockets with 22 kilowatts. Spontaneous charging is possible without prior registration, but only if you have the right charging card, for example from Shell Recharge, ADAC e-Charge or EnBW mobility+. Columns are only activated using a charging card, QR code or app. It almost never works with cash like at a conventional gas station. Even with a credit card, it is often not possible to pay. This is not expected to change until mid-2023. However, a mobile phone is an advantage anyway, because what electricity is available where, when the charging point is publicly accessible, who operates it, whether it is free at the moment and how you can pay there can often only be found in charging apps from car manufacturers and Research electricity providers.
There is also a charging station at the Freisinger Stadtwerke customer car park. In terms of infrastructure, it is the same as at the Erdinger district office. The charging cards are also the same. At the NOVA business park in Neufahrn, eight vehicles can be charged at the same time with 22 kilowatts using a type 2 plug. The operator is Energie Südbayern GmbH. The usual charging cards are also accepted there. Likewise at the Esso gas station in Freising, where Eon is the operator. There you can also charge with 50 kilowatts via direct current.
Electricity is significantly more expensive at the public charging station
Anyone who has managed to connect their vehicle to the charging station, however, has to pay significantly more than they earn for electricity in their own household. Slow AC charging, for example, costs 38 cents per kilowatt hour with the ADAC card – which is accepted at the Erding district office and the stations of the Erding or Freising public utilities and many other public charging stations – at one of the EnBW charging stations, with faster charging using direct current ( DC) it’s 48 cents. EnBW petrol pumps are often found in the parking lots of drugstores, electronics stores and hardware stores throughout Germany. At all other charging stations it is 42 or 52 cents/kWh with the ADAC card. At “MAINGAU Autostrom” a kilowatt hour costs 49 cents for alternating current (AC) and 59 cents for direct current (DC).
For comparison: the average price for domestic electricity per kilowatt hour rose to 34.64 cents at the beginning of 2022, according to the “electricity report”. It doesn’t matter whether you fill up at home or on the go: electricity prices are expected to continue to rise due to the overall rise in gas and oil prices, as is generally forecast.
Stadtwerke Erding offers its own so-called “ÜE charging card”. You then have to pay a monthly basic price of EUR 4.99 (for Stadtwerke customers) or EUR 11.99. In addition, there are 30 cents per kilowatt hour plus one euro per hour of charging time, with billing being done every quarter of an hour. Another alternative is charging with the “ladeapp” app, which is available for iPhone and Android cell phones. This allows you to process payment by credit card. Cost: 38 cents per kilowatt hour and also one euro per hour.
Free electricity is sometimes also used to retain customers
And then there are some hotels, supermarkets and discounters who even give away the electricity at their gas stations – as part of customer loyalty. At Kaufland in Erding, for example, charging with Type 2 and CCS with up to 43 kW AC or 50 kW DC is possible – but only while shopping and for a maximum of one hour. Charging is free, but using a “Kaufland eCharge App” is recommended. Aldi in Zolling, for example, also has a charging station with two Type 2 stations and 22 kW. And as with Kaufland, you can load a maximum of one hour for free here.
If you want to fill up with electricity, like here at the pump for electric cars in Hallbergmoos, you should do some research on the Internet beforehand.
(Photo: Johannes Simon)
So if you want to fully charge the battery in your car, you first have to find out where you can “fill up” and how to pay on the Internet. How quickly the battery can be charged is also a factor. It will probably be a long time before you can simply drive to a normal gas station, plug in your car, pay with cash or an EC card after the kilowatt price has been displayed on a board. One of the reasons why hybrid cars are currently still selling better than purely electric vehicles.