You've landed at Keflavík International Airport, collected your rental EV, and there's a 50 km drive to Reykjavík between you and your hotel bed. The car's at 70–90%, which is comfortably enough. But if your flight got in at 2 a.m. and your hotel is in 101 Reykjavík, it helps to know exactly where the chargers are on this road.
Right at the airport
Keflavík International Airport (KEF) has chargers in the long-stay car park, but they're mostly meant for airport staff and people leaving their car for a week. You're driving away from the airport, not parking at it, so skip them.
The rental lots (Hertz, Avis, Blue Car Rental, Lava, Reykjavík Cars and so on) usually charge their EVs to 80–100% before handover. Check the state of charge before you drive off. If it's under 70%, ask them to top it up or note it on the contract.
Reykjanesbær, the first town
Reykjanesbær (Keflavík and Njarðvík combined) is 5 km from the airport and your first realistic charging stop if you need one. Options:
- N1 Reykjanesbær: 2× CCS2 DC fast chargers, 50 kW. Contactless payment.
- Orkan Fitjar (Njarðvík): a Kempower flagship, up to 600 kW shared across seven CCS stalls plus one CCS/CHAdeMO. The fastest in the area right now.
- ON Power at the Aurora Hotel: DC fast, 50 kW. Often empty even in summer.
For a 10-minute top-up before Reykjavík, go to Orkan Fitjar in Njarðvík. The power is high enough that you'll add 15–25 kWh while you get a coffee.
The drive to Reykjavík (Reykjanesbraut, Route 41)
The 50 km from the airport to Reykjavík on the Reykjanesbraut is flat highway. A typical EV uses about 9–11 kWh on this leg. There are no chargers between Reykjanesbær and the Reykjavík city limit, and you don't need any. Even leaving the rental lot at 40%, you'll arrive in Reykjavík with 25% or more.
Once you reach Reykjavík
The Reykjavík area has the densest charging in Iceland. For your first night:
- Hotel parking with a Type 2 socket: plug in overnight. Free at most places, slow but fine.
- Hotel with no charging: there are public chargers on most major streets (Hringbraut, Suðurlandsbraut, Borgartún), mostly ON Power 11–22 kW AC and 50 kW DC.
- Tesla Supercharger Reykjavík at the IKEA site in Garðabær: 12 stalls, 250 kW, open to any CCS2 EV. About 10 minutes from downtown.
- Orkan at Smáralind shopping centre in Kópavogur: fast chargers up to 300 kW, and rarely busy outside Black Friday weekend.
Late-night arrivals: a 30-second plan
- Make sure the car has 60% or more when you leave the rental lot.
- Drive straight to your hotel. The 50 km uses only 15–20% of the battery.
- Plug into the hotel's AC charger overnight if there is one. Otherwise sort it out in the morning.
- If you do need a fast charge on the way, take the Orkan Fitjar exit (Njarðvík) just off the Reykjanesbraut, about 7 minutes from the airport.
Driving straight south or north
Some itineraries skip Reykjavík and head to Vík or Borgarnes on arrival day. From Keflavík:
- South (Vík, South Coast): drive 60 km to Selfoss. There's an Orkan Kempower flagship (up to 600 kW total across several stalls), an ON Power site and Ísorka at Olís, all within walking distance of each other. Charge there and carry on.
- North (Borgarnes, Akureyri): drive 100 km through Reykjavík to Borgarnes, which has ON Power 100 kW and N1 50 kW. The Hvalfjörður tunnel adds 7 km, a small hit on range.
The Reykjanes region charging map has everything around the airport, and the EV charging cost breakdown covers what each top-up costs.
The late-night winter scenario
Worst case: you land at midnight in late January, it's -8 °C, the car has 50% and your hotel is in downtown Reykjavík. You'll still finish the 50 km with 25–30% left, because a rental that's been parked warm keeps the battery happy on the first leg. You won't need to charge before bed.
The exception is a car that sat outside for 12+ hours, cold-soaked, and shows 40%. Then do a 10-minute top-up at Orkan Fitjar in Njarðvík before getting on the Reykjanesbraut. Winter consumption is real, and 1 a.m. is a bad time to find out how cold your car is.