Prices for car power now also fluctuate within hours

01.07.2025

Source: E & M powernews

Fuel prices that change several times a day are now the norm. Now the phenomenon is also happening with charging electricity for electric cars. Shell has introduced dynamic tariffs at fast-charging stations.

Different prices on the same day for a kWh of car electricity still take some getting used to in Germany. Fluctuations are actually only normal for fossil fuels. A pilot project is now bringing this to electric cars.

On June 30, charging at Shell stations was cheaper until 5 p.m. than afterwards. In a press release, the oil company claims to be the first charging station operator to introduce an innovative pilot project for dynamic electricity prices. It is based on the exchange price for electricity and aims to offer electric car drivers "a financial incentive to charge when electricity is particularly cheap".

Anyone who charges their battery when there is an abundance of renewable electricity is helping to stabilize the power grid, says Florian Glattes, General Manager Shell Mobility DACH. On the last day in June, the start of the Shell project, the maximum difference between the prices offered was 6 cents per kWh.

This editorial team wanted to know more about this. On request, a spokeswoman for Shell Germany in Hamburg looked at the records for June 30. The price changed at exactly 5 p.m. - to the disadvantage of the charging customers. They then had to pay the maximum price again, which Shell has set at 64 cents for most of the 1,600 fast-charging points (at least 150 kW output). On highways or in municipalities with high grid charges, the maximum rate is 67 cents.

With a fluctuation of six cents, the kWh price was therefore 58 cents in the previous hours. And according to the spokesperson, it is even cheaper. However, interested parties have to buy into the "Shell Recharge e-Deal". This is a kind of subscription that costs 4.99 euros per month and promises a 25 percent discount on the price per kWh, up to a limit of 400 kWh per month.

Once again using the slide rule, an e-dealer on June 30th came to 43.5 cents instead of 58 cents per kWh at Shell's cheaper fast chargers before 5 pm. Whether this is a competitive argument for the Hamburg-based company depends on various factors.

EnBW from Karlsruhe, for example, currently still without dynamic tariffs at public charging points, reduces the kWh without limit to up to 39 cents, but charges a basic fee of 17.99 euros per month in the "Mobility+" L tariff. Stadtwerke Bielefeld, on the other hand, which is of course limited to the East Westphalia region, has just increased the price of charging electricity at its public charging points (even at normal speed) from 45 to 56 cents as of July 1.

Anyone who wants to test Shell's dynamic tariff needs the company's charging app. According to the spokesperson, this shows the current price. For the time being, Shell will not increase the price above the maximum limits of 64 and 69 cents if the electricity supply is low and purchases are expensive.

It cannot be ruled out that the dynamic principle could lead to the kWh becoming even cheaper by more than 6 cents. However, the spokeswoman did not want to predict that Shell would pass on an even higher discount. This would always depend on developments on the electricity exchange.

Author: Volker Stephan