The UK government has announced new regulations which will apply to operators of public charging points (CPOs). Called the Public Charge Point Regulations 2023 (the PCPRs), the new regulations, which were laid before Parliament on 11 July 2023, respond to widespread criticism of the UK’s current public charging infrastructure, including difficult to find or ‘permanently’ out of use charge points, having to juggle multiple apps, and problems with different payment methods.
The new regulations will apply to public charge points i.e., charge points primarily intended for use by members of the general public and are intended to enhance the charging experience for electric vehicle (EV) drivers and cover the most important issues for EV drivers such as pricing, payment, and availability. For example, going forwards, CPOs will have to display prices in Pence per kWh in order to standardise pricing – currently consumers face a confusing array of pricing such as pence per minute, connection fees, and set charges per session.
Other requirements include:
Contactless Payment. CPOs will have to offer contactless payment:
➢ All public charge points installed after the date the PCPRs come into force (Effective Date), with a power rating of 8 kWh or above, must allow contactless payment (i.e., no pre-existing contract with the CPO needed) within a year of the Effective Date.
➢ All rapid public charge points (i.e., charge points with a power rating of 50 kWh or more) installed prior to the Effective Date must be adapted to allow contactless payment within a year of that date.
➢ Any existing charge points, with a power rating of 8 kWh or above, which become public charge points after the Effective Date will need to be adapted to allow contactless payment within a year of becoming public.
Payment Roaming. Within 2 years of the Effective Date, CPOs must provide the ability for EV drivers to pay through a third party roaming payment service (by app or RFID card) which covers different charging networks, rather than EV drivers having to download multiple apps for different networks. CPOs will have to report (within 28 days) their roaming payment arrangements to the Secretary of State for Transport, including those CPOs that already provide such arrangements, as well as where such arrangements are withdrawn.
Performance. One year after the Effective Date, a new reliability requirement will come into play mandating, on average, each rapid charging network (50 kWh or more) to be 99% reliable, measured over a calendar year (although where only available for limited hours during the day, reliability is assessed by reference only to those rules). The regulations define what is meant by reliable by reference to the EVSE object status of available and charging, or available and reserved. Rapid charge points which are not working or out of order will not be considered reliable. CPOs will have to publish their performance data against the reliability requirement on their websites.
Reporting. CPOs will have to provide reports to the Secretary of State for Transport on their rapid charging network once a year, starting 2025. Reports are to be submitted by the 14th January each year, so the first report will be due on 14th January 2026 for 2025. Each report must state the total number of operated rapid charge points in the network, the total reliability of its network (expressed as a percentage), and the reliability of each rapid charge point.
Other points. CPOs must provide a free 24/7 helpline, with the telephone number displayed in a prominent place, and submit detailed quarterly usage reports. CPOs will also have to provide live data on charge point location and availability, starting one year after the Effective Date. Workplace charge points are excluded, whilst any CPO qualifying as a micro business just needs to comply with the transparent pricing requirements previously mentioned.
The new regulations will be a positive step forward for EV drivers and should help boost efforts to make the UK become a more EV-friendly country. They will make it easier for EV drivers to find and use public chargers, and they will help to ensure that the charging network is accessible to all. CPOs will need to ensure that they comply with the new regulations in order to avoid fines of as much as £250,000 for the worst offences.
Tim Wright is a technology, sourcing and commercial partner at UK law firm Fladgate
