Payment headaches plaguing EV charging experience

The electric vehicle (EV) charging experience has been steadily improving over the years. Not only are there more public charge points available but charging times are also declining. However, the payment aspect still offers plenty of room for improvement.

To start with, not every EV can use every charging station, even if they have the right sort of plug. Tesla has restricted its Supercharger network to Tesla drivers from the get-go. Though it is currently exploring opening up to other brands in a small-scale pilot, it remains an exclusive network. Elsewhere, drivers will need to set up individual accounts for different charging providers, downloading different apps and storing their personal credit card information on each of them. It’s inconvenient and potentially confusing, especially for those new to EVs.