Like many EV drivers in the Netherlands, you may already have more than one EV charging card. Our experts compare popular charge cards to help you decide which is the best EV charge card to use across the public network for you.
Summary
- Tap Roamer is the cheapest charge card with subscription in our comparison set. Drivers only pay the operator cost – even on fast chargers.
- Use Price Intel in the Tap app to compare which charge card has the best price on many chargers in the app.
- If you spend more than €50 / month on your charging, you may get better value for money with a charge card with a subscription.
- All providers in our comparison set have comparable charge card access to public chargers across the country
- Charge cards with subscription all have a minimum of 1 month
- Eneco E-Mobility is the only provider in our comparison set without its own charging app.
Why is it important to compare charge cards?
The price you pay changes depending on where the charger is, who operates the charger and what charge card you use. Comparing charge card prices often keeps you informed on what’s a fair price to pay.
Take note:Â
Some charge card providers may set:
- A fixed kWh fee
- Starting costs
- Blocking (also known as Hourly) costsÂ
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when you use their charge card on certain networks, even on a subscription.
Which charge card has the best price on this charger?
With Price Intel in the Tap app, you can see which charge card has the best price on many chargers in the Netherlands like Equans, Fastned and TotalEnergies – more coming soon.
Pricing with the Tap Roamer subscription is usually the cheapest option, and we’re upfront when it’s not – that’s how transparency works!
We sampled 2 random chargers from live data in the Tap app in the Netherlands on 24 April 2024 to see how much you could save by choosing the cheapest charge card.
Charger 1: Expected energy of 42 kWh, Expected power 17.3 kW
- Location: Willem Dudokhof 109, Diemen
- Operator: TotalEnergies
- Charger: TNLP006404S-1
- Pricing information: €0,448 / kWh
- Power: 17,3kW
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Best price: Tap Roamer – €18,80 + €2,50 monthly subscription
The difference in charging session cost between the most expensive and cheapest charge card is €4,65.
Charge card
Estimated charging session cost + monthly subscription
Tap Roamer
Charge card with subscription
€18,80
+ €2,50 / month
E-Flux by Road Orange
Charge card with subscription
€18,80
+ €3,50 / month
Vandebron
Charge card with subscription
€18,80
+ €3,50 / month
ANWB subscription
Charge card with subscription
€18,80
+ €3,99 / month
E-Flux by Road pay as you charge
Charge card without subscription
€19,12
ANWB Charge card
Charge card without subscription
€19,14
Vattenfall InCharge Standaard
Charge card without subscription
€19,15
Tap Light
Charge card with free subscription
€19,74
Greenchoice
Charge card without subscription
€20,00
Eneco E-Mobility Standaard
Charge card with subscription
€22,03
+ €3,00 / month
Shell Recharge
Charge card without subscription
€23,45
Charger 2: Expected energy of 42 kWh, Expected power 150 kW
- Location: De Mieden A31, De Mieden
- Operator: Fastned
- Charger: 3108803
- Pricing information: €0,690 / kWh
- Power: 150kW
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Best price: Tap Roamer – €28,98 + €2,50 monthly subscription
The difference in charging session cost between the most expensive and cheapest charge card is €3,29.
Charge card
Estimated charging session cost + monthly subscription
Tap Roamer
Charge card with subscription
€28,98
+ €2,50 / month
E-Flux by Road Orange
Charge card with subscription
€28,98
+ €3,50 / month
Vandebron
Charge card with subscription
€28,98
+ €3,50 / month
ANWB subscription
Charge card with subscription
€28,98
+ €3,99 / month
E-Flux by Road pay as you charge
Charge card without subscription
€29,30
ANWB Charge card
Charge card without subscription
€29,32
Vattenfall InCharge Standaard
Charge card without subscription
€29,33
Eneco E-Mobility Standaard
Charge card with free subscription
€29,59
+ €3,00 / month
Greenchoice
Charge card with subscription
€30,18
Tap Light
Charge card with subscription - free
€30,43
Shell Recharge
Charge card without subscription
€32,27
How to compare charge cards?
To compare charge cards, it’s helpful to first look at your driving habits, what value you get with each charge card what benefits matter most to you.
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First take a look at your charging over the last few months:
- How much do you pay for chargers you use regularly?
- How do session costs change based on the charge card you use? Price Intel in the Tap app can you help with this!
