The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) issued a statement on 12 July 2023 responding to announced measures to improve the UK's electric vehicle charging experience1. The statement was attributed to SMMT Chief Executive Mike Hawes1.
Hawes said the measures would give everyone increased confidence in the charging network, describing that confidence as crucial to driving uptake and reducing emissions1. He identified reliability, interoperability and pricing transparency as the areas the regulations address, and said these reflect the main issues people have when recharging1.
"The next step should be enabling contactless credit or debit card payments at public chargers below 8kW, which would benefit drivers who rely on on-street and destination chargers."
The SMMT statement does not set out the content of the regulations themselves, the thresholds they apply, or the dates on which they take effect; those details are not reported in the statement1. The 8kW figure appears only in the SMMT's call for contactless payment to be extended to chargers below that level, not as a requirement of the announced measures1. No implementation timetable, enforcement body or penalty is given1.
Why it matters for households
For a household weighing up an electric vehicle, the practical question is whether charging away from home is dependable and whether the price is clear before plugging in. The SMMT's statement frames reliability, interoperability and pricing transparency as the main difficulties drivers encounter when recharging1, which are the same points that shape the running costs of public charging compared with charging at home and the wider picture set out in the site's guide to public EV charging networks, payment and the rules.
Payment method is the specific gap the SMMT highlights. Its call covers public chargers below 8kW, the slower units typically found on streets and at destinations, which the statement says would benefit drivers who rely on on-street and destination chargers1. For households without a driveway, those units are often the practical alternative to a home charge point, so how they are paid for and how reliably they work bears directly on whether a home can treat public infrastructure as its main supply. The statement does not address the VAT treatment of public charging relative to home charging, and no figure for that difference appears in it1.
What happens next
The SMMT statement sets out no dated next steps1. It records the organisation's position that contactless card payment should be extended to public chargers below 8kW, without stating when or by whom that would be delivered1.