Plans to ensure 99% charging reliability

14 July 2023 | David Young

The government is planning to introduce new regulations that will require public charge points to have a 99% reliability rate, with providers facing fines of £10,000 for units that fail to comply

The new Public Charge Point regulations put an emphasis on durability and convenience, with chargers also required to produce real-time data on their status and those faster than 8kW offering contactless payments.

Firms must also allow customers to pay via a third-party provider.

Ian Johnston, the boss of Osprey Charging and the head of charge point industry body Charge UK, said "The public charging industry is committed to making the UK the best place to charge an EV. Consumer confidence in charging infrastructure is vital and we look forward to working with the government to implement these regs over the coming months."

Meanwhile, Mike Hawes, SMMT chief executive, said: "The announced measures to improve the UK's EV charging experience will give everyone increased confidence in the network, something that is crucial to driving uptake and reducing emissions. The regulations' focus on improving reliability, interoperability and pricing transparency is good news as they reflect the main issues people have when recharging. The next step should be enabling contactless credit or debit card payments at public chargers below 8kW, which would benefit drivers who rely on on-street and destination chargers."