Volkswagen delivers details on WE Charge service
As Volkswagen readies the ID.3 electric car to hit the road in eventually large numbers, the company also launches the corresponding charging service. We Charge opens this August offering clients three tariffs, including exclusive Ionity conditions, as the Group now announces.
With We Charge, customers will be able to charge their electric vehicles at over 150,000 public charging points all over Europe, claims Volkswagen. The announcement follows the opening of sales of the ID.3 car, which customers can order from today. As before, VW fails to name all countries where the electric car has become available. Germany is a given. However, the configurators in the UK, Netherlands and Norway remained closed when we last checked.
More details are available for We Charge. As with all such charging services, VW electric car drivers may use one card to access all functions. VW calls it its “charging ecosystem”. It includes access to said public charging stations and preferential tariffs for Ionity; of course, Volkswagen holds a stake in the high power charging network.
The three tariffs correspond to different use cases, suggests the carmaker. The We Charge Free basic tariff does not have a monthly fee and is best for those who do not often use public charging stations.
We Charge Go offers lower prices for charging processes and is the right choice for regular users of public charging points, according to VW.
We Charge Plus is the tariff for all frequent drivers. For example, they only pay 30 euro cents per kilowatt-hour for Ionity instead of the usual 79 ct/kWH.
The Basic tariff requires paying an access fee of 0.30€ per session at any public charging station, plus “individual pricing”. It is, therefore, impossible to say how expensive charging will be without information on this pricing. At Ionity chargers, people pay the full price in this bracket.
The exact pricing may later be found through the We Connect ID. app. It also allows users to locate all available We Charge charging points and to plan routes accordingly. In future, the app will include the option only to show charging points that operate on green power, according to press information. Furthermore, We Charge gives owners of Volkswagen’s wall box for home charging, access to online services such as charging statistics, access management or remote control.
Overall, We Charge will make a difference to those wanting to use Ionity regularly. Daimler, BMW and Ford are also involved in the joint venture – Hyundai’s entry announced last autumn has still not been formally completed. As expected, Volkswagen did not address the reports that the Group is planning a proprietary fast-charging network as part of Audi’s project Artemis in the communication concerning We Charge.
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