With less than 90 days to go before the Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Regulation 🇪🇺 comes into force for newly installed charging points, some of its implications seem to be dawning on stakeholders. In particular, Article 5 on charging infrastructure has payment provisions that are causing headaches, especially the QR code that is an option for “regular power” charging points.
From 13 April 2024, new public charging points must allow ad hoc charging using a payment instrument that is widely used in the EU. This means that, for example, bank cards that are only used in one country or QR codes from national payment systems will not meet this requirement. It’s also clear that the QR code should not lead to a website with further steps, but should enable a direct and secure payment to be made. In other words, by scanning the QR code, the user should be able to pay directly through a banking application on their phone, without having to sign a contract, provide an email address, etc. This is currently difficult to achieve.
There are still national QR code schemes for payments (some will converge this year). Where a QR leading to a website could be used is to display (dynamic) prices at <50 kW charging points. Note that this price information will need to be available for all charging points, including existing ones, from 13 April. For fast chargers, prices will also need to be displayed at the point of use: on a screen, a sticker or the familiar “petrol station” price display.
The use of a screen capable of displaying various QR codes – including, for the time being, a number of country-specific ones – appears to be an option for regular charging points. However, it may be easier to simply implement card payment, as many of the devices that offer this on-screen QR code also support cards.
For almost all fast chargers, built-in payment terminals seem to become the standard. However, charging pools (a group of charging points in one location) are allowed to share a payment terminal under #AFIR, and this could play a key role for regular charging points too. By accepting bank and credit cards and providing a display and user interface, users can be informed about prices (including dynamic ones), how to charge, make simple ad hoc payments and choose options such as cheaper off-peak charging by specifying a desired departure time or charging strategy. Meeting the AFIR requirement could therefore lead to a better user experience, improved local energy flows and better grid integration by harnessing the flexibility of EVs.
What do you think, will we see multiple QR code displays – one for payment, one for pricing – on new charging points, or card payment devices per charging point, integration with existing parking meters – e.g. covering a street of chargers or a car park – or new dedicated EV payment terminals covering charging pools?