‘Urgent’ action on EV transition needed within 12 months

Smart charging should be the default for EV users connecting at home from next year, a new report has recommended.

This is one of 21 proposals from the EV Energy Taskforce in its report, launched today (14 January), which also calls on the government and Ofgem to support the development of a new co-ordinated and accessible market for flexibility, aimed at EV drivers, by 2023 at the latest.

The taskforce’s recommendations are grouped into five themes and chairman Philip New said all but one required action by the end of 2021. He added that the taskforce was clear that this was a “crashingly urgent agenda”.

The report stresses the importance of delivering consumer benefits through interoperability, including enabling roaming services to deliver a “seamless” experience between public chargepoints by the end of 2021. Another theme is rewarding consumers for charging smartly – including the need for the government to maximise the number of consumers installing smart meters alongside EV chargepoint installation.

The report also includes a section on developing and maintaining the charging infrastructure consumers need. The taskforce insists that the RIIO-2 price control process must support well-justified anticipatory network investment, including low-voltage network monitoring, in EV charging infrastructure.

The report was launched alongside a seminar in Westminster, which included a presentation by minister of state at the department for transport, George Freeman, who presented his own goals for the decarbonisation of transport. He stressed that he intended to present a “series of tangible, specific measures” at COP26 in November and that he wanted to see a more than doubling of rapid charging points across the UK by 2024.

He added: “One of the ways we can make this post-Brexit moment a period of healing is to lean in and tackle some of the things people are most worried that Brexit would distract us from.

“The public wants us to get a grip on climate change. People are willing to make sacrifices but they want to know that their sacrifices will count.”

He went on to say: “I don’t underestimate the size of the challenge. If you spend 100 years telling people the height of human achievement is to drive your own combustion engine, reversing that message at pace with conviction isn’t going to be easy.”

He said it was vital that the EV movement developed to cater not just for the early adopters but wider society.

“If we can save them some money and show them they are contributing to creating a cleaner society they will come with us. But, most of all they have to get from A to B. That focus on what people actually want rather than what we think they want is key.”

Freeman also said the government was looking at the possibility of bringing forward its target of banning the sale of new diesel and petrol cars by 2040.

Fintan Slye, director of National Grid ESO, also spoke at the launch event. He said: “Electric vehicles will play a key role in decarbonising the UK’s transport and electricity sectors. Smart charging and vehicle-to-grid technology means we can use renewable energy more efficiently, charging when the sun shines or the wind blows and potentially discharging back to the grid at times of peak demand.

“With an estimated 35 million electric vehicles on the roads by 2050 or sooner, we have a fantastic opportunity for the transport and electricity sectors to work together to deliver a low carbon transition that benefits all electricity consumers.”

Below is the full list of recommendations from the report:

Theme 1: Delivering Consumer Benefits Through Interoperability

Proposal 1

By no later than 2025 industry must have reached convergence on a preferred set of standards that meet interoperability requirements across the EV charging infrastructure. Government must intervene if this is not achieved. Government and industry should, as a matter of urgency, review, define and propose international standards for communications, data and security protocols in order to meet this goal. To support this work government should establish a body with industry to coordinate the involvement of industry stakeholders.

Proposal 2

Government and industry must ensure system resilience by design. This includes ensuring that charge point operators (CPOs) are aware of their responsibilities for ensuring the security of their systems. Government with industry should agree a common standard base for cyber security but not mandate a single solution, however, Government should provide support for the preferred set of standards, including device certification.

Proposal 3

Industry should enable roaming services to deliver a seamless EV charging experience between public charge points by 2021.

Proposal 4

Government and Ofgem, through the electricity industry technical and market code governance frameworks, should ensure overall operational coordination of industry parties seeking to exploit EV flexibility through smart charging technologies and electricity market products by 2021. Clear visibility as to which market products are in play must be evident to both industry and users at any time, as well as which transactions have occurred over a settlement period. It must also ensure that the operation of smart charging does not present a risk to the stability of the electricity system.

Proposal 5

Industry should agree to extending the minimum technical requirements for smart chargers set out by OLEV to facilitate the management of electricity network capacity and energy availability. These requirements should be introduced in line with the powers set out in the Automated and Electric Vehicles Act by 2021.

Proposal 6

If permitted, network and system operators must work with Ofgem, industry and consumer representatives to develop governance arrangements for the use of emergency charge limitation by a network company. Emergency charge limitation should only be used as a last resort to maintain the safety and security of the electricity system.

