Electric vehicles are generally more expensive than their gasoline counterparts, and the discontinuation of federal tax credits means you’re not getting the big breaks you used to. To help ease the pain of your monthly payment, some EV manufacturers offer perks that can drive down ownership costs. The most significant of these is free charging at public charging stations. While many of these incentives have dried up over the last couple of years, a dwindling number of automakers still offer free charging with the purchase or lease of a new EV. We’ve rounded up every new EV that offers free electric charging as of this writing — check out the table below.
Which new EVs offer free charging?
Offering complimentary charging at the manufacturer level isn’t a new phenomenon. Until a few years ago, the Tesla Model S and Model X were sold with free unlimited charging via Tesla’s proprietary Supercharger network. Tesla’s previous referral program also awarded a certain number of Supercharger miles when an owner referred a friend who purchased a Tesla.
While Tesla doesn’t typically offer free Supercharging anymore (every now and then, Tesla will advertise free Supercharging for a limited time if you purchase a unit of inventory by a certain date), other manufacturers with long-range EVs have teamed up with existing charging networks to provide a certain amount of free charging upon vehicle purchase. Even more exciting is that these perks are applicable to each network’s ever-expanding list of DC fast-charging stations.
Operating under the same principle as Tesla’s Supercharger stations, DC fast chargers can supply power to your EV’s battery at a much quicker rate than the Level 2 charging stations that have been around for over a decade. DC fast-charging stations drastically reduce charging time, making long-distance road trips possible.
So how much free DC charging can you expect from your new EV? The following table shows each new EV that offers complimentary charging, the terms of free charging, and which network you can use to fill up for free.
Which free charging deals are the best?
Unlimited free charging for a certain number of years is the gold standard here. Simply plug in to an appropriate charger and you don’t have to worry about anything else. Unfortunately, this perk is almost nonexistent in 2026, as electric vehicle manufacturers discontinue the most lucrative benefits as they face a more challenging EV market. Currently, only Merecedes-Benz offers unlimited free charging, and only if you’re plugged into the small but growing Mercedes-Benz High-Power Charging network.
Free charging with time caps per session are also good, though you have to pay attention to how long you’re plugged in lest you incur a fee. In these scenarios, there’s often a cooldown period between each session, so you can’t just unplug and plug back in, or move to another charger, to get an immediate second free session. At the time of this publication, no automakers currently offer this perk.
The next-best option is a kilowatt-hour credit, which tells drivers how much free electricity they can draw before the credit runs out. For instance, do you have a 2026 BMW i4? Its usable battery pack capacity is about 81 kWh. Considering BMW includes 1,000 kWh of free charging with this vehicle, you can fill up from empty 12 times before you start paying. A charging credit is roughly equivalent but harder to compare, as the number of times you can recharge your vehicle depends on the charger’s cost of electricity, which can vary between chargers.
A couple things to note: Most of these promotions have language that makes it clear that free charging is only applicable to vehicles purchased for personal use, and not for commercial purposes such as ride-hailing services or for fleets. Read the fine print to make sure you qualify for complimentary charging based on how you plan to use the vehicle.
Also, some of the vehicles listed below offer charging credits with ChargePoint. While ChargePoint does operate its own DC fast-charging stations, it also partners with other charging networks — including Blink and EVgo — to facilitate payments through its app. Check the ChargePoint app to see which third-party networks your credits can be applied to.
