When does a charging subscription pay off?

When you charge more kWh a month on that provider's network than the monthly fee divided by the saving per kWh. For EnBW M versus S that is €5.99 ÷ €0.10 = about 60 kWh a month at EnBW chargers (prices checked on 24 October 2026).

Can I take a subscription for just one holiday month?

Often yes. IONITY says Motion and Power can be cancelled at the next billing date. EnBW M and L and Elli Boost and Ultra have a one-month minimum term in our catalogue. Check notice periods first: Elli's website and page data disagree.

I charge at home almost every time. Do I need a charge card at all?

Not necessarily. You can charge without a contract at any public charger, and pay by bank card at new rapid chargers of 50 kW or more. A free app from the operator whose chargers are on your routes is usually cheaper than ad hoc and costs nothing per month.

Do sessions at other networks count?

Only where the subscription gives a better price there. EnBW's lower M and L prices only apply at EnBW chargers. At other networks EnBW S, M and L cost the same, so the saving there is zero.

Do I need a charging subscription? The break-even maths

At a glance

A subscription pays off above its break-even volume: monthly fee ÷ saving per kWh. Below that, you pay extra.
Examples from the WATTWEG catalogue, checked on 24 October 2026: EnBW M over S from about 60 kWh a month at EnBW chargers. IONITY Power over the IONITY app from about 44 kWh a month at IONITY. Elli IONITY Ultra over Boost from about 55 kWh a month at IONITY.
Six rapid charges a year all at IONITY (240 kWh) cost €163.20 with the IONITY app and no subscription, but €194.28 with Motion kept all year.
For a single holiday month the maths flips: 160 kWh at IONITY cost €77.59 with Power, €108.80 with the app alone.

Charging providers like to advertise their lowest price per kWh. What gets lost is that the monthly fee is due in months when you only charge at home. I charge in my garage almost every time and use public chargers on family trips. For people like me the honest answer is usually no subscription, or one for exactly one month. Here is the maths so you can do it for yourself.

The formula

A subscription costs a fixed monthly fee F and lowers the price per kWh by a saving S compared with your alternative: the free version of the same provider, another card you already have, or the ad hoc price.

Break-even volume = F ÷ S

If you charge more than this volume per month at chargers where the saving applies, the subscription saves money. If not, it costs you. I always compare with the cheapest alternative that has no monthly fee, not with the expensive ad hoc price, because that would flatter the subscription.

Break-even for common tariffs

Prices from our catalogue, each with a source. IONITY prices are “from” prices; IONITY says the price at an individual charger can be higher.

Subscription	Monthly fee	compared with	Saving per kWh	Break-even per month
EnBW M	€5.99	EnBW S (€0.56) at EnBW	€0.10	59.9 kWh
EnBW L	€11.99	EnBW S at EnBW	€0.17	70.5 kWh
IONITY Motion	€5.99	IONITY app (from €0.68)	€0.17	35.2 kWh
IONITY Power	€11.99	IONITY app	€0.27	44.4 kWh
Elli IONITY Ultra	€11.99	Elli IONITY Boost (€5.99, €0.53)	€0.11	54.5 kWh
Fastned Gold (DE)	€5.99 until 31 Oct 2026	Fastned standard (€0.69)	€0.20	30.0 kWh
Recharge MOVE (NO)	69 NOK	Recharge FLOW (6.79 NOK)	2.00 NOK	34.5 kWh

Fastned’s €5.99 is a promotional fee until 31 October 2026; the regular amount is not stated on the page, so the break-even will rise afterwards.

Example 1: six rapid charges a year

Option	Calculation	Cost per year
IONITY app, no subscription	240 × €0.68	€163.20
IONITY Direct (ad hoc)	240 × €0.72	€172.80
Motion all year	240 × €0.51 + 12 × €5.99	€194.28
Power all year	240 × €0.41 + 12 × €11.99	€242.28

The option with the lowest price per kWh is the most expensive overall: Power costs €79.08 more per year than the app without a subscription.

Example 2: the holiday month

Same driver, but all charging falls in one month: four sessions of 40 kWh, 160 kWh at IONITY.

Option (one month)	Calculation	Cost
IONITY app	160 × €0.68	€108.80
IONITY Motion	160 × €0.51 + €5.99	€87.59
IONITY Power	160 × €0.41 + €11.99	€77.59
Elli IONITY Ultra	160 × €0.42 + €11.99	€79.19

Power saves €31.21 in that month, as long as you cancel in time.

Example 3: the Netherlands, where sessions count

Many Dutch charge passes pass on the charger price and add a fee per session, so the break-even is counted in sessions. The free ANWB pass adds €0.89 per session in the Netherlands; the subscription costs €3.99 a month with no session fee. Break-even: 3.99 ÷ 0.89 = 4.5 sessions a month. A two-week holiday with three charges doesn’t need it. More in EV holiday in the Netherlands.

What the maths leaves out

Price per charger. IONITY quotes minimum prices; at your charger it may cost more.
Idle fees. Some subscriptions change those too. With Elli Boost and Ultra, the idle fee at IONITY only runs from 06:00 to 22:00. See Idle fees.
Card fees and conditions. EnBW’s S card costs €9.90 once. Some prices are only for new customers or energy customers, and Tap Electric’s Dutch prices are for residents of the Netherlands only.

Do it for yourself

Estimate your public kWh per month and split them by network.
For each network, find the cheapest option with no monthly fee that you can use without effort.
Calculate F ÷ S for each subscription and compare with your volume on that network.
For holiday peaks: take a subscription for one month and note the cancellation date straight away.

WATTWEG Plus has a calculator that does exactly this with your logged sessions. It counts subscriptions you already have at zero marginal cost and only spreads the fee of a new tariff. The result is often unexciting: a bank card plus one free app is enough. That is precisely the answer a charging provider rarely gives you, which is why we show the working.