- How often do you charge per month? Are you paying starting costs for each session?
- What is your average charging session cost and total monthly charging costs?
- How much do you pay for a monthly subscription? Can you get the same value for less?
- Which app features are most important to you and who does it best?
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What matters to you in a EV charge card?
I want a charge card without subscription - I only charge a few times a month
Check how much you’ll pay on top of your session costs
Typically, when you use a charge card without a subscription, you need to pay a starting cost per session on top of your session costs. You may also pay a fee of up to €5 to receive your charge card.
This is best for drivers who:
- Charge a few times a month
- Spend less than €50 per month
- €50 is roughly the cost of one full charge of a Tesla Model 3 at Fastned, or a couple of full charges at an on-street charger.
- Prefer to use a charge card to start and stop their sessions
If the above sounds like you, Tap Light could be a good subscription option. It’s free to sign up and you get a free Tapkey charge card, with a low 5% transaction fee on the operator cost.
I want a charge card with subscription - I charge often
Check first if you benefit from operator pricing or a fixed pricing scheme
On average, it’s cheaper to pay the operator price than a fixed pricing scheme. This is because there are many charger networks in the same region that compete on price. By using a charge card subscription based on operator pricing, you can save money by using a cheaper charger nearby.Â
This is best for drivers who:
- Charge often every month
- Charge more than €50/month
- Prefer to use a charge card to start and stop their sessions
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Tap Roamer is the cheapest subscription plan in the Netherlands at €2,50 / month. You only pay the operator cost – even on fast chargers.
I want the cheapest charge card with a subscription
Check out Tap Roamer
From our comparison set, Tap Roamer is the cheapest charge card with a subscription.
What do you get with Tap Roamer?
- Only pay the operator cost – even on fast chargers.
- Free Tapkey charge card
- Pay session costs monthly
- Receive a monthly invoice of all your charge sessions
- Flexibility to downgrade to our free plan or cancel anytime
- Features you can only find on Tap – including full price breakdown of session costs and real-time charging.
- Access to the largest public charger networks including Equans, TotalEnergies, Vattenfall, Allego, Shell, Fastned and Ionity.
I want the best EV charging app
The Tap Electric and ANWB laadpas apps have the highest ratings in the App and Play Store, both above 4.5 stars.
There are very few providers in our comparison set with an App and Play store rating above 4 stars. Every provider develops their apps differently – by downloading and exploring a few charging apps you will know what features are the most important to you.
A good charging app makes it easy to see all charger pricing information. This includes whether prices change throughout your session and if you could pay any start, idle and parking costs. Not every app has this level of transparent pricing. You may see some apps group complex pricing into a ‘from’ price without a further breakdown of what you’re paying for. With these apps there’s no way of knowing if you’re paying more than you should.
In Price Intel in the Tap app, you can see a full breakdown of charger costs for every charger and visualise if prices change throughout your session. When you start charging with Tap you can also see your prices in real-time. We believe drivers should know exactly what they’re paying for!
So how does Tap compare to popular charge cards?
Tap Roamer is the cheapest subscription with no transaction or additional roaming costs
Tap Roamer is the cheapest charge card with a subscription in the Netherlands for €2,50 / month. With Tap Roamer, you only pay the operator cost – even on fast chargers.
Some providers like Road, ANWB or Shell offer a charge card for free. However you may have to pay a one-off fee or shipping costs to receive your card and pay a fixed transaction fee every time you charge. The average transaction fee in for these providers was €0,34 per session.
Plan
Monthly cost
Roaming provider costs
Tap Light
€0,00
5%
Transaction fee / session
E-Flux by Road pay-as-your-charge*
€0,00
€0,32
Starting cost / session
ANWB charge card with no subscription**
€0,00
€0,34
Starting cost / session
Shell Recharge
€0,00
€0,35
Starting cost / session - maximum €7,00/month
--
Blocking rates on Road and EVBox – if you charge for more than 4 hours you will be charged €0,05 per minute, with a maximum of €12 per charging session.
Tap Groningen-Drenthe***
€1,25
No
Tap Roamer
€2,50
No
Tap Roamer
€2,50
No
Eneco E-Mobility without subscription
€0,00
€0,39
Starting cost / session
Eneco E-Mobility subscription
€3,00
No
E-Flux by Road Orange
€3,23
No
Vandebron
€3,50 or €1,50 if you’re an existing Vandebron energy customer
No
ANWB subscription
€3,99
No
*Road pay-as-you-go is not a subscription plan. You can order a charge card for free, however you need to pay a €5 one off fee to use it without a subscription.
