– And with that I declare the new charging station open, says mayor Leidulf Gloppestad (Sp). The village of Byrkjelo in Vestland became this week a symbolic turning point for a long and ongoing dispute about payment solutions in the charging industry. What makes the charging station at Byrkjelo so special? The driver can pay for himself using a bank card. – Look to Byrkjelo. This shows that card payment is entirely possible, says Christina Bu, secretary general of the Norwegian Electric Vehicle Association. She points out that swiping the card is the only universal means of payment. – There is no reason why it should be so much more difficult to charge an electric car than to fill up with fuel, she says. The requirement for card payment has nevertheless been debated. Several charging companies have referred to the arrangement as “impractical” and “outdated”. Instead, they want to build new routines and customer loyalty through their own “chips”, key cards and apps. Christina Bu in the Electric Vehicle Association took the initiative earlier this year for general payment solutions through a joint “charging club”. Several operators refused to join the club. Photo: Einar Aslaksen – It’s a complete joke that you can’t cover the card The Consumer Council and the Electric Vehicle Association have for their part argued for more universal arrangements. The same is true of Climate and Environment Minister Espen Barth Eide (Ap). During Arendalsveka this summer, he referred to it as “absolute nonsense” that there are so few charging points where motorists can top up their card. – This is something the industry should have fixed itself. When that doesn’t happen, we have to ensure it through consumer policy, he said. He announced at the same time that the government would present a “charging strategy” to the Storting during the autumn. The time horizon has since been adjusted to “before the end of the year”. Impatient forces in the Storting therefore got the government ahead of the curve this week. On Tuesday, SV put forward a proposal that they require carpeting, and quickly. – The charging system for electric cars is total chaos. If you’re going to a charging station, there are at least 15 apps you have to take care of, says transport policy spokesperson in SV, Mona Fagerås. In the proposal, she writes that the charging company “makes the customer experience unnecessarily complicated in their eagerness to own their customers.” – This is something the industry should have fixed itself, says Climate and Environment Minister Espen Barth Eide (Ap). Photo: Truls Alnes Antonsen / news – Charging must become consumer-friendly for everyone Today there is rapid charging at more than 5,300 charging points in Norway. 100 of them have card payment. – If we are to achieve the goal that all new passenger cars and light vans must be zero-emission in 2025, charging electric cars must become consumer-friendly for everyone, says Fagerås. The SV proposal has now been sent to the Transport Committee, which will deliver a recommendation in the new year (January 5). But all this week the matter was debated in the Storting. The Conservative Party showed that several people are positive about the proposal (see below), while others will wait for the charging strategy from the government. Norway has one percent of the total car fleet in the EU, but almost a quarter of all electric cars. – We have thought for a long time that it is important to simplify Life Kari Eskeland, Høgre – There are several conditions that indicate that it must be possible to use payment cards at charging stations. Then there have probably also been various reasons why the individual operators have decided to use app-based solutions. We will wait for our conclusion until we have consulted and then gone through the Prime Minister’s reply letter. We naturally want the charging infrastructure to be as accessible as possible to as many people as possible. Through our comments, we discuss the conditions you raise here, and do not wish to pre-procedure this before we have received the information that the various actors are on, in case there are conditions that we do not currently have a full overview of. Erling Sande, Sp – We have long believed that it is important to achieve a simplification when it comes to payment solutions for those who use the charging stations. And this will be among the topics that the government’s charging strategy addresses. It will arrive in a short time, so then we will have an orderly handling of the question. It is not usual for such regulations to be decided through representative proposals in the Storting. But I register that SV, on the same lines as Sp, wants simplification in this area. The goal must be for customers to experience lightning and rapid charging as simple, predictable and accessible. Mona Fagerås, SV – The charging system for electric cars today is total chaos. If you are going to charge your car at a charging station, there are at least 15 apps you have to take into account, with different rules and payment methods. All that was missing was for this to be simpler. Today, many consumers report that paying for fast charging is too difficult. The consumer is thrown into an app jungle, where one has to create a bunch of customer relationships. If we are to achieve the goal that all new passenger cars and light vans must be emission-free by 2025, we must make it easier to use electric cars in all ways. Christina Bu, secretary general of the Norwegian Electric Vehicle Association – We are glad that the Storting has discussed the issue this week, and we are excited to see what the government says about this in its charging strategy. We expect the politicians to require card payment on new fast chargers, with a deadline for retrofitting on existing chargers. For far too long, the focus of the charging companies has been to lock electric vehicles into their own customer relationships. Now is the time to listen to consumers. A full 80 percent responded in a survey conducted by the Electric Vehicle Association that they would like to be able to pay with a payment card directly at the charger. You can easily do this by swiping the card or mobile phone when paying. When asked by the environmental organization Zero whether the politicians themselves have experienced that it is difficult to charge, the majority of them raised their hands in the air. – Who has come up with something as “smart” as creating a bunch of different apps and different payment methods? Ironized Frank Edvard Sve (Frp). On Tuesday, SV presented a proposal to the Storting that they require carpeting, and quickly. Photo: Beate Oma Dahle / NTB New EU requirements, but not before 2027 At the same time, there is a game going on about chargers at European level. On 19 October, the EU Parliament decided that you should be able to use one app to pay for charging at all rapid charging points for electric cars. The EEA agreement means that the requirement also covers Norway, but not before 2027. The question the government must decide on is whether universal payment solutions should come even earlier. State Secretary in the Ministry of Transport, Johan Vasara (Ap), cannot advance anything, but says: – As part of the road towards all new passenger cars being fossil-free by the end of 2025, it should of course be as easy as possible for people to get access to chargers. The government will present its charging strategy before the end of the year. It will improve consumer friendliness and be included as one of several themes.
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This could be the solution to the “app jungle” for electric car owners – news Vestland
