That’s what Lidl’s new rapid chargers can do
Where can you still charge your e-car for free these days? Many sources have dried up after electricity prices have skyrocketed. You can still charge your e-car at Lidl and we have even set up brand new fast chargers at every branch. I tried this with the new Kia Niro EV.
Tried out new fast chargers from Lidl
Only recently Lidl in our city announced that new fast chargers will be installed at each of the four stores. So far we only had a slightly older charger on the brand new Lidl, which more and more often didn’t work. Although the new charging station at “my” Lidl not yet displayed in the Lidl Plus app is, I could already use it. I’m currently testing the new Kia Niro EV and immediately took the opportunity to charge the e-car for free. In contrast to many other charging stations, you can still get energy for free at Lidl. At Aldi you now have to pay for it.
But Lidl’s new fast chargers have two key limitations:
- The maximum charging speed is up to 60 kW.
- There is no longer a CHAdeMO connector. The new charging stations have two CCS plugs and space in the middle for a type 2 cable.
I have with the new Kia Niro EV a maximum charging capacity of 30 kW via CCS. At first I thought it might be the car. It doesn’t, because I drew 70 kW from a 150 kW Allego charging station. Apparently the 60 kW applies divided by two CCS connections. Maybe even three electric cars if someone else plugs in a type 2 cable. Whereby that never works with the available parking spaces. You have to have a very long type 2 cable if two e-cars are connected via CCS.
Buying an e-car has to be well thought out, as we explain in detail in the video:
Slower but free
The old charger can be charged with a maximum of 50 kW, which I actually almost achieved with a Renault Zoe on a test drive via CCS. At least it was well over 40 kW. I think the compromise between a charging capacity of 30 kW and free charging is very good. When shopping, you can use it to recover some electricity. Of course, I also shopped at Lidl and even spent more time in the store because I knew that the car outside was still charging.
When I then drove into town, where the new Lidl fast charger was also unlocked, the typical Tesla bums with two white Model 3s were already there. They don’t buy from Lidl, they just want to tap electricity for free. This charging station was already listed in the app. As soon as this happens here at “my” Lidl, it will probably be blocked more often.
I can’t estimate whether free charging at Lidl will stay like this forever. It is currently a great service that at least persuaded me to go to Lidl, where I rarely shop. So the goal was achieved and I was able to charge the test car at the really nice new charging station. Later you will have to activate the charging station via app. Currently they are so new that I just had to plug them in. The loading time will probably be limited to one hour again, as was the case before.
