Smart: this feature helps you avoid high blocking fees at charging stations

Additional costs

Blocking fees sound logical: charging stations have to be shared, and you can’t just leave your car on the charger all weekend while your neighbors are waiting.
More and more providers are therefore charging extra if your car is left hanging after being fully charged.
But in practice, this often leads to crazy situations.
Who wants to get out of bed at 4 a.m. to disconnect their car because it is fully charged?
And let’s face it: at that time of day no one is jostling for a charging spot.

Out of sight

According to the ANWB, the original purpose of the blocking fees is being lost sight of.
It’s not just the daytime and evening hours when the rates go up; the extra charges continue in the middle of the night as well.
This makes nighttime charging sessions unnecessarily expensive, which is exactly what ANWB wants to change with their new Auto-stop feature.

The Auto-stop function

The ANWB is introducing a smart solution: the Auto-stop function.
This feature in the ANWB Charging Card app ensures that your charging session will automatically stop as soon as your battery is full, between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m..
That way you don’t have to worry about sky-high blocking charges.
With the Auto-stop function, according to the ANWB, charging remains fair and affordable and you do not have to move your car in the middle of the night.

Providers are adapting

The launch of the Auto-stop feature also puts pressure on charging station providers.
Following sustained criticism from users and organizations such as the ANWB, Allego – one of the larger charging aaab providers on the market – has announced it is adjusting their blocking tariffs.
Starting in September, night hours between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m. will be exempt from the rates and charges will only be calculated after a session duration of more than four hours.

Also read: Answers to most frequently asked questions about electric charging