I spend a lot of time behind the wheel of various electric cars, and not having a charger at home means that I often rely on the public charging network.
Recently, I’ve had a number of really positive charging experiences, but also some that were downright lousy.
This has made me think about the role of fast charger companies in the electric car experience.
A lack of standardization
The big problem with the charging network, in my world, is a lack of standardization. The Swedish countryside is today full of fast chargers, and the charging capacity of modern electric cars is constantly getting better and better.
The chances of finding somewhere where you can stop and recharge for a while when you still feel like taking a break or eating something are therefore good.
What’s worse is that the chargers most often belong to different companies, and offer different power, require different apps, and charge completely different prices for charging depending on which contract you have or don’t have.
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Wandering around in the app jungle
This is where the problems begin. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve stood at a charger in the rain, snow or wind and keyed in my card details into a new app, when the charger I ended up at isn’t connected to my existing apps or charging card.
This particular problem is almost worst with the destination chargers, which are a necessary evil to use because smooth long-distance driving with an electric car requires the battery to be full at the start.
The destination chargers are often operated by smaller companies that have their own apps, and are not connected to larger collaborations. In some cases, you even have to pay for parking in one app and for charging in another. In other words, an eternal hassle.
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Unreasonably large price range
Once you have figured out how you intend to pay for charging, it is also important to keep an eye on the price, which can vary considerably between different charging companies, as well as depending on which subscriptions or agreements you may be connected to.
The fact that the companies tie the customers to their own apps and give them a discount is perfectly fine. Virtually all gas stations have some form of loyalty program. At the grocery stores, however, the discount is usually a few tens of øren per liter, which is only a few measly percentages with a liter price of close to SEK 20. Apart from that, the prices between different sandwiches do not differ very much.
In contrast, last weekend I charged at Nima for SEK 4.50 and at Ionity for SEK 7.50, in both cases without any kind of charging agreement. The price increase from one charging company to another was thus almost 67 percent.
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A much more complicated setup
The problems mentioned above can be circumvented by checking in advance which chargers to visit, and downloading the right apps and signing up to the right agreement.
However, if you deviate from the plan, for example because you get hungry an hour earlier than expected or because the car pulled more than expected, the whole plan falls through. It may also be that the car itself wants to plan its charging stops according to what is most efficient, and it is not certain that it chooses a charger from the right company.
This type of foresight is not needed with a petrol car. In one, I can go on a long drive and be sure that there will be a gas station about when I need it. I will also know that the price of gas and the process of refueling will differ only marginally between different sandwiches.
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Makes an electric car hard to recommend
Most people can probably accept that long-distance driving with an electric car requires certain compromises compared to a fossil car. The fact that you have to make sure that the battery is full at the start and that it takes longer to charge a battery than to fill a tank with liquid can probably be understood by most people.
Having to prepare with a number of apps, accounts and subscriptions before the trip, and having to keep track of wild price differences between chargers, however, introduces a large dose of stress into the equation quite unnecessarily.
This means that electric cars are still best suited to enthusiasts and the tech-savvy, and are still hard to recommend to non-tech people.
I have seen the future
However, some of my recent visits to a fast charger have filled me with hope for the future. Namely, charging on the Nima charger was not only a pleasant experience due to the low price, but also thanks to the payment method.
When I plugged the charging cable into the car, all I had to do was swipe my bank card – just like at a gas station – and the charging started. When I had finished charging, I just had to flip the card again to cancel the charge. The appless experience was simple, fast and smooth, requiring minimal thought.
On April 13, a new law comes into force, which states that all new fast chargers installed in the EU must be equipped with card payment. From the beginning of 2027, existing fast chargers must also be able to accept cards.
This will undoubtedly lead to the charging network becoming less complicated to use, which in the long run should lead to more people daring to buy electric cars. That, if anything, should motivate the charging companies to speed up the installation of card machines, as I would argue that the current arrangement is overturning rather than helping electric car sales.
When this is resolved, the question of the large price differences remains. Hopefully, the card payments will lead to fewer people using the charging apps, and that the fast chargers will therefore start to compete on price just like the petrol stations.