Government consulted in 2019 the smart charging market has developed significantly, yet it is still in a nascent stage. Government’s intention is therefore to mandate a minimum set of requirements in 2021 that supports the early smart charging market. 7. However, we recognise that this market is expected to evolve and grow quickly in the coming years as more people purchase EVs. Government remains committed to delivering the four objectives that underpin smart charging policy, and these will be fully implemented in a second phase of legislation.
Phase One legislation will not address chargepoint operator interoperability (the ability to switch the operator of one’s chargepoint), nor fully mitigate energy system risks like cyber security and grid stability. This is because these objectives cannot be mitigated by device level regulation alone. It is therefore essential that Government takes further action to mitigate the potential risks posed by smart charging. Notably, since the publication of the Phase Two call for evidence, Government has outlined its intention to take a more holistic approach and develop a system-wide approach to regulation across a broad range of smart devices and systems, beyond EV smart chargepoints alone.
Chapter 2 8. In the consultation, Government proposed that the regulations would ordinarily require compliance with BSI (British Standards Institution) Standards for Energy Smart Appliances (ESAs), named as Publicly Available Specification (PAS) 1878 in the summary of responses. A range of further device requirements were also outlined in Chapter 2 to meet Government’s objectives on issues such as cyber security and grid stability. 9. Government will be setting smart chargepoint device requirements as part of Phase One legislation. However, Government will not be requiring full compliance with PAS 1878 in phase one legislation.
This standard was under development via an industry-led process at the time of consulting, alongside PAS 1879 which provides a framework for Demand Side Response operation. Mandating both PAS 1878 and 1879 will be considered as an option for Phase 2 legislation, and the requirements in our Phase 1 regulations are compatible with the standards established in PAS 1878 and 1879. 10.The key Phase One policy positions by requirement are summarised in the table below. 5 Requirement Policy position Smart chargepoint functionality Government will mandate that all private chargepoints must be smart.
Cyber and data security Government will mandate requirements in line with an existing cyber security standard, ETSI EN 303 645. Interoperability Government will require that chargepoints must not be designed so as to prevent compatibility with any energy supplier. Default smart charging Government will mandate that, during set-up, chargepoints must require EV drivers to set charging preferences and schedules. In addition, these schedules must be pre-set to not charge at peak times.