Blocking fee explained: extra costs without a full battery

What are blocking fees at charging stations?

You arrive at a charging station with a nearly empty battery and see that another car is already charging. That’s inconvenient, but it’s part of using public charging infrastructure. It only becomes truly frustrating when that car remains parked for a long time after the battery is already fully charged, preventing others from using the charging spot.

To prevent this type of situation, so-called blocking fees (also known as idle fees) have been introduced. Once the battery is fully charged, the Charge Point Operator (CPO) can see this. If a blocking fee has been set, a time-based tariff is charged from that moment onward, based on how long the car remains connected to the charging station. This charging session is then forwarded to the Mobility Service Provider (MSP), which passes the costs on to its customer.

The purpose of a blocking fee is clear: to encourage turnover at charging points and to discourage drivers from occupying charging stations longer than necessary.

When do unexpected costs arise?

In the market, there are MSPs that apply their own tariffs for customers using a charging card. In some cases, MSPs pass on a time-based tariff even when the CPO itself has not set a blocking fee. This is often done for commercial or risk-hedging reasons, but it does not always result in transparent or predictable costs for EV drivers.

Example

An E-Flux customer uses a public charging station where a tariff of €0.40 per kWh is set and no blocking fee applies.

• 20 kWh is charged over a period of 4 hours.

• Road invoices the MSP: 20 kWh × €0.40 = €8.

The MSP invoices its customer:

• For electricity: 20 × €0.55 = €11

• For time (time-based tariff): €0.05 per minute = €3 per hour × 4 hours = €12

Total paid by the EV driver: €23. This is a difference of no less than €15, which benefits the MSP but is disadvantageous for the EV driver, as they end up paying more.

How do these price differences arise?

MSPs such as Shell apply fixed kWh prices for the use of their charging cards. This is part of their business and pricing model and provides customers with clarity in advance about the cost per kWh.

However, in situations like the example above, a difference can arise between the tariff that the CPO (via Road) invoices to the MSP and the amount that the MSP ultimately passes on to the EV driver. Any time-based tariffs applied by the MSP are part of that pricing model and are separate from the settings of the charging station itself.

What is grid-aware charging?

When the electricity grid is heavily loaded locally, grid operators such as Enexis, Liander, and Stedin can apply grid-aware charging. The available capacity is then distributed across multiple connections. Charging stations temporarily operate at lower power, allowing all connected electric vehicles to continue charging, but at a reduced charging speed and with longer charging times.

Grid-aware charging contributes to a more stable electricity grid and a more efficient distribution of available capacity. At the same time, this means that charging sessions may take longer. If an MSP applies a time-based tariff after a certain charging duration in such situations, costs for EV drivers can increase. In this case, it is not a classic blocking fee applied after the battery is fully charged, but a time-based tariff that continues while charging slows down. The driver has limited influence over this.

It is precisely with grid-aware charging that the difference between fixed kWh prices and time-based tariffs becomes even more apparent.

What does E-Flux by Road do?

E-Flux by Road provides a management platform for charging network operators. Within this platform, it is possible to set a blocking fee, but this only applies when a car is fully charged and the charging cable remains connected to the charging point.

In practice, we see that fewer than 7% of charging stations within the E-Flux platform have a blocking fee configured. While some MSPs pass on time-based tariffs even when no idle fee has been set by the CPO, E-Flux by Road deliberately chooses a different approach.

Especially in the case of grid-aware charging, where charging sessions may take longer, this approach prevents unexpectedly high costs for EV drivers. With the E-Flux charging card, you only pay for the electricity actually consumed: no hidden time-based tariffs, just clear and predictable charging costs.