**With ANWB, you can order a charge card for free without a subscription, however you need to pay €1,95 for shipping costs.
***For residents of Groningen-Drenthe, with the exception of the following municipalities: Groningen and Eemsdelta.
Our subscribers can benefit from operator pricing
Depending on where you charge, paying the operator cost may be cheaper than a fixed pricing scheme.
Why? Often there are multiple charger networks in the same region. Networks compete with each other on price. When you use Tap, if you find a charger with lower operator pricing you’ll save money by charging there. With a fixed price, you’ll not be able to benefit from a cheaper charger.
Plan
Roaming - AC charger pricing
Roaming – DC charger (fast charger) pricing
Tap Light
Operator cost
Operator cost
Tap Groningen-Drenthe
Operator cost
Operator cost
Tap Roamer
Operator cost
Operator cost
Eneco E-Mobility without subscription
From €0,51 per kWh
From €0,61/kWh
Eneco E-Mobility with subscription
Operator Cost
Operator cost
Vandebron
Operator cost
Operator cost
E-Flux by Road Orange
Operator cost
Operator cost
ANWB laadpas
Operator cost
Operator cost
Shell Recharge
€0,53/kWh
€0,76/kWh
Pro tip: Compare charger prices often
Our analysis shows there’s an significant average price difference between equivalent normal chargers within walking distance of each other. Yep, you’re getting the same power, but could be paying more than you need to.
What makes Tap different?
- What you see is what you pay – The price you see in the app is inclusive of operator cost + VAT + transaction costs (if any).
- Find more reliable chargers – We only show you chargers where we have reliable information and filter out the rest for a better experience.
- Know where your money is going – Use Price Intel to see a full breakdown of costs (even complex ones), expected charging costs and compare which charge card has the cheapest price networks like Fastned, Equans and TotalEnergies – more coming soon!
- Keep track of your session costs in real-time – See power, energy and total costs throughout your charge session from your home screen.
- See prices for each charger on our map – Easily find the cheapest charger at a glance.
Resources and expertise: the methodology behind our data
Our experts fact checked and last updated this research on 4 May 2024.
Sources:
Charge card provider sites:
- E-flux by Road
- ANWB
- Shell Recharge
- Vandebron
Sampled chargers:
Data was taken from live tariff data of public chargers on 24 April 2024 incl. VAT.
Details:
Our experts reviewed charge card subscription pricing structures for the following popular providers.
Charge card without subscription:
- Tap Light – free subscription
- Road pay-as-you-charge
- ANWB charge card with no subscription
- Eneco E-mobility
- Shell Recharge
- Vattenfall InCharge standaard
Charge card with subscription
- Tap Groningen-Drenthe
- Tap Roamer
- Eneco E-Mobility charge card
- Road Orange charge card
- Vandebron charge card
- ANWB subscription
April 24th 2024:
- We randomly sampled 2 chargers live tariff data.
Frequently asked questions
How do I get a RFID Tapkey?
Is the RFID Tapkey safe?
How much can I save with a subscription?
Does my invoicing change when I subscribe to a plan?
- You sign up to a Tap subscription on September 4th. Your invoice period is September 4th – October 4th. You receive your invoice on the first day of your next invoice period, in this case October 5th.
Can I change my subscription?
- You sign up for a free Tap subscription on September 4th. Your invoice period is September 4th – October 4th.
- On September 19th, you upgrade to a paid subscription of £5/month.
- All charging sessions from September 19th onwards will benefit from the discounted pricing associated to the paid subscription.
- On your September invoice, we will charge you £2.50 for your subscription (we pro-rata the £5/month paid subscription cost for 15 days), plus all session costs.
How do I cancel my subscription?
You can cancel your subscription at any time in the Tap app. The cancellation will take effect at the end of the current invoicing cycle
Do you need a charge card to charge your car?
Providers often have an app that you can use to find available chargers and start a charge session. You do not need a charge card to charge your car with most providers, but it can make starting a charge session easier. You can simply tap it against a charger’s reader to start a charge and tap it once more to stop the session.
When should I consider subscribing?
If you charge more than 100kWh/month, you could save on transaction and additional charging costs with a subscription like Tap Premium.