This is positive news so everyone isn't ripped off with poor maintenance, payment issues, accessibility, no excessive charge costs, etc.
Electric vehicle and renewable energy campaign group FairCharge, together with the RAC, has published an electric car charter aiming to improve the reliability, transparency, accessibility, and usability of the UK’s rapidly growing charging network.
The standards called for are:
- Charging is always a reliable experience ie 99% rapid charger reliability guarantee (48 hours repair target for non working chargers).
- It’s easy to find an available and working charger, wherever you are - ie road signage, display of current charge costs on a digital display (similar to the usual petrol / diesel signs we see). Also parking sites should display the the permitted time for charging and if the same parking costs.
- Faff-free payment - ie contactless, ability to get digital receipts.
- Pricing is fair, open, and honest ie VAT reduced from 20% to 5% for all public chargers, clear pricing displayed for 'pence per kWh' as well as realistic charging speeds
- Fair access to rapid chargers ie regardless of all people's physical abilities, they should be able to accessible to all eg no tight spaces, bollards, etc
- All new chargers to be accessible and safe for all ie well lit and where possible, they should be sheltered.
All in all very positive news in our opinion, the 'petrol station' experience we have now will hopefully be mirrored in some way for EV charging sites.
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