Charging your electric vehicle at a public chargepoint is a great solution for drivers away from home, on a long journey or for those without home charging facilities. But public EV chargepoints can also be frustrating to use.
As the number of chargepoint operators increases, the number of different EV chargers is also increasing and so are the ways in which we can access and pay for the electricity we require from them.
Larger nationwide operators seem to prefer to use smartphone apps which allow you to set up an account, then login and operate the chargepoint via your phone and also pay for the charging session.
With each operator favouring their own apps the seasoned EV driver will soon collect a plethora of different apps in order to access the UK charging network. However, there is a better way: contactless payments, or chip and PIN as we used to call it.
The UK Government announced earlier in 2022 that part of its push towards building a reliable EV charging infrastructure across the whole country would be the requirement for streamlining the EV charging procedure, including allowing for contactless payments rather than relying on smartphone apps.
Adding a contactless payment facility to an EV charger gives drivers the options to just pay-as-you-go for their charge. No need to download an app, register an account or enter your debit card details, just Tap and Charge. Couldn’t be simpler!
No Apps, no fuss.
Hydra EVC can add a contactless payment terminal to all of our EV chargers designed for public access. The Contactless Terminal offers an attractive looking unit with a high-resolution colour touchscreen to engage your consumers. The screen also features Gorilla Glass, which safeguards the device from vandalism.
Hydra believes that using contactless payments in this way makes paying for the EV charging no more complex than plugging in an EV. Its quick, hassle free and reliable.
For installations in a communications blackspot where customers might struggle to download an app or get a 4G signal to link up to the charger this is truly the only way to facilitate public charging and start to earn revenue from an otherwise ‘closed’ area.
The payment terminal touch also supports Apple Pay and Google Pay so the customer doesn’t even need to have a debit or credit card on them when paying to charge their electric vehicle!
Accompanied by our Hydra Nexus platform any operator can remotely monitor, manage and earn money from a single chargepoint as easy as they can from a nationwide network 24/7. Not only does it ensure that your chargepoints are all in good working order but it can remotely install updates, provide usage reports, manage earnings, etc.
If you’d like more information about adding contactless payment facilities to your EV charging network or would just like to discuss options about installing and commissioning a chargepoint for public use please don’t hesitate to get in touch.
Touch. Tap. Charge.
