There’s probably never been a better time to be involved in the electric vehicle industry. Gas prices have soared, reaching their highest level in four years at a nationwide average of $4.18 per gallon. Couple that with steadily climbing inflation rates, and you have drivers on the lookout for low-cost options to get from point A to point B. That’s one of the primary selling points of electric vehicles: lower operating costs and reduced emissions. As a result, the EV market has grown significantly since 2015, when it occupied just 0.7% of the U.S. market, to 5.7% at the end of 2025.

Achieving this growth hasn’t been easy; EV brands have had to get inventive with offers to draw consumer attention, especially since electric vehicles cost more than gas-powered cars. Free charging at public stations was one such marketing technique that the likes of Tesla employed to drive down the cost of ownership, and until recently, drivers often got these perks without limits. However, as you can imagine, this tactic cost automakers quite a bit of money. So, now that EVs are tangibly more mainstream, the free charging offers are disappearing.

If you plan to buy an EV, you should note that it’s likely to cost more these days with the discontinuation of federal tax credits last September. With this in mind, knowing the relatively few automakers that still offer free charging in some form as of 2026 could save you some money down the line. We’re covering five of them, although these offers can change at any time.

BMW is one of the few EV manufacturers that still offers complimentary public charging benefits in 2026. The German automaker’s i4, i5, and iX models are all eligible for 1,000 kWh of complimentary charging via the Electrify America charging network.

To provide more context on what that figure means, we’ll use the 2026 i4 as a case study. All trims have a usable battery capacity of 81.2 kWh. That means you can get around 12.3 full recharges, give or take, from BMW’s complimentary charging. In mileage terms, the miles you’ll get out of your battery depend on the trim you select. The eDrive40 ranges between 307 and 333 miles on a full charge, while the xDrive40 ranges between 268 and 287 miles. Using the 307-mile range as a benchmark, the 1,000-kWh deal should translate to roughly 3,780 free miles. The credits expire after two years.

That’s a significant freebie, especially when you consider how much it costs to charge an EV. According to the United States Energy Information Administration, Americans paid an average of 17.83 cents per kWh as of March 2026 for transportation, which means buying any of the models mentioned above will save you about $180. Complimentary charging worth 2,000 kWh is also available on the i7, BMW’s electric version of its 7-series flagship sedan. With the i7 xDrive60 trim’s estimated range reaching anywhere between 296 and 311 miles, the savings should nearly double. The i7’s offer is valid for three years.

Mercedes-Benz has a slightly different approach to its complimentary charging offers. While BMW places a hard cap on its energy allotment in both packages, Mercedes-Benz provides its customers with two distinct options. First, and more straightforwardly, activating MB.CHARGE Public through the Mercedes-Benz app grants drivers two years of complimentary unlimited DC charging sessions at Mercedes-Benz High-Power Charging stations. Charging speeds can reach up to 400 kW at these designated locations.

As of the time of writing, the offer covers all EVs and hybrids from the 2024 through 2027 model years. The second offer from Mercedes-Benz depends on user preference. If you purchase an EV from the 2025 model year (like the EQE or EQS, for example), you can choose between a Home Wallbox — which lets you charge your car at home at speeds up to 11 kW and has an MSRP of $945 — or a $1,000 charging voucher you can cash in at any Charge Point Operator within the MB.CHARGE Public network. The Tesla Supercharger network isn’t covered by this voucher, though. The Home Wallbox’s speeds may not seem significant, but it adds up to 30 miles of range per hour, so, logically speaking, it’s intended for overnight use.

This offer comes alongside the two-year complimentary charging coverage mentioned earlier, so you could get quite a few extra miles for free, courtesy of Mercedes-Benz. You should note that the Home Wallbox offer does not comprise installation fees — they’re entirely your responsibility as the customer.

Volkswagen has a wide range of promotional charging offers available to buyers via the Electrify America network for its ID. series. Unlike Mercedes and BMW, where you’d need to purchase relatively new model years, Volkswagen covers its EVs as far back as the 2021 production year with free public charging. To access most of these plans, though, you’ll need to make a $10 deposit on your Electrify America account to cover idle fees (i.e., costs after your car reaches a full charge or the charge session stops).

2021 ID. model years are probably the best value-for-money offers on the market; you’ll get three years of unlimited charging with no restriction on charge time. For 2022 and 2023 models, Volkswagen imposes a 30-minute limit on charging sessions (although the number of sessions remains unlimited), as well as a one-hour waiting period between charges. The offers get a little more restrictive from 2024 onwards, as one would expect, especially with the range bump the 2024 ID.4 got. 

The unlimited promotions morph into a three-year Electrify America Pass+ membership and 500 kWh of complimentary DC Fast charging for the 2024 and 2025 Volkswagen ID. lineup. The Pass+ membership implies 25% savings in charging costs compared to basic account rates. For 2026, complimentary charging is no longer available, and the Pass+ membership duration drops to two years. In summary, opting for a 2026 model only lets you recharge for 25% less than regular drivers for two years — with no free miles in the package.

Unlimited complimentary charging deals from EV manufacturers are few and far between in 2026. Audi, however, is perhaps the most notable brand still flying that flag. The automaker’s 2024 and 2025 class of EVs has a wide range of free charging for drivers to take advantage of at Electrify America stations. However, there’s a key difference: the deal validity lasts for two years for 2024 models, compared to just one year for 2025 models. For now, that’s the only change in Audi’s unlimited charging promotions. The coverage includes the Q6, SQ6, Q8, SQ8, GT, and Sportback e-tron trims across both model years.

If the Q4 or the Q4 Sportback are more up your alley, there’s also a free charging offer available, although it has a limit that lines up with what you’d expect in the current EV marketplace. Both models feature 250 kWh of complimentary charging. Using a 2025 Q4 e-tron, which has a battery capacity of 77 kWh, as a case study, that’s good for just around three full recharges. That mark falls well behind the likes of BMW with its 1,000-kWh offering, which implies the offer is more of an onboarding promotion than anything else.

However, given the extensive unlimited coverage on the other models outlined earlier, it’s ultimately a matter of budgeting. The base 2025 Q4 has an MSRP of $51,095, while the SQ6 starts at $74,195, so the extra miles of free charging add some value over time compared with the Q4.

When Tesla launched its Supercharger network back in 2012, it offered unlimited Supercharging to encourage consumers to dip their toes into the EV market. Times have changed since then, with the automaker phasing out the offer at the end of 2016, although it has occasionally brought back free Supercharging for special promotions.

Those special promotions have carried through to 2026, where taking delivery of a Model 3 Premium or Performance trim qualifies buyers for a full year of free Supercharging. That offer is very close to ending, though; June 15 is the last day free Supercharging is available to new Tesla Model 3 Premium or Performance owners. Used models are ineligible; it’s one of the things you should look out for if you’re buying a used Tesla Model 3. 

However, while this particular offer will expire in the near future, bear in mind that Tesla’s charging promos are somewhat frequent. For instance, Cybertruck buyers got free lifetime Supercharging at the beginning of 2025, and promos have continued to pop up at the end of quarters.

The more permanent option available to new customers at the moment is the trade-in mile credit. If you currently drive a gas-powered car and a Tesla is on your radar, you can get 2,000 free miles of Supercharging when you trade it in. These miles are valid for two years.