How to Charge and Park Your Car in Estonia
Text Timo Raussi Photos Enefit, Timo Raussi
Enefit fast chargers can be found, among other places, in the parking lots of Rimi and Selver hypermarkets.
Electric vehicle sales in Estonia have not yet really taken off, but the good news for EV travellers is that charging infrastructure in the Baltic countries is developing at a rapid pace.
The largest charging operators, Estonia’s Enefit and Eleport, as well as Elektrum and Ignitis ON, owned by the Latvian and Lithuanian state electricity companies, are constantly building new fast 50–100 kW and ultra-fast 150–400 kW charging stations across Estonia. These are being installed both along major highways connecting cities, and in smaller regions.
Fast and ultra-fast charging points
Elektrum has recently gained positive attention and media visibility in Estonia. Since the summer, it has been building a nationwide network of 170 fast and ultra-fast chargers for the Olerex service station chain. Before Christmas, the company also connected the first fast chargers in the parking lots of Coop grocery stores at nearly 30 locations, including Haapsalu, Eastern Estonia, Hiiumaa, and Saaremaa, where previously drivers often had to make do with slow basic charging, if any at all. Within two years, the plan is to create as many as 207 Coop fast-charging points, 90% of which will be located outside the Tallinn area. Lidl has also installed Elektrum chargers in the parking areas of some of its stores. The Elektrum Drive charging app works with Finnish phone numbers and payment cards as well.
Those who have driven in the southern Baltic States may have spotted Ignitis ON fast chargers. In Estonia, there are now already more than 60 of them, for example in the parking lots of Maxima and Grossi grocery stores. What makes Ignitis ON particularly convenient is that users are not required to register personal details in the app. Charging can be paid for as a one-time online transaction by scanning the QR code on the side of the charger. A similar Pay & Charge system is also used by the Circle K service station chain at 20 of its charging points, which feature 300 kW fast chargers.
Pay without an app
Card payment terminals are not yet available at all charging stations in Estonia, but Enefit has already upgraded well over a hundred of its public charging points with card payment options. Neste’s three 200 kW fast-charging stations, two in Tallinn and one in Pärnu, also accept card payments in addition to app-based payments. Neste’s night-time discount will continue into 2026: instead of the regular price of €0.39/kWh, the car’s battery can be charged between 19:00 and 7:00 for €0.29/kWh. The general price level among other charging operators in Estonia ranges between €0.37 and €0.54 per kilowatt-hour.
A jungle of maps and apps?
Those looking for the lowest charging prices or special offers will also need to install multiple operator apps on their phone in Estonia. Finding charging points and navigating to them, however, is easy, as Google Maps clearly shows all the charging stations of the operators mentioned above, including connector types and power ratings.
SNABB is a private parking area operator whose mobile app allows users to search for parking areas in Estonia’s main cities and pay for parking there, as well as charge an electric car at Eleport charging points. Another similar so-called hybrid app is pargi.ee, whose newer versions have added a large number of Eleport and Ignitis chargers that can be managed from a single interface.
Parking via text? Only for Estonian phones
From the Estonian-language information signs in many parking areas, one might mistakenly understand with the help of Google Translate that parking can be started and ended by calling or sending text to a short number. However, these numbers only work with Estonian phone numbers.
Before travelling, it is therefore a good idea to download one or more of the most common Estonian parking apps, which show paid parking zones and allow convenient payment even for overnight parking. Popular choices among Finns for example include the aforementioned Snabb and Pargi.ee, as well as the Finnish-made ParkMan app, which can be used to pay for parking in gated Europark areas in Estonia. It is also worth visiting the website parkimine.ee, where parking time can be purchased for Ühisteenused-operated parking areas in several cities, or downloading their Parkner app.
Free customer parking for 1–3 hours in front of shopping centres often requires entering the car’s registration number into a machine located in the building’s entrance hall. Some parking areas, and nearly all parking garages, also have ticket machines that accept debit or credit cards.
Street parking in Estonia is nowadays no less safe than in Finland, as long as nothing loose is left visible in the car. Detailed information about parking rules and free parking zones in different cities can be found by entering search terms such as “Parking in Tallinn”, “Parking in Pärnu”, “Parking in Tartu”, or “Parking in Narva” into Google. Note: Starting from September of last year, free parking for electric vehicles in central Tallinn will be limited to city residents only.
Have a pleasant and worry-free drive to Estonia!
To learn more about this and similar topicscharging operator Driving to Estonia electric car charging stations Elektrum Enefit fast charger Parking parking app
