Electric car drivers are forced to clog their phones with more than 30 payment apps

Electric car drivers are being pressured into downloading more than 30 apps to navigate the charging network.

Nearly every firm running charging points in the UK has its own app for payment, which customers are pushed towards when they visit their website.

At least a dozen charging providers do not even allow payment by other means, such as cash or contactless card.

Councils have already faced a significant backlash from motorists after introducing app-only payment for car parking amid complaints the technology is difficult to use and is hard for older customers to understand.

The 2030 ban could heap further app misery on the more than two million people who are already expected to be living in ‘parking meter deserts’ where pay-and-display machines are scrapped. Now they will be forced to grapple with electric vehicle (EV) charging apps too. 

Nearly every firm running charging points in the UK has its own app for payment, which customers are pushed towards when they visit their website (File image)

Research last year found that nearly 40 per cent of the public agreed they would be more likely to switch to an electric car if they could confidently rely on a single public charging option.

ZapMap, which provides a UK-wide map of EV charging points, has recently launched its own payment app, Zap-Pay, ‘with a mission to sign up all the key networks across the UK’.

The firm said it decided to take action after hearing ‘a message coming loud and clear from EV drivers across the country: make paying for charging simple’. However, its website suggests only nine providers have so far signed up.

ChargeUK, representing the EV charging industry said: ‘We are working with government to ensure charging is accessible, convenient and hassle-free,’ insisting: ‘Paying for public charging has never been easier.’