The Public Charge Point Regulations 2023

evcog · Jul 13, 2023

Just spent the last hour reading the draft legislation laid before the House of Commons and the House of Lords on 11 July 2023. Oh what a charmed life I lead.

The Public Charge Point Regulations 2023

It's all good news however and within one year of the act coming into force we should see:-

99% uptime for all public chargers
All must have contactless payment (read details however)
All must Clearly display the whole cost of charging your vehicle
All public chargers must be available for all makes of EV in the UK (hello Tesla)
Data on location availability must be freely published and be uptodate (again read the details)
All chargers must allow use without having to enter into contracts (like some suppliers require currently, Podpoint, etc)
You must be able to pay by third party apps availble, such as Google Pay, Samsung Pay, Apple Pay, ZapMap ect
24hr 365 day helplines with manitory monitoring to ensure this is happening (see 1st point)

Penalties for the charge companies are quite severe if they fail in the areas of the bill shown.

Hopefully this will be enacted soon as I believe it has been agreed by both houses and has support across parties. We will see.

DBedford · Jul 13, 2023

evcog said:
Just spent the last hour reading the draft legislation laid before the House of Commons and the House of Lords on 11 July 2023. Oh what a charmed life I lead.

The Public Charge Point Regulations 2023
It's all good news however and within one year of the act coming into force we should see:-

99% uptime for all public chargers

All must have contactless payment (read details however)

All must Clearly display the whole cost of charging your vehicle

All public chargers must be available for all makes of EV in the UK (hello Tesla)

Data on location availability must be freely published and be uptodate (again read the details)

All chargers must allow use without having to enter into contracts (like some suppliers require currently, Podpoint, etc)

You must be able to pay by third party apps availble, such as Google Pay, Samsung Pay, Apple Pay, ZapMap ect

24hr 365 day helplines with manitory monitoring to ensure this is happening (see 1st point)

Penalties for the charge companies are quite severe if they fail in the areas of the bill shown.

Hopefully this will be enacted soon as I believe it has been agreed by both houses and has support across parties. We will see.

Moving in the right direction, now must have shelter and rest facilities

Mitch AC DC · Jul 13, 2023

DBedford said:
Moving in the right direction, now must have shelter and rest facilities

Shelters totally agree { on par with petrol } but rest facilities?, someone will have to pay for and maintain them, guess where they`ll find the money to pay for that?

Rest facilities we better use supermarket/service station chargers.

Rolfe · Jul 14, 2023

Let's be realistic here. Big installations with DC chargers (where people wait around for half an hour to an hour) totally need shelter and rest facilities. And if they can't make money from that they are not trying. EV drivers waiting for their cars to charge are a captive market, mostly absolutely gagging to give someone money for a cup of coffee and a sultana scone. Might be hard to legislate though. It's possible that as purveyors of coffee and cake wake up to the possibilities, it will just happen. If petrol stations can all support small grocer's shops, big charger installations should be an even better opportunity, because the drivers stick around longer.

Smaller installations and single chargers, the sort of thing installed to serve a village, aren't going to merit a Costa Coffee. People will have to make do with what's there. Installations with nothing but AC chargers should be plentiful enough that people will just walk home and leave their cars there.

But shelter? That should be everyone's right. Small installations, big ones, DC only - they all need you to get out of your car and faff around for several minutes. ICE car drivers wouldn't put up with it for five minutes.

Here's an example. It's our local village charge-point on Google Streetview.

Looks idyllic, right? And even better, just off the right hand side of the picture is a really nice tearoom. Now imagine it in the pouring rain, at 4C. Not so nice? I got into an argument with someone the other day who insisted it would be an absolutely terrible thing if a canopy was put over this. Dreadful.

Now let's tab down the street about fifty yards.

Oh look, a bus shelter. Which is never used by the way, because the bus going that way terminates in the vllage itself less than half a mile on. And there are about three buses a day. That is literally all it would take. But did anyone think of installing something like that when they put the charger there? Not on your nellie, EV drivers can just get soaked.

