Charging stations in Switzerland: Everything you need to know about electric charging stations
Be on the road with an environmentally friendly electric car and not have to pay attention to the expensive petrol or diesel prices. That sounds like a dream for many motorists. Nevertheless, potential buyers often decide against an electric car. The reason for this is that they fear that there are still too few charging stations. In this article, you'll learn why this concern is unfounded and what you need to know about charging stations for your electric car.
Electric cars are more popular in Switzerland than ever before. At the end of 2021, the number of electric cars rose to a peak of 70,200, and the demand for charging stations is also increasing, as is the number of electric cars. In Switzerland, the charging infrastructure is already very well developed and is constantly being expanded. You can find out where these charging stations are located and how to find them in this article.
Charging stations in Switzerland – keep track of them
About 20 percent of all e-car charging takes place in public spaces. To meet this demand, the EU recommends a guideline of around 10 vehicles per charging station. With 8.6 electric cars per charging station, the Swiss charging infrastructure is excellently developed. Many websites, such as Electro Suisse, now offer interactive maps on which all electric charging stations are noted. There are also various apps, such as eCarUp, which you can use to easily find charging stations near you.
Charging location, charging station or charging point
When it comes to charging electric vehicles, three important terms are distinguished: the charging location, the charging station and the charging point.
Charging location
The charging location refers to the place where charging e-cars is possible. This can be, for example, a parking space at a motorway service station.
Charging
The charging station, on the other hand, is the counterpart to the classic petrol pump for petrol cars. At a charging station, there are usually up to three permanently mounted power cables or sockets to which the electric car can be connected.
Charging point
The charging point stands for one of the cables that belongs to the charging station. Consequently, only one car can be charged at a charging point per period.
Thus, a charging location can have several charging stations and these in turn can have several charging points. To include every charging option, you should therefore start from the charging points.
Charging stations and plug types: What you need to know
Anyone who has ever looked at a charging station will notice that not every charging station is the same. The different types of charging stations differ in their charging power, which means that an electric car can be charged faster or slower.
To find out how long it takes to charge your electric car, you can easily calculate the charging time yourself. You can find this out by dividing the battery capacity (kWh) by the charging power (kW). For example, an electric car with a battery capacity of 71 kWh with a charging capacity of 22 kW needs about 3 hours and 12 minutes to be fully charged. If, on the other hand, the charging power is 100 kW, the same car needs about 43 minutes to charge. The charging power may vary depending on the type of plug.
However, be aware that the charging speed has a significant influence on the service life of your electric car. This is because fast charging releases a lot of heat, which can cause the battery to overheat. This overheating ultimately leads to a reduction in performance. We therefore recommend that you only use fast charging stations on the road.
Tesla Supercharger
Der weltweit führende Anbieter für Schnellladestationen ist das Unternehmen Tesla. Mit dessen Ladestation «Tesla Supercharger» dauert eine Aufladung nur 30 Minuten und kostet 30 Rappen pro kWh (DC). In der Schweiz gibt es insgesamt 21 Supercharger-Ladestationen. Diese sind jedoch nur für Tesla-Modelle zugänglich.
Ladenetzwerke und -karten: So lädst du dein Elektroauto in der Schweiz
Just like with the mobile phone subscription, there are different providers of charging stations. We recommend that you compare different offers and pay particular attention to the coverage of your preferred region when choosing your subscription. You should also find out whether your provider allows the use of other charging stations with which you have not taken out a subscription. To make it easier for you to choose the right provider, we have summarized the various offers for you in the following table.
| Provider | Number of charging points | Payment and prices | Learn |
| Plug'n Roll | 5'500 | Charging and paying is possible via an app. | |
| Evpass | 1'500 | Payment can be made via a smartphone app, via SMS, credit card or classic charging card. Flat rate prices are available from 50 CHF per month. Spontaneous charges cost a flat rate of CHF 1.50 and CHF 0.50 per kWh. |
Evpass can also be used with the SBB Swisspass. |
| MOVE | 1'800 | Charging is possible with or without a subscription, also via smartphone app. A subscription costs CHF 59.00 per year plus CHF 0.35 per kWh. |
For all those who charge more than twice a month, we recommend taking out a subscription. |
| Swisscharge | About 3,500 | With Swisscharge, you pay a start-up fee. Billing is consumption-based (per kWh) or time-based (per minute/hour). | Swisscharge is a charging community of various providers. You can therefore use up to 50,000 charging stations throughout Europe. |
The classic way to pay for charging your electric car is to use the charging card. You order these from a provider of charging stations, deposit your credit card and can then pay at the charging stations. Compare the different providers and decide on the main provider that best suits your needs. This is because it is increasingly possible to recharge with a charging card from another provider. However, there is often a fee, as is the case with withdrawals from third-party ATMs. Conveniently, in many places, payment is combined with an app that can show the billing or even the way to the nearest charging station.
Also on the road internationally with the electric car
Are you planning to go on holiday with your electric car? Maybe even outside Switzerland? This is possible, because many international partnerships are concluded between the various providers. This will reduce the number of charging cards required and open up a Europe-wide network. The largest international provider is ChargeNow with 140,000 charging stations worldwide. In Europe, Plugsurfing with 130,000 charging stations and NewMotion with 125,000 charging stations are the largest providers of e-car charging stations.
Don't worry about the range
Switzerland is very well equipped with charging stations and even took third place in the European ranking of fast-charging stations in 2021. On Swiss motorways, 130 fast-charging stations are available per 100 kilometres of motorway. The worry that you won't find your way to the charging station in time during a trip is therefore completely unfounded.
Now all you have to do is decide on the right charging card provider. In view of the large selection, this decision is not easy. There are two things to keep in mind when making your decision: there should be enough charging stations available in your area and if you occasionally travel abroad, an international partnership would be beneficial. We recommend that you think carefully about your needs so that you choose the provider that suits you best.