David Cornish, head of product – Techniche EV, considers what the new UK charge point targets mean for operators.
This week the UK Government published a draft of its highly anticipated Public Charge Point Regulations 2023. The public perception of the reliability of EV charging is still far from perfect. Leading industry operators acknowledge that there’s still a lot of work to be done to address this. But the new UK charge point regulations are an important step in terms of building public confidence in the ability to charge vehicles, particularly when traveling away from home on longer journeys.
The regulations, when finalised, will impose certain conditions on the operators of fast public charge points (8kW and above), including levels of reliability, provision of data, and reporting.
How prepared are charge point operators to meet these regulations?
The reliability requirement is that each network of rapid charge points is, on average, reliable for 99% of the time over the course of a calendar year. There is consideration given to charge points in locations with restricted opening hours, such as shopping centres, or in a car park which is closed overnight, but in general operators will be expected to achieve 99% reliability to avoid a relatively hefty fine.
There’s no doubt; there’s a reliability gap that need to be closed before these regulations come into effect.
Not only will charge point operators be required to report their reliability stats to the UK Government, but they’ll also need to publish this on their company websites and make the data freely available to the public.
The penalties for not hitting the 99% reliability mark will not only be financial, but also reputational.
Payment facilities are another focus of the regulations. The headache for EV drivers of having to use multiple apps, or cards, to pay for public charging has been reported extensively. The new regulations include a requirement for charge point operators to retrofit contactless payment and implement roaming capabilities within 12 months of the start date of the regulations, otherwise face an even greater fine.
Ensuring reliability, meeting the reporting requirements, and having data at your fingertips can’t be achieved using manual processes or with software applications that are not fit for purpose. Now that UK charge point operators understand how they’ll be measured, it’s time to get ahead and think about having the right tools in place to help ensure and report on the levels of reliability the government – and UK EV drivers – will demand.
Techniche EV helps CPOs improve the uptime of their charge points and deliver a reliable customer charging experience. Read more here.