Shrink Proof · Jul 15, 2023

Yes folks, The Public Charge Point Regulations 2023! From the people who brought you "Forty New Hospitals"...

5teep · Jul 15, 2023

Rolfe said:
Let's be realistic here. Big installations with DC chargers (where people wait around for half an hour to an hour) totally need shelter and rest facilities. And if they can't make money from that they are not trying. EV drivers waiting for their cars to charge are a captive market, mostly absolutely gagging to give someone money for a cup of coffee and a sultana scone. Might be hard to legislate though. It's possible that as purveyors of coffee and cake wake up to the possibilities, it will just happen. If petrol stations can all support small grocer's shops, big charger installations should be an even better opportunity, because the drivers stick around longer.

Smaller installations and single chargers, the sort of thing installed to serve a village, aren't going to merit a Costa Coffee. People will have to make do with what's there. Installations with nothing but AC chargers should be plentiful enough that people will just walk home and leave their cars there.

But shelter? That should be everyone's right. Small installations, big ones, DC only - they all need you to get out of your car and faff around for several minutes. ICE car drivers wouldn't put up with it for five minutes.

Here's an example. It's our local village charge-point on Google Streetview.

View attachment 18991

Looks idyllic, right? And even better, just off the right hand side of the picture is a really nice tearoom. Now imagine it in the pouring rain, at 4C. Not so nice? I got into an argument with someone the other day who insisted it would be an absolutely terrible thing if a canopy was put over this. Dreadful.

Now let's tab down the street about fifty yards.

View attachment 18992

Oh look, a bus shelter. Which is never used by the way, because the bus going that way terminates in the vllage itself less than half a mile on. And there are about three buses a day. That is literally all it would take. But did anyone think of installing something like that when they put the charger there? Not on your nellie, EV drivers can just get soaked.

Don't EV drivers have a car they can sit in?

Gadget Geek · Jul 15, 2023

Rolfe said:
If petrol stations can all support small grocer's shops, big charger installations should be an even better opportunity, because the drivers stick around longer.

If you look at the statistics, petrol staions make more profit from the shop than they do from the petrol. Most of the cost of fossil fuel is taxes.

Edit:
Breaking down the cost of petrol

	% of the Total Cost	What you pay per litre
Retailer profit	8%	13p
Delivery costs	1%	2p
Fuel duty	35%	58p
VAT	17%	28p

ARealHuman · Jul 15, 2023

All good stuff in the first post, but as others have alluded to, some of this (24 hours helpline for example) will likely add costs.

Gadget Geek · Jul 15, 2023

5teep said:
Don't EV drivers have a car they can sit in?

Sat in mine yesterday and watched Galaxy Quest. If I had passengers though, it would have been nicer to have somewhere for them to sit and have refreshments.

Mitch AC DC · Jul 15, 2023

5teep said:
Don't EV drivers have a car they can sit in?

Have to admit, I have been the "sad boy" sitting in his car with a tablet, flask and fast-food, 3hrs a time for free charging at supermarket. But in my defence, l am "retired/half scottish/tight-arsed/nothing better to do with time"
Recently { heatwave } discovered/thought of ?, sitting in the "Air-conditioned supermarket"

gus · Jul 15, 2023

Interesting conversation yesterday with a surveyor looking to put in some public charge points, when it goes in for permissions, actually notifying the local authority, the charger is nodded through generally in 5 mins, as soon as a shelter of any type is included it has to go through full planning permission with all the costs and time delays that planning permission incurs.

Rolfe · Jul 15, 2023

5teep said:
Don't EV drivers have a car they can sit in?

A car seat they might appreciate a break from. Maybe a seat without a a steering wheel in front of it?

gus said:
Interesting conversation yesterday with a surveyor looking to put in some public charge points, when it goes in for permissions, actually notifying the local authority, the charger is nodded through generally in 5 mins, as soon as a shelter of any type is included it has to go through full planning permission with all the costs and time delays that planning permission incurs.

Someone else said the same. A lot of them wouldn't need anything more complicated than a bus shelter.

