Government announces EV chargepoints must be smart to secure grant funding

Regulations covering a government grant scheme for electric vehicle (EV) chargers will require all devices funded through the initiative to use smart technology from 1 July, Roads Minister Michael Ellis will announce today.

The new rules mean all chargepoints backed by the government's Electric Vehicle Homecharge Scheme must have the capacity to be remotely accessed and capable of receiving and reacting to a signal.

The functionality enables a device to engage in 'smart charging': adjusting when it takes charge to the ebb and flow of demand in the grid, responding to signals from the grid operator to halt charging at peak times.

Smart charging helps minimise peaks in electricity demand, minimising the impact of electric vehicles on the grid and keeping costs down for consumers. It also makes it easier to match demand from EVs with peaks in supply from weather-dependent renewables, such as wind farms, maximising emissions and cost savings in the process.

"The government wants the UK to be the best place in the world to build and own an electric vehicle, with leadership and innovation helping us pave the way to a zero emission future," Ellis said. "Our new requirements for chargepoints could help keep costs down, ensuring the benefits of green transport are felt by everyone."

The Electric Vehicle Homecharge scheme provides grant funding of up to 75 per cent towards the cost of installing EV chargepoints at domestic properties. It is currently committed to supporting the installation of charge points until March 2020, or until 30,000 installations have been completed through 2019/20, whichever comes first.

Approximately 200 chargepoint models from 25 chargepoint manufacturers, have been confirmed as eligible from 1 July 2019. A list can be found via the government's online chargepoint model approval list.

Last summer the Department for Transport published its Road to Zero strategy, which aims to ensure that, by 2040, new cars and vans are "effectively zero emission". The strategy built on a previous commitment contained in the Air Quality Plan to outlaw the sale of conventional diesel and petrol cars from 2040. The measures outlined in the Road to Zero Strategy amount to nearly £1.5bn of investment, according to the government.

EVs are expected to play a central role in the UK's pursuit of the government's new net zero emissions goal, providing a means of both cutting emissions from the transport sector and supporting a cleaner power grid. However, with only one per cent of UK households using an electric car and two per cent using hybrids, millions of cars will have to be replaced if the UK is to reach its goals.

Meanwhile, critics have argued the target to phasing out internal combustion engine cars and vans by 2040 is not ambitious enough and fails to put the UK on the lowest cost decarbonisation trajectory. A recent report from the UK Energy Research Centre warned the vision in the Road to Zero Strategy is insufficient to meet its stated mission of ensuring all new cars are "effectively zero emission" by 2040.

However, Daniel Brown, policy manager at the Renewable Energy Association, hailed today's new smart charging rules as an important step forward for the EV sector.

"As more of our power comes from renewable technologies such as wind and solar, it's key that we increase the 'flexibility' of our energy system," he said. "Smart charging will be an important part of this in the future, allowing homes to benefit from new tariffs and from bill-reducing technologies such as rooftop solar and battery storage.

"We welcome this move and hope the government go a step further in the future, by mandating the smartness of all new charge points including those installed in workplaces and in public locations."