The secret life of the charging price
EV drivers and fleet managers face a Wild West of opaque public charging prices, and it’s time for a change, argues Martijn Versteegen, CEO at car imaging specialists IMAGIN.studio.
Imagine driving a petrol car and the tank is nearly empty, but the prices on the petrol station forecourt signs are blank. You pull over, fill up, and the attendant shrugs, saying, “The bill will follow later.” When the invoice finally arrives, you’re astonished. A litre cost £5, yet at the station just five hundred meters down the road, it was only £1.35. Unacceptable? Absolutely.
Yet, this is the daily, frustrating reality for the EV driver, and a reality few are talking about. Welcome to the ‘Wild West’ of charging prices.
Fleet managers know this best. The promise of electric driving is beautiful: clean, quiet, and a low cost per mile. But in practice, public charging has become a financial minefield. Without warning, you might pay 45p per kWh at one moment, only to be jolted by a rate of closer to £1 in a sudden bout of fast-charging panic.
Who sets this price? The charging point operator? The charging card provider? It’s an opaque mess of parties, roaming fees, and hidden surcharges. This fundamental lack of transparency is the elephant in the electric vehicle room, and in the meantime, various businesses are profiting from the confusion.
The imperative for visual clarity
New regulations aim to change this, mandating prices to be displayed at the station and requiring bank card payment options. This is fantastic in principle, but implementation is proving slow. Some charging points are “future-proof”, others are far from it. Meanwhile, the consumer and the fleet manager feel powerless. You can’t refuse the invoice, but the persistent feeling that you’re paying a premium for an unpredictable service continues to erode confidence.
This isn’t just a consumer problem; it’s a critical issue for leasing companies and fleet managers who need cost predictability to manage budgets.
The key to unlocking the true potential of the EV revolution lies not just in regulation, but in immediate, crystal-clear communication.
We must demand systems that provide unambiguous, visually consistent information. This clarity must extend beyond the simple price on the station to every point of sale and communication. Whether a driver is checking a cost-estimation app, a fleet manager is viewing a dashboard, or a car buyer is configuring a vehicle online, the data -including the fluctuating cost structures -must be presented without ambiguity.
The solution requires advanced systems that prioritise data fidelity and visual consistency, ensuring that a price or a feature is represented accurately, in real-time, across all platforms. Only when we standardise and clarify the visual presentation of these complex, real-time variables can we rein in the charging cowboys. Then electric driving will truly deliver the predictable and affordable future it promises to be.