Proposal 7

By 2021 industry must develop common labelling standards for EVSE, enforced by Government if necessary, so that consumers are aware of the forms of interoperability available from clear, comprehensible EVSE package labelling and other product material. There are a number of types of interoperability and it is proposed that generally, offering these is left as an option for EVSE providers.

Theme 2: Rewarding Consumers for Charging Smartly

Proposal 8

Require private EV charge points to charge smartly by default, thus making smart charging participation an opt-out function by 2021.

Proposal 9

The Government and Ofgem must ensure that existing markets for flexibility are made accessible for EV users. They must also support the development of new co-ordinated and accessible markets for flexibility to compete with traditional networks and wider whole electricity system solutions by 2023 at the latest. Markets and price signals should maximise the opportunities for consumers to utilise their flexible resources, including EVs, and sufficiently reward them for offering demand flexibility services that support optimised network operations and investment, emission reductions and whole electricity system efficiency.

Proposal 10

The Government and Ofgem should ensure on an ongoing basis from 2020, possibly through a process triggered by a charge point installation, that the number of consumers who have a smart meter installed before or alongside the installation of a charge point is maximised, and that consumers have been properly informed of the potential benefits.

Theme 3: Utilising and Protecting Data for Better Consumer Outcomes

Proposal 11

Industry players should cooperate to develop comprehensive data sharing arrangements (including standardisation where appropriate) and open and interoperable exchange principles and mechanisms, in conjunction and alignment with implementation of the Energy Data Taskforce recommendations. They should also advise Government and relevant regulators if industry licences or codes need changing or if legislation is required to allow such sharing of data by 2021. Government and regulators to review progress and to act if necessary.

Proposal 12

To facilitate the availability of open and accurate charge point data, public charge point operators,

owners and market actors must make data on public charge point location, type, status, capacity, price and availability consistent and openly available for EV drivers by 2021. A single asset register, aligned with the Energy Data Taskforce Asset Registration Strategy, must include all fixed charge points (i.e. private, public, workplace, etc) and should include all relevant data to ensure optimum planning and operation of the electricity networks.

Proposal 13

The Electric Vehicle Energy Taskforce proposes that Ofgem and Government introduce a Data Access and Privacy Framework for the EV sector to ensure that consumers have full control over their data by 2021. Consumers should be made aware of all data access issues at the point of sale of all EV products and services as well as their powers to control and delete this data.

Theme 4: Winning Consumers’ Trust and Confidence

Proposal 14

The Taskforce proposes that an ongoing and proactive campaign be undertaken to promote the benefits of smart charging to the public. An existing independent organisation could be given this task, or a new consumer-facing body established during 2022.

Proposal 15

The Taskforce proposes that Government fund the provision of an independent, tailored advice and information service on smart charging and EVs, to be established by 2022.

Proposal 16

Industry must develop and adopt common, principle-based complaint handling standards by the end of 2021 to ensure that consumers are transferred seamlessly (between market boundaries if necessary) to resolve their problem(s), regardless of who they have initial contact with.

Proposal 17

The Taskforce proposes that Government and/or Ofgem undertake a full review of protections for EV users by the end of 2021. This should build on and be coordinated with ongoing work (such as Ofgem’s Future Energy Retail Market Review).

Proposal 18

Industry to develop and implement best practice standards, backed up by an independent accreditation scheme, for the information provision for smart charging and electric vehicle services at the point of sale by 2021.

Theme 5: Developing and Maintaining the Charging Infrastructure Consumers Need

Proposal 19

The Government and Ofgem, as a matter of urgency, need to facilitate effective forward planning and coordination of the rollout of EV and electricity network infrastructure at a national and local level to meet consumer needs. This needs to be aligned nationally and to wider local area energy, transport and emission reduction plans and be implemented and used through RIIO-2 price control.

Proposal 20

Ofgem should ensure RIIO-2 price control supports well-justified anticipatory network investment, including LV monitoring, that benefits consumers and enables efficient and co-ordinated deployment of the network infrastructure necessary for EV charging (with due consideration paid to other future additional loads including from the electrification of heat).

Proposal 21

The Government should provide support to all public bodies and private organisations concerned with developing and procuring the delivery, operation and maintenance of public EV charging infrastructure. This should include the sharing of best practice and providing specific guidance on procurement of public charging solutions and requirements for effective delivery, ongoing operation and maintenance of public charging by the end of 2021.