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You connect the car – but almost impossible to know what it costs

As electric cars take over more and more of new car sales, the pressure on all the country’s charging stations is also increasing.

One thing is that you risk experiencing queues and waiting time. Many also react to how confusing this is in relation to prices.

Here there is simply a small jungle of different operators, apps and pricing systems. If you leave the charging station unprepared, it is easy to get confused.

Today, it is virtually impossible to know what fast charging will cost you. The different charging operators charge according to different models.

New liter target

Some charge per minute, others per minute and kilowatt-hour and still others for kilowatt-hour. It also does not say anywhere what the price is when you arrive at the charging station.

NAF responds to this. They are now advocating for a new standard here.

– We believe that kilowatt-hour is the new liter target. Then it must be what the charging operators charge for, says Nils Sødal who is a senior communications consultant at NAF.

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Pay by bank card

– Here, the charging operators can also learn from the petrol stations. The price of diesel and petrol is formally shining towards one along the roads, while fast charging prices are still a well-kept secret, he continues.

For many years we have been used to paying for the fuel we buy with a bank card, either at the pump or inside the petrol station. This is not the case at the charging stations. Here you have to use a chip or an app – possibly that you start and stop charging via SMS and that the cost is on the phone bill.

Tough? Yes, for many it is experienced just like that. Here is also a challenge as the electric car becomes the new “people’s car”. Then we are dependent on systems that are suitable for everyone, not just those who were out early with an electric car and gladly took on the challenge with various charging schemes at arm’s length.

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Circle K Kongsbergporten is one of the few charging stations where you can charge under a roof while having access to food, coffee and toilets. (Photo: Terje Borud / Circle K)

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No queuing system

NAF also believes it is high time to upgrade the facilities we encounter when we charge the car:

– There must be an end to electric drivers having to go out and start the charger in rain and wind, without a roof over their heads, and without the opportunity to buy a cup of coffee. People no longer settle for a charger that is placed with the containers behind a commercial building. They want the opportunity for a snack, toilet and maybe even a playground for the children, says Nils Sødal.

Another challenge at today’s charging stations is that there is no kind of queuing system and on the outing days there is a report of a hard fight for the chargers. If the charging stations are designed as a traditional petrol station, the queues will be smoother.

Needs 3,000 new charging points

– Everyone knows the system at a gas station. Therefore, it will be smoother on the days when there is high traffic, the NAF adviser believes.

So far, some will experience queues on the fast charger. The latest figures from Statistics Norway show that there are more and more electric cars per charging station. There are now 19 electric cars per charging point, an increase from 13 in 2017.

– The state must take action so that this number does not grow. There are too few fast and lightning chargers. Still, some parts of the country are like black holes when it comes to electric car charging. NAF has calculated that there is a need for more than 3,000 charging points in the next few years, he concludes.

(The article was first published by Broom)

COMMENT: On a long trip by electric car – this is simply too bad!

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