All electric vehicle chargers sold in the UK to be ‘smart’ under government plans

Waiting for a recharge

One day the loss of fuel taxes will have to be addressed if electric cars are to become compulsory (after 2032 in Scotland, 2040 in England). Automatic pay-per-mile road tolls could be an option, probably still a long way off.

All electric vehicle (EV) charge points sold in the UK will have to be ‘smart’ and able to interact with the grid to help manage the increased demand for electricity expected to arrive alongside higher take-up, says Clean Energy News.

The Department for Transport yesterday published its intended Automated and Electric Vehicles Bill, setting out broad stroke proposals for how the government will seek to increase the access and availability of charge points for electric cars.

The document also confirmed powers to make it compulsory for motorway services and large petrol retailers to install charge points for electric cars, as well as ensuring access to live data of the location and availability of charge points.

Transport minister John Hayes said: “This bill will aid the construction of greater infrastructure to support the growing demand for automated and electric vehicles as we embrace this technology and move into the future.”

The plans to ensure all chargers are ‘smart’ will require each to offer a variety of measures around access and energy monitoring, as well as ‘to comply with requirements relating to security’ and ‘to be accessed remotely’.

This could open the door for external parties like distribution network operators or National Grid to access and control charging to ensure peak demand levels do not exceed the tolerances of the grid.

Continued here.