At Ionity, you can go directly to the payment kiosk as needed.
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Quick NewsInfrastructure
Ionity Uses Ad-Hoc Payment Birdhouse at Some Stations
Ionity employs a single terminal for ad-hoc payments at certain of its charging stations, located next to street lamps. The device is shaped like a birdhouse, allowing the provider to avoid equipping each charging post with its own card payment terminal.
By Cora Werwitzke
10/07/2026 - 3:30 PM
- [IONITY](https://www.electrive.net/tag/ionity/ "IONITY")
- [Germany](https://www.electrive.net/tag/deutschland/ "Germany")
- [Charging Stations](https://www.electrive.net/tag/ladestationen/ "Charging Stations")
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Those who want to initiate charging and pay at certain Ionity charging stations must look around for a sort of birdhouse. Inside it is the terminal responsible for ad-hoc payment across all stations. Important: Those who charge using a charging card or app can still proceed with their charging directly at the station. Nothing changes here. Only those who choose the admittedly expensive ad-hoc payment option at 69 cents per kWh are affected by this change.
In practice, the customer activates the display on the charging station as usual, but then goes to the payment terminal at the lamp post to pay with a card – before plugging in the cable to the car. A few extra meters that Ionity assumes its customers are willing to walk, which in turn reduces construction costs. Who knows, maybe this will have a positive impact during the next ad-hoc tariff change?
In response to an electrive inquiry, Felix Sold, Head of Marketing, Brand & Communications at Ionity, explained that the “Birdhouses” are Ionity’s central card terminals for older charging stations where a terminal cannot be easily installed directly. Through such Birdhouses, customers can pay contactlessly with debit or credit cards at multiple charging points.
Sold further specifies that the rollout is part of implementing AFIR requirements, with a total of 464 locations in 22 countries to be upgraded. “In Germany, the birdhouses are already installed at over 60 locations, such as in Gruibingen Süd, Riedener Wald West, or Haidt Süd. More locations are being added continuously.” Regarding the distinctive design, Sold adds, “And since we had to set up an additional box anyway, we thought: why not make it something beautiful? That’s how the map terminal turned into a birdhouse—matching our brand symbol, the red kite.”
smartdroid.de, x.com
Keywords
- IONITY
- Germany
- Charging stations
- HPC
- DC
- Europe
3 Comments
on “At Ionity, you can get a payable birdhouse ad-hoc”
Volker
10/07/2026 at 15:44
Eagles nest in birdhouses; one never learns... ;-)
Answers
Morgenmicha
10/07/2026 at 16:50
Ionity is expensive not only for adhoc use. :)
Answers
EdgarW
10/07/2026 at 16:59
@electrive, is the photo intentionally only visible in the article list but not inside the article?
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