At the end of November 2025, the rules for public EV charging companies were altered to make charging easier, more reliable and with much clearer pricing than before. But has anything changed since then and what are the problems facing public EV charging companies?
What were the 2025 public EV charging improvements?
The changes introduced were pretty clear. The first was that any existing charge points above 50kW and any new charge points above 8kW would have to facilitate contactless payments. That obviously makes it easier to pay, although in reality the best rates are still often found going via the company’s app.
The same goes for the visibility of that pricing too – it either needs to be on the charger itself, just like in a filling station along with any connection fees. The good news too is the charging providers have to meet reliability rates of 99% for any chargers of 50kW and above, reporting those rates annually to the Department of Transport.
Also included in that reporting is the kind of complaints they’ve received and what solutions they’ve put in place as well as offering a free helpline for customers, open 24/7. Any charging firm not meeting any of these regulations could be subject to a £10,000 fine per charger not meeting the regulations.
Have the 2025 public EV charging regulations made any difference?
With all of that in mind, you’d think that the public charging firms would have got their acts together. But think again.
In December 2025, What Car magazine surveyed each of the 15 national network charging providers and also surveyed the experiences of 2118 EV drivers to test the real world experiences. This rated the chargers for accessibility, charging speed, ease of operation, reliability and value for money.
While they reported that ease of payments and ease of use had improved compared to the previous year, BP Pulse, Mer, Be.EV and Shell Recharge all featured at the bottom of What Car’s tables.
Whether the latest regulations have made a real change is likely to be seen at the end of 2026, when we’ve had a full year of them being in place.
So what’s the problem?
As we’ve previously outlined here, the problem isn’t easy to solve. And, while it’s difficult to feel sorry for a public EV charging company, they’re in an almost impossible position.
The problem, put simply, is home charging. EV drivers are becoming more aware than ever about how to reduce their charging costs at home with EV-friendly off-peak tariff rates from a host of energy suppliers. Those rates can see you charge your car from 7p/kWh or less, compared to ultra-rapid public charging which can be as much as 12 times that rate.
So once you’re aware of that, any public charging you have to do effectively becomes a distress purchase that you make because you have to – not because you want to. Moreover, any amount of charge that you add to your car wants to be the minimum amount to get you home where you can of course charge considerably cheaper.
As EV drivers become more aware of that, then they will use public chargers for the absolute bare minimum, which is not helpful for those companies who have invested in that infrastructure. Of course, there will always be those who still need to regularly use public chargers such as those business drivers charging the cost back to their company, van drivers or those who don’t have home chargers.
It gets worse for those charging firms too as the standing charge fees that have to be paid following Ofgem’s Targeted Charging Review has made ultra-rapid charging hubs, made so popular by the likes of Gridserve, almost financially unsustainable unless working at close to capacity for the majority of the time.
Plus, for all the reasons stated above, as well as the difference in VAT rates (5% for home, 20% for public), many savvy EV drivers will be avoiding using public EV chargers if at all possible. The only problem is that doesn’t then encourage investment to extend the public charging network further than at present.