California aims to open up charging markets

The California Air Resources Board is considering a new regulation in two weeks, which would mandate that EV charging network operators have credit card readers. Besides, it looks like memberships or subscriptions may also be banned.

What this would effectively mean, is that an EV driver in California would no longer have to sign up for a membership or subscription to use a public electric vehicle charger.  A hard hit or perhaps a chance for operators such as Chargepoint, Electrify America und EVgo. Additionally, network operators will also be required to facilitate roaming for users, so anyone could then charge their vehicle at any public charging station in the state.

The notion that drivers need nothing more than a phone or a credit card to charge their vehicle is more reminiscent of the ease-of-use that currently applies to fuel combustion engine vehicles. There is a caveat, however, as only public networks are affected: “[chargers] provided by a manufacturer of electric vehicles for the exclusive use by vehicles it manufactures,” are not considered public, meaning that companies such as Tesla, with their Supercharger network, would not have to comply to any public measures.

While it may be some time before the regulation is put into place as CARB is only considering it, for now, this could mark a definite step in the right direction as the electrification of transport becomes increasingly mainstream and accessible. Especially in the Golden State.

electrek.co, arb.ca.gov (Regulation draft)