Briefing

Unlock public EV charging price transparency and competition

Victoire Couëlle — September 29, 2026

T&E position on the revision of the Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Regulation for Light Duty Vehicles

Author

Victoire Couëlle

Senior Vehicles Policy Officer, Charging Brussels (EU)

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The Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Regulation (AFIR) is the cornerstone of the EU's public charging infrastructure. By establishing a baseline public charging coverage across the EU (distance-based targets) and ensuring the growth of charging infrastructure in line with national battery-electric vehicles (BEV) uptake (fleet-based targets), AFIR provides the necessary framework to electrify road transport.

The results are already visible. The EU public charging network reached record levels with 1.1 million chargers deployed by the end 2025 and with EU countries on their way to meet or exceed AFIR targets (see T&E’s EV charging dashboard).

With the EU's public charging network now maturing, AFIR must now shift its focus from the quantity of public infrastructure towards its quality. AFIR remains the strongest tool to effectively address user experience challenges, particularly in terms of price and information transparency, accessibility, and comparability.

T&E's recommends that the AFIR revision includes the following measures to support the development of a seamless, transparent, and competitive EU public charging network:

Standardise and limit public charging prices to three components: charging price (€/kWh), Charging Point Operators (CPOs) standardised idle or overstay fee (applying once charging ends), and any roaming or other commercial fees charged by Mobility Service Providers (MSPs).
Clearly display all price components and conditions, before each charging starts, including pre-authorisation and overstay fees, in a standardised format.
Clearly indicate ad-hoc charging prices and enable subscription-free standard card payments at all physical public chargers. Final MSP price should always be displayed alongside the base ad-hoc price to prevent excessive MSP hidden price markups (e.g. roaming).
Centralise public charging data through the Common European Access Point (CEAP) to harmonise EU-wide and open data collection of public chargers.
Establish EU-level indicators and regular monitoring of public charging prices of CPOs and MSPs, to help national authorities distinguish between normal market variation and pricing differences requiring closer scrutiny.