Public Chargepoint Regulations to improve consumer experience of EV charging come into effect
Fri 24 November 2023
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Regulations to improve EV users experience at public chargepoints have come into effect. The regulations were informed by the outputs of the Zemo-convened multi-stakeholder Electric Vehicle Energy Taskforce between 2019 and 2022. (See notes below.)
The regulations came into force on 24 November 2023 to ensure that the experience of consumers using public chargepoints across the UK is consistent and positive. The aim is to support the UK's transition to electric vehicles (EVs) and help the UK reach its climate targets.
The Regulations build on four key areas of the consumer experience to ensure that consumers:
- can easily locate the right public chargepoint to suit their needs4
- have ease of payment across public chargepoints1
- can be confident that public chargepoints of 50kW and above will be in good working order2
- are able to compare prices across multiple public chargepoint networks
As the UK transitions to EVs, the public charging network will only become more important. Whilst most people will do most of their charging at home, those without off-street parking and on long journeys will be reliant on public charging. It is important that there is confidence in the public charging network and that consumers can use public chargepoints easily.
Amongst other priorities, the rules will mandate that so called rapid charger networks (defined as 50kW and above) must be, on average, reliable for 99% of the time during each calendar year, with operators required to submit annual reports.
Chargepoint operators will also have to provide customer helplines 24/7 while the rules also stipulate that users at all public chargepoints with 8kW or higher power must be able to pay by contactless payment and be able to use third-party roaming services.
Pricing requirements will mandate that costs are clearly displayed in pence per kilowatt hour, either on the chargepoint or through a separate device that doesn’t require a pre-existing contract with the operator.
Chargepoint operators must also ensure that reference data and availability data is made available to the public free of charge, ensuring third-party apps can be kept up to date.
Operators will have up to a year to make many of the changes, and two years in the case of the requirement on payment roaming, but the requirement for pricing transparency comes into force immediately.
The groundbreaking Electric Vehicle Energy Taskforce provided a foundation for the regulations now coming into effect. The Taskforce brought more than 350 senior stakeholders from energy, infrastructure, automotive and transport together - many for the very first time - to advise government and industry on how to maximise the benefits to both the transport and energy sectors arising from the electric transition in transport.
Phase One concluded in January 2020 with the delivery of the ‘Energising our Electric Vehicle Transition’ report, presenting 21 hard-hitting proposals on what was then considered to be needed to successfully electrify UK road transport.
Phase Two saw the publication of ‘Moving from Proposals to Actions’ in October 2020, an in-depth report supporting these far-reaching findings and recommendations.
Phase Three focused on ‘delivering system success’, exploring the critical actions and enablers necessary to ensure the UK's charging infrastructure is second to none and does not stand in the way of EV uptake.
The Taskforce was run by Zemo Partnership at the request of the UK Government.
In March 2022 the Government published an electric vehicle infrastructure strategy - “Taking Charge” - which set the expectation for more than 300,000 public chargepoints to be in operation by 2030, and for at least six “high powered (over 150kW)” chargepoints to be at every motorway service area by the end of 2023.
Notes
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EV Energy Taskforce: Making public chargepoints easy to use (Link)
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EV Energy Taskforce: Making the electricity market work for EV drivers (Link)
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EV Energy Taskforce: Achieving system optimisation through shared intelligence (Link)
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EV Energy Taskforce: Making public chargepoints easily accessible for EV drivers (Link)
Image: Courtesy EV Clicks
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