Jaap BurgerEt tu, Fastned?
Fastned, one of the larger North-Western European CPOs, is one of the last to switch to the discriminatory pricing model, the German disease.
https://www.electrive.com/2026/01/20/fastned-app-users-now-get-10-ev-charging-discount/
The 🇪🇺 #AFIR is failing to create a user-friendly market. With additional technical requirements that have been in force since this month, 'regular' public charging points are also becoming significantly more expensive.
The European Commission is listening one-sidedly to 'big charging' when it comes to funding, regulations and policy and forgetting to put the user first.
Will the Parliament be able to adjust that during the upcoming review?
Will the Parliament be able to adjust that during the upcoming review?
RE: https://mastodon.social/@burger_jaap/115876725270393624
What is this 'German disease' affecting public EV charging? It is a widespread practice to set high default prices, thereby coercing users into signing a contract with the operator in order to receive a ‘discount’.
Those who want to use a single charging app or simply swipe their bank card for public charging end up paying more.
Rather than offering users an easy public charging experience with price transparency, they are now locked into proprietary networks. This harms not only current users, but also acts as a major barrier for new ones.
This is despite the EU's non-discriminatory pricing, and transparency articles in the #AFIR, which, in practice, appears to be ineffective as the European Commission does not want to take action on this issue, nor clarify it.
What makes this more specifically “German” is that, in addition to applying discriminatory prices (often around 20 cent/kWh difference), operators in that country are also taking organised legal action against the creation of an open market with public tenders, etc.
As the cards are being reshuffled for the ever-growing EV market, “Big Charging” is positioning itself to oligopolise that pie.
What can you, as an EV driver, do now to help create a healthy market today and tomorrow? For example, use this app to find competitively priced public chargers where you can simply charge without registering:
Neues von der Ad Hoc Map App - Jetzt mit ersten Live-Daten - Das Weihnachts-Update 1.3.5
Julien Marchal@burger_jaap we‘d need an app / map showing CPOs that have fair adhoc pricing AND fair B2B pricing to EMPs in roaming in accordance with AFIR!
@julienmarchal yes, 100%!
@burger_jaap cause if not, users might actually incentivise CPOs to have nice adhoc pricing, but unfair and illegal roaming prices! Most of „fair adhoc pricing offers“ are in violation of AFIR