Norway introduces card payment requirement at DC charging points

In Norway, charging infrastructure operators have to offer card payment at new fast charging stations since 1 July. There is currently no obligation to retrofit existing columns – but it is still up for discussion by policymakers.

According to the state’s Ministry of Transport, the rule initially only applies to stations with at least 50 kW capacity ordered after 1 July. The word “ordered” is essential here, as it does not mean “installed”. It may take several weeks or even months until the charging stations now ordered are installed with the mandatory terminal. Details on technical specifications for the payment terminals are not mentioned in the short communication from the Ministry of Transport.

“For more people to opt for electric cars, the charging possibilities along the roads must be well-developed and easy to use,” says Norway’s Transport Minister Jon-Ivar Nygård. “Nowadays, many people find it difficult to charge their car. Several players offer charging via app or [RFID] card, which only works at their own charging points. For users, it may seem unnecessarily complicated. That’s why we will make it mandatory to pay for electric car charging with a bank card at all new charging points.”

Existing payment solutions via charging card or app can still be used. According to surveys, 87 per cent of Norwegian electric car drivers (i.e. those already using charging cards and apps) said it should be possible to pay with a card when fast charging.

The Electric Car Association of Norway welcomes the now-introduced obligation. “Now life as an electric car driver is easier, and the hurdle to choose an electric car is lower,” says Christina Bu, secretary general of the Norwegian Electric Car Association. The Norwegian parliament demands that the possibility to pay by card is also mandatory at existing fast charging stations by the end of 2025.

Last autumn, Recharge announced that it would be the first major operator to integrate card payment terminals at its charging stations in Scandinavia, initially in Norway. In Germany, the deadline for the mandatory implementation of a credit card terminal at charging points has been postponed by one year to 1 July 2024, as reported.

regjeringen.no, elbil.no (both in Norwegian)