5teep · Jul 15, 2023

Thinking further re shelters, I 'think' that any kind of shelter would be classed as a building and subject to rates which in turn would make the charging more expensive for drivers.

Rolfe · Jul 15, 2023

How do bus shelters work then?

Tonych · Jul 15, 2023

evcog said:
Just spent the last hour reading the draft legislation laid before the House of Commons and the House of Lords on 11 July 2023. Oh what a charmed life I lead.

The Public Charge Point Regulations 2023
It's all good news however and within one year of the act coming into force we should see:-

99% uptime for all public chargers

All must have contactless payment (read details however)

All must Clearly display the whole cost of charging your vehicle

All public chargers must be available for all makes of EV in the UK (hello Tesla)

Data on location availability must be freely published and be uptodate (again read the details)

All chargers must allow use without having to enter into contracts (like some suppliers require currently, Podpoint, etc)

You must be able to pay by third party apps availble, such as Google Pay, Samsung Pay, Apple Pay, ZapMap ect

24hr 365 day helplines with manitory monitoring to ensure this is happening (see 1st point)

Penalties for the charge companies are quite severe if they fail in the areas of the bill shown.

Hopefully this will be enacted soon as I believe it has been agreed by both houses and has support across parties. We will see.

It's been trailled for a year so great to see it on the way!

Mitch AC DC · Jul 15, 2023

Rolfe said:
How do bus shelters work then?

public rain shelter?

johnb80 · Jul 15, 2023

2 new instavolts being installed here in Gainsborough in a small parking area serving local shops - Spar, Pizza place, subway etc. Looks a good location and the facilities are right too.

evcog said:
Just spent the last hour reading the draft legislation laid before the House of Commons and the House of Lords on 11 July 2023. Oh what a charmed life I lead.

The Public Charge Point Regulations 2023
It's all good news however and within one year of the act coming into force we should see:-

99% uptime for all public chargers

All must have contactless payment (read details however)

All must Clearly display the whole cost of charging your vehicle

All public chargers must be available for all makes of EV in the UK (hello Tesla)

Data on location availability must be freely published and be uptodate (again read the details)

All chargers must allow use without having to enter into contracts (like some suppliers require currently, Podpoint, etc)

You must be able to pay by third party apps availble, such as Google Pay, Samsung Pay, Apple Pay, ZapMap ect

24hr 365 day helplines with manitory monitoring to ensure this is happening (see 1st point)

Penalties for the charge companies are quite severe if they fail in the areas of the bill shown.

Will this apply retrospectively to existing units too?

evcog · Jul 15, 2023

I believe many of you have the right idea ref shelters or at least rain protection but I also know that the planning restrictions have been one of the most challenging obstacles. Often Charge companies require 3 or more sets of planning application; physical installation, electricity supply upgrades, local by-law restrictions like heritage impact etc. That definately makes it hard to justify the time and expense of adding those 'extras'.

Because most town chargers have been installed in council run carparks they are heavily supported by councils because it costs them nothing while ticking the 'Environmental Requirements box' now required by government. Most of these are in towns with shopping and break facilities anyway, even toilets close by. So charge companies have no need to fight the local shops etc, it's already there.

However, larger installations should have shelters (or at least coverings)
Electric Vehicle Canopies & Shelters - Miko Engineering
Several where shown at the Fully Charged Show North.

What we don't want are isolated chargers in the middle of nowhere with zero, covering, facilities, or security.

5teep · Jul 15, 2023

johnb80 said:
Will this apply retrospectively to existing units too?

I doubt it, for example turning thousands of non contactless payment chargers into contactless is a huge and expensive undertaking.

johnb80 · Jul 15, 2023

5teep said:
I doubt it, for example turning thousands of non contactless payment chargers into contactless is a huge and expensive undertaking.

I'm not absolutely convinced about the cost aspect, most of the chargers have internet connection and adding a card reader isnt overly expensive, the card readers themselves are circa £10 and then a bit of software in the charge controller which are often industrial PC's.

The Public Charge Point Regulations 2023