Romania appears in the Tesla app with a tariff of 0.43 euros/kWh, exactly like in Austria and almost double that of Spain or Croatia, claims the Intelligent Energy Association (AEI), in a new analysis.

The selling price of electricity at car charging stations, the price to the end consumer and the DAM electricity price in several European countries, according to AEI, would put Romania in the top places.

Vlogger Attilia Bertici, who recently traveled the distance from Satu Mare to Africa (Morocco) and back in a Tesla, however, stated for Energynomics that Romania has much lower prices than other European countries.

Here are the prices, according to AEI.

Attila Bertici says is not

“I charge at home from panels, mostly at Tesla Supercharger, where it is cheaper than in Western Europe. In Romania it is not more expensive. In France and Italy (the price) is much higher than in Romania. Croatia the same, Spain the same. In Romania at PPC blue with a subscription that does not cost (you buy 200 kW for 300 lei) and you charge with 150kw so it is Supercharger… That way you charge with 1.5 lei which is already the price of electricity at home. I showed the prices in the vlog when I went to Africa and back… In Spain it is 0.41 (eurocents), Croatia the same, Hungary is 0.44, France 0.42”, the vlogger from Satu Mare declared for Energynomics.

What AEI claims

The AEI analysis claims that although Romania does not have the most expensive electricity in Europe (if we do not compare it to purchasing power), in many periods, the wholesale price of electricity is below the EU average. However, electric car users pay among the highest fast charging tariffs. This contradiction says a lot about how the Romanian market is perceived by the large operators.

For Tesla, Romania is not a volume market. It is a safety market, a few stations well placed on important road corridors, intended mainly for regional transit. In the absence of a constant flow of local users, investment and operating costs are recovered through a higher price per kWh. In other words, a few pay a lot, instead of many paying a little.

This economic logic is easy to understand from the company’s perspective, but difficult to accept for consumers. Especially when comparison with other countries in the region is inevitable. Hungary or Poland, with significantly lower tariffs, demonstrate that the difference lies neither in geography nor in the cost of energy, but in the level of use and local competition. This is where the real problem arises, Romania does not yet have real competition in the area of ​​ultra-fast charging stations. Few stations, limited coverage and rare alternatives outside of large cities. In such a context, the price is not constrained by the market, but dictated by the operator. And Tesla knows very well that the Romanian user most of the time does not have real options (lack of competition in this sector).

Moreover, the regional pricing policy practiced by Tesla treats Eastern Europe as an area where investments must be amortized quickly, because the risks are considered higher, slow adoption of electric cars, legislative instability, modest road infrastructure. All of these are “embedded” in the final price paid by the driver.

The case of Serbia, where charging is free, shows that Tesla knows how to be flexible when it wants to stimulate a market. Romania, however, has gone beyond the “promotion” phase and entered directly into the monetization phase, without benefiting from the advantages of a mature market.

The problem is not only the price of 0.43 euros/kWh. The problem is the message it sends, that Romania is a market that can be taxed more, because it does not have enough critical mass to matter. As long as the number of electric cars remains relatively small, and the alternative infrastructure is not developed aggressively, this message will not change. Prices will not decrease out of goodwill. They will only decrease when the stations are full, competition is real and the Romanian user will finally have a choice.

Autor: Bogdan Tudorache

Active in the economic and business press for the past 26 years, Bogdan graduated Law and then attended intensive courses in Economics and Business English. He went up to the position of editor-in-chief since 2006 and has provided management and editorial policy for numerous economic publications dedicated especially to the community of foreign investors in Romania. From 2003 to 2013 he was active mainly in the financial-banking sector. He started freelancing for Energynomics in 2013, notable for his advanced knowledge of markets, business communities and a mature editorial style, both in Romanian and English.