New legislation aimed at public EV charge point operators

As the number of EV chargers on the road increases with more people braving the switch to electric vehicles, the UK Government has taken action to improve accessibility and reduce the dreaded “range anxiety”. 

But what does this mean for charge point operators?

The UK Government has recently approved new regulations for public chargers of electric vehicles (“EVs”), focusing on transparency, reliability, and ease of payment.

The new framework, as detailed in the Public Charge Point Regulations 2023, aims to make chargers far more accessible for EV owners across the UK. The regulations come as part of the Government’s ambitious target of achieving net-zero emissions from all cars by 2035, and are expected to come into force later this month.

But what do the regulations say and what do charge point operators (“CPOs”) (being defined as anyone who owns a charge point, or operates one on behalf of an owner) need to do in order to maximise compliance?

Contactless payment

Under the new regulations, CPOs must ensure that any public charge point capable of producing 8 kilowatts or above has a contactless payment functionality. This must be in place within 1 year of the regulations taking effect, to allow those not currently compliant to put in place the necessary payment infrastructure, as we move towards an increasingly cashless society.

This also applies to rapid charging points, which the regulations define as a charging point with a power of 50 kilowatts or above, and will include Tesla’s “Superchargers”.

Although certain CPOs already offer a contactless option for public EV charging, the regulations will ensure a uniformity across all chargers applicable chargers in the UK, meaning that by late 2024 users wishing to pay contactless will have a much wider access to EV charging whilst out and about.

Payment roaming

Another aim of the regulations is to increase transparency of public EV charging networks, particularly around pricing models for the benefit of EV owners.

A CPO must also ensure that users are able to pay for charging their vehicle using a third party roaming provider. This means that CPOs must engage with providers of payment services who are able to facilitate payment across different charging networks. This should make payments easier and faster for users, and in the long run this may also alleviate the burden of directly managing payments for CPOs. This option must be in place within 2 years of the regulations coming into force, meaning CPOs have until late 2025 to put in place arrangements with third party roaming providers of payment services.

Interestingly, the UK Government has also included an obligation for CPOs to report the implementation of any third parties permitted to provide payment services to the Department for Transport within 28 days. Similarly, if a CPO ceases to use a third party for this purpose, a further notification must be made within 28 days of the arrangement coming to an end.

Reliability

In an attempt to increase overall reliability of public charging points across the UK, the regulations have introduced a 99% reliability target for CPOs of rapid charging points. This means that on average, within a single calendar year, a network of rapid EV charging points must be fully operational and in good working order for at least 361 days of the year.

In addition to ensuring compliance with this target, CPOs must also publish their reliability information on their website, bringing this to the attention of users and the general public as a whole. Looking past the regulations, this minimum operability level will ensure CPOs need to have a framework in place to monitor the availability of all its rapid charging points, and take steps to address such issues as and when they arise. As with the contactless payment functionality, this must be in place within one year of the regulations coming into force.

Data

Perhaps one of the most important requirements of the regulations is the publishing of certain data relating to EV chargers, for the overall benefit of the public. CPOs must, within one year, hold the following information about each public EV charging point in the UK:

• location of the charge point;
• connecter type;
• payment methods available;
• price per kilowat hour; and
• operating hours.

CPOs must publish this information in a readable format for the public to access and use, free of charge. This information will likely help owners of EVs to locate the cheapest, nearest and most compatible charger, but will also allow CPOs to better promote their networks and increase usage across the UK.

Following the approval of the regulation in the House of Commons Jesse Norman, the UK’s Transport Minister commented:

“Over time, these new regulations will improve EV charging for millions of drivers, helping them find the chargepoints they want, providing price transparency so that they can compare the cost of different charging options, and updating payment methods.”

These new regulations increase the reporting requirements and level of detail that must be published by CPOs, who will also need to enter into agreements with third party payment providers. Whilst this ultimately is for the benefit of EV owners wishing to make use of public charging infrastructure in the UK, some CPOs may have a lot to do in the next 12 months. If you require any assistance to ensure compliance with the regulations, then please get in touch with our Energy team.