In May 2022, FCE published a position paper on the revised proposal for the Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Regulation (AFIR).

In light of the European Parliament’s Transport and Tourism Committee negotiations, FCE asked Members ensure a quick scale up of charging points is not hindered by unnecessary costs, which might delay theroll out of vital charging infrastructure.

FCE recommended that both ad-hoc charging and charging under a contract are accepted at publicly accessible charging stations, with consideration to the fact that most Mobility Service Providers (MSP) operate under a contracting model whereby there is a chain transaction delivery from the chare point operator, to the MSP, to the end-customer. This is crucial for many businesses, particularly SMEs, which account for most of the European logistics sector. FCE believes that by helping fleet managers to recharge electric vehicles, this contract model would advance the transition toward zero emission road transport by bringing more vehicles to charging points.

FCE also urged Members to maintain, per the European Commission’s proposed Art. 5, that operators of publicly accessible recharging stations provide end-users with the possibility of recharging their vehicle using an array of payment and authentication devices widely used in the EU, as range anxiety and in-station issues (payment, breakdown, etc.) are among the top items preventing a wider EV adoption by drivers.