EV Charging Roaming Explained: Hubject, ADAC e-Charge, Chargemap Pass

📅 Published on 18 June 2026

An app like Elunio shows you where a station is and what it costs - but you still pay there via a charging card, the operator's own app, or a roaming card. Roaming means one card or app works at many different operators at once, similar to mobile roaming abroad.

Hubject runs one of Europe's largest roaming networks, "Intercharge", in the background - cards like ADAC e-Charge, EnBW mobility+, or Maingau all use this network without users noticing it directly. You don't even need to be an ADAC member for their card. Chargemap Pass works similarly but is its own network, focused mainly on France and continental Europe.

Worth knowing: roaming is usually more expensive than the operator's direct price on-site, because an extra intermediary fee applies. For frequent drivers who often charge at unfamiliar operators, a roaming card is still worth having as a backup so you're never stuck without a way to pay - alongside the operator's own app, which is usually cheaper on-site.

How Roaming Works Behind the Scenes

When a charging card or roaming app is used at an unfamiliar station, a multi-step process runs in the background that drivers usually never notice. The card carries an RFID chip with a unique identifier that gets sent to the charging point's backend the moment it is tapped. From there, the request goes to a roaming network such as Hubject with its Intercharge platform, which checks whether the card is valid and whether the station's operator accepts roaming payments from that particular provider at all. Only once this check comes back positive does the station release the charging session. At the end of the session, the amount of energy consumed is reported back through the same roaming platform to the card provider, who generates the invoice and processes payment. The technical protocols that make this exchange possible are usually OCPI (Open Charge Point Interface) or OICP (Open InterCharge Protocol), which have become something of a European quasi-standard, even though not every operator supports every protocol equally well. For drivers, this means a single tap of the card is enough - the complex matching between networks happens completely invisibly in the background.

The Main Roaming Networks and Cards at a Glance

Hubject with its Intercharge platform forms the largest background network in Europe and is used by many other providers without end users ever noticing. The ADAC e-Charge card relies on exactly this network and is available even to non-members. EnBW mobility+ additionally runs its own very large network of direct contracts, supplemented by roaming partners for stations EnBW does not cover directly. Maingau Autostrom is popular with frequent drivers because its monthly base fee is low and its per-kilowatt-hour prices are competitive at many stations. The Chargemap Pass originated in France but by now works across a very large share of European charging infrastructure, particularly in France, Belgium, Spain, and Italy. The Shell Recharge Card, meanwhile, stands out for its broad international coverage, since Shell has access to several different roaming networks simultaneously after a series of acquisitions. Which card ultimately fits best depends heavily on which countries and regions you mainly travel through.

A Worked Example: Direct Price vs. Roaming Surcharge

A simple worked example makes the difference tangible: a fast-charging station charges 0.45 euros per kilowatt-hour directly through its own operator app. The same station often costs between 0.55 and 0.65 euros per kilowatt-hour when paid for with a roaming card, because of the added intermediary fee. For a typical 50-kilowatt-hour charge on a longer trip, that adds up to a surcharge of roughly five to ten euros compared with the direct price. Anyone who relies on such a station regularly, say twice a week, can easily rack up a three-digit sum in extra costs over a year, simply because the operator's own app was not installed. That is exactly why it is worth checking briefly before a trip whether an operator app is available at the destination, and treating the roaming card deliberately as a fallback for unfamiliar or rarely used stations rather than as the default payment method.

When a Roaming Card Really Pays Off

For certain groups of drivers, the convenience of a roaming card clearly outweighs the price surcharge. Field sales staff who travel through changing regions every day benefit from not having to install a new app and set up an account for every new operator they encounter. Anyone who regularly drives abroad also saves the hassle of setting up a different country-specific app with its own language and payment system every time. A roaming card is also useful purely as a fallback: if the preferred app fails to work at a particular location, or the operator app's server happens to be unreachable, a physical card often saves the situation. For drivers who charge almost exclusively at two or three familiar stations in their own city, on the other hand, the direct operator app is usually the better choice, since it typically offers the lowest prices with no added intermediary fee.

What to Compare When Choosing a Card

When comparing different roaming cards, it is worth looking at several criteria at once. The monthly base fee varies widely: some cards are entirely free, while others charge four to five euros a month, which only pays off with correspondingly frequent use. An idle fee, charged after a certain amount of time parked at the charger, should also be known in advance so it does not come as a surprise. Actual network coverage in your everyday area and in the countries you regularly travel to matters just as much - a card heavily focused on France is of little use if you mainly drive through Scandinavia. Finally, it is worth checking whether prices are shown transparently in advance through an app or overview, and whether billing happens via direct debit, credit card, or invoice, since that affects how easy it is to keep track of your own charging costs.

How Elunio Helps With the Roaming Decision

Elunio displays an approximate reference price at many listed charging stations and, where available, adds a community-reported price reflecting what someone actually paid there - the app does not distinguish between a direct price and a roaming price. This estimate does not replace the exact final invoice, which can differ slightly depending on the contract and current tariff structure, but it helps you roughly gauge before arrival whether it is worth going through the operator's app or whether your own roaming card is simply the easier option in that particular case. On longer trips with several charging stops, this makes it possible to plan in advance which payment method to use at which station, instead of deciding spontaneously on the spot and potentially paying more than necessary. Anyone who also links the app to their own car immediately sees whether the estimated charging time and total price look realistic for that specific battery size.

Common Problems With Roaming Cards and How to Avoid Them

In practice, the same few problems tend to come up again and again with roaming cards. Most commonly, the card simply is not recognized at the station, which is often caused by a damaged RFID chip or a temporary glitch in the operator's backend - in that case, it helps to have a second payment method such as an app or a credit card ready. Another frequent annoyance: the charging session starts without any issue, but the final invoice only appears in the card account several days later, because billing data has to pass through several intermediate roaming stops before reaching the actual card provider. That is completely normal and no cause for concern. Some new cards are also temporarily blocked the first time they are used because a PIN confirmation or activation step in the customer account is still missing - checking the associated app before the first trip avoids unpleasant surprises on the road.

Outlook: Is Charging Card Roaming Getting Simpler?

The EU's AFIR regulation (Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Regulation) requires newly built public fast-charging stations above a certain power class to offer ad-hoc payment by credit or debit card, with no prior registration through an app or card provider required at all. Over the coming years, this is likely to mean that a growing number of stations can simply be paid for with your own bank card or a contactless smartphone payment, while roaming cards and apps gradually shift from a necessity to an additional option. Roaming networks are unlikely to disappear entirely, though, since they often still offer lower prices than spontaneous ad-hoc payment and provide extra features such as charging history, invoice overviews, or business expense reporting that a simple card tap at the charger cannot deliver. Until then, it remains sensible to keep both a roaming card and at least one operator app ready on your phone, so you are prepared for any situation.

A Practical Checklist Before Your Next Long Trip

Before setting off on a longer trip through unfamiliar territory, it is worth running through a short checklist. First, make sure the roaming card itself is physically in the car and not left at home in a drawer, since a card that cannot be found at the charger is useless in that moment. Second, check that the associated account has a valid payment method on file and that the card has already been activated, ideally weeks before the trip rather than the night before departure. Third, install at least one or two of the most common operator apps for the region being visited, since a direct app often beats the roaming card on price whenever it is available. Fourth, keep a backup payment method such as a credit card within reach, in case both the roaming card and every relevant app fail at the same unlucky moment. Following this short routine takes only a few minutes but removes almost all of the stress that can otherwise build up around charging on unfamiliar roads.

Sources: Hubject GmbH · ADAC e.V. – ADAC e-Charge · Chargemap

🔗 Permalink