Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether new 7kW to 22kW charging points for electric vehicles are including within the Government’s commitment to ensure all newly installed rapid and higher charging points provide pay as you go payment facilities.

The Government welcomes the progress that has been made to date at providing contactless payment at rapid and high-powered chargers. Rapid and high-powered chargepoints (50 kW+) are vital to facilitate longer journeys, which is why it is important that electric vehicle drivers can use the simplest payment method to obtain the fastest charge to continue their journey.

In May the Transport Secretary announced that the Government will consult on measures to improve the consumer experience when using public chargepoints. This includes exploring measures such as requiring rapid chargepoints to offer contactless payment, improving chargepoint reliability and transparency on pricing and giving drivers better access to information about the chargepoints available for their journey.