Allego has rolled-out contactless credit or debit card charging on its EV charge points, with the first of the network’s units offering this payment option rolled out in London on the Shell Recharge network.
The UK Government has regulations as to the ease of access for public EV charge points, and the most open way to accommodate any EV driver is to offer contactless card payment. This means that drivers can access the charge point using their bank card, as they would at a supermarket for example.
By using the contactless card to initiate and complete the charge, there are no accounts that need to be set up beforehand, no smartphone apps to be downloaded, or RFID cards to get sent through the post.
As of next year, every new Allego 50 kW rapid charge point will have contactless payment functionality, with the first sited at Shell Holloway in London.
Anja van Niersen, CEO Allego, said: “The new payment solution at our chargers is essential to offer EV drivers worldwide price transparency. We believe in a consumer centric EV market, in which electric vehicle drivers have access to every charging facility, can pay however they want and get a direct overview of their costs.
“Thanks to the strong collaboration with Visa we could accelerate the deployment of the payment services at our chargers. This a step that will change people’s habits and will make e-charging easier and more accessible for all of our customers.”
The point is available to find on Zap-Map at the link below, with users able to filter by network or by the new ‘Contactless’ selection under the payment filters.
