I’m sure that’s what’s coming into force in October with the new law that comes into effect
No. The existing
law (active since last year for new installations and from 18th November this year for existing ones) only requires access "
without entering into a pre-existing contract". The new
Automated and Electric Vehicles act has just been passed, which gives them power to make more restrictive regulations in the future, but no regulations under that act have yet been made.
Some networks have responded to this with plans to accept contactless:
- Instavolt have made it their focus and have a credible network roll-out, though their "introductory offer" of free charging keeps getting extended, which makes me think they haven't made the contactless stuff actually work yet.
- Engenie have for years been claiming to offer contactless, though their free charging eventually became a "temporary" flat rate £4/charge because they haven't yet got the software to work for their intended variable tariff (and at present their network is tiny).
- PodPoint have declared an intent to use contactless on rapids but stick with their mobile-app based system on AC chargepoints. However, the roll-out at Lidl is free-of-charge but app based and a PodPoint person on another forum suggested that's unlikely to change, though reiterating their intent for contactless at forthcoming payment-required rapids at other locations.
Geniepoint (aka ChargePointGenie) don't accept contactless, but augment their mobile-friendly webpage offering with the ability to register any RFID card (including a bank card) as an access token for convenience. It's still account based but meets the ad-hoc requirement because you can set up an account on the spot and don't need to send off for the card.
CYC similarly offer card or mobile app access; however unlike Geniepoint they try to make a profit centre of the cards. They are probably also a declining force - maintaining their existing estate of mainly council-owned points installed under the PluggedInPlaces grant schemes, but not actively expanding since the Chargemaster takeover.
Chargemaster/Polar (now owned by BP) are playing a different game. They are aggressively trying to get you onto their subscription-based RFID scheme, and expanding their network coverage. It appears that their world view is that, rather than contactless payment so that drivers can use any point, networks will have national coverage and drivers will have loyalty to one network - think mobile phone networks rather than cashpoint networks if you will.
NewMotion (now owned by Shell) seem to have a similar mindset, though they are open to expanding coverage by roaming agreements and have many throughout Europe (Chargemaster terminated CYC's roaming agreement after their takeover). Currently, NewMotion don't seem to be obeying the law in that they have no ad-hoc access - only a card you have to obtain in advance - though it looks like they are updating their mobile app to meet that requirement. Currently the mobile app just lets you find chargepoints and you need the card to actually commence charging.
So, I hope that the contactless approach turns out to be the winner, but it's not clear yet and the battle lines are forming up.
