EUROPE. Elli launches new charging rate ‘Elli Drive Plus’

The VW brand Elli has introduced a new charging rate called 'Elli Drive Plus' – just in time for the start of the holiday season, says the company. The new tariff will be designed to make “seamless travelling with an EV throughout Europe” easier – with discounts at Ionity stations, for example.

The VW brand introduced the pricing model with the three plans ‘Elli Drive Free,’ ‘Elli Drive City,’ and ‘Elli Drive Highway’ on 1 June 2023. The ‘Elli Drive City’ plan will now be discontinued. Elli does not see the new ‘Elli Drive Plus’ plan as a direct replacement but as making “the step from Drive Free to Drive Highway ‘more pleasant,'” an Elli spokesperson told electrive. Whether a replacement or a more pleasant transition: ‘Elli Drive City’ will no longer be offered; the new, mid-range option is ‘Elli Drive Plus.’

It is not only the name that is changing; the conditions are, too. Previously, the City tariff offered moderate discounts of around ten cents per kilowatt hour on the terms of ‘Elli Drive Free’ with no basic fee for a monthly basic fee of €4.99 – for AC and DC charging points, but not at Ionity. At the joint venture’s fast chargers, the same conditions applied as with the Free tariff. That changed with ‘Elli Drive Plus:’ Since 1 July, the medium rate plan costs €5.99 per month but also offers significant discounts at Ionity chargers. These vary from country to country. In Finland, the discount is 33 per cent, and in Germany, it is 28 per cent.

However, the previous discounts on the regular AC and DC conditions no longer apply. With ‘Elli Drive City,’ it was still €0.60/kWh at AC charging points and €0.79/kWh at DC charging points – now the new Plus tariff offers the same kWh costs as the Free tariff.

Overview of the new tariffs:

Elli Drive Free           Elli Drive PlusElli Drive Highway

monthly basic fee    0.00 €5.99 €14.99 €

AC       0.69 €/kWh   0.69 €/kWh   0.54 €/kWh

DC       0.89 €/kWh   0.89 €/kWh   0.73 €/kWh

Ionity0.69 €/kWh   0.50 €/kWh   –

Selected Partner Network–          –          0.50€/kWh

The prices listed in the table apply to Germany. The conditions vary from country to country. The prices for other countries can be found on the Elli website linked below.

“‘Elli Drive Plus’ comes just in time for the holiday travel season and underlines Elli’s commitment to offering innovative and customer-oriented charging solutions,” the provider said in a statement obtained by electrive. “The new tariff allows EV drivers to reduce their charging costs at Ionity charging points. Ionity is powered by 100 per cent renewable energy and offers a charging capacity of up to 350 kW, making long-distance journeys sustainable and convenient.”

Other conditions remain the same. The minimum term is one month, meaning the new ‘Plus’ plan can also be booked for holiday trips only, for example. Until 2023, Elli’s plans could only be booked with a minimum term of twelve months.

The rules on blocking fees and Plug&Charge are also the same: between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m., a blocking fee of €0.05/min is charged after 240 minutes (previously, it was only 180 minutes) of AC charging; between 9 p.m. and 9 a.m., this fee does not apply. For DC charging, €0.15/min will be charged after 90 minutes. Elli itself only offers the Plug&Charge function from the ‘Plus’ programme upwards – some of the charging offers of the VW brands, which are based on the Elli service, also offer this in the tariffs without a basic fee.