The UK Government’s Public Charge Point Regulations 2023 came into effect yesterday (24 November) holding chargepoint operators (CPOs) to a new standard of compliance.
The measures are intended to improve customer experience, answering the assertation made by those reluctant to switch to an EV that the charging network is insufficient.
To that end, the legislation was built on four key areas of the consumer experience. It ensures consumers can easily find a charge point that fits their needs, ease of payment, confidence in the good working order of the charging network and enables price comparison across networks.
The first change under the Public Charge Point Regulations has already been implemented, with CPOs required to display all prices in pence per kWh. In a LinkedIn post exploring the regulation, CEO and co-founder of Paua Niall Ridell, who recently won a special recognition award at Solar Media’s EVIEs, said the pricing “seems to have been bodged”.
Although CPOs will have to display a maximum price that consumers could pay, dynamic pricing can still occur—but as Ridell points out, companies will be able to divide a fixed fee by energy volume, meaning that customers will likely have to work to ascertain what a charge will cost ahead of use.
Ensuring 99% charging reliability
The headline legislation is probably the reliability requirement that CPOs ensure their charge points are available 99% of the time or be subject to penalties. A CPO will not be penalised if reliability is below 99% for a given month if it is made up over the 12-month period, remaining at 99% reliability for the whole year.
Reliability will be measured through electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE) object statuses using the Open Charge Point Interface protocol (OCPI) as the mandated data standard within these regulations. The start of the measuring period was 24 November and first reports are expected in early 2026.
From a consumer perspective, this should improve confidence in the charging network and reduce the number of “zombie” chargers, visible but defunct. The regulations have been championed by the Electric Vehicle Association (EVA), the body representing EV drivers in the UK.
Making performance data openly accessible presents some sensitivity for CPOs. The regulations also require CPOs to publish information on their compliance with the reliability requirement on their websites.
The legislation further aims to introduce payment roaming, although this will not be enforced until November 2025. Roaming is the ability to pay to charge an EV across multiple charge point networks using a single app or RFID card—equivalent to the fuel card for petrol and diesel vehicles.
The roaming provider must be operated by a person or organisation that is external to the charge point operator. What defines the operator is another sticking point that Ridell noted on LinkedIn: “Ultimately the definition will come down to ‘who puts their name in the box’”.
According to the government’s guidance, an ‘operator’ is the entity that controls the charge point’s functioning, and must work with any other party involved, such as providers of software or maintenance, to ensure compliance.
Being able to tell who is operating a charge point for consumers often comes down to branding. Charge point manufacturers may decide not to brand the components of a charger, as that may risk them being considered responsible for its operations (and liable for any penalties for non-compliance).
The rules will require EV charging infrastructure providers more or less across the supply chain to jump through more hoops to comply (arguably far more so than traditional fuel providers). However, with proper understanding of the additional challenges CPOs will face and provision of the necessary support, the improved charging network stands to benefits consumers, and thus the industry as a whole.
