New EV Charging Regulations Come Into Force

  From 30th June 2022, all new private EV charge points (home and workplace) sold and installed in Great Britain must comply with new regulations.   How do these regulations support the UK’s energy grid? Implementing a more flexible & smarter energy system will support managing the fast increase in electricity demand from the transition to electrical vehicles, as well as enable easier integration of more renewable electricity generation into the energy system. What do the regulations require? 1. Off-peak charging New charge points will incorporate a pre-set default charging hours that are outside the peak hours (which are between 8am and 11am, and 4pm and 10pm on weekdays). This is a nice feature to help encourage all current and future EV owners to participate and support the new regulation. This feature will not only allow the National Energy Grid to achieve a better supply balance, but will also allow drivers to benefit from less expensive energy rates, depending on their energy provider and plan. As EV charging time varies according to each driver and their own lifestyle, the pre-implemented default settings can be overridden directly in the myWallbox app. You still have control over your charging patterns! 2.Randomised Delays New chargers will also feature a randomised delay function. This will prevent all charging points from initiating charging at the same time. The random delay can be up to 10 minutes every time the EV starts or stops charging. So, you may experience that your charging session will not start at the exact scheduled time, and should take this into account when checking the charging status. Owner can skip the randomised delay by manually overriding it each time the EV starts charging, and this can be done directly in the myWallbox app. Again, you’re in control! But let’s keep in mind that, whenever possible, enabling the new requirements is a step in the right direction! How Wallbox has adapted to the new Smart Charge Points Regulations Implementing these requirements is an important step toward the sustainable use of electricity for EV charging! In preparing for this change, we looked carefully at each new requirement to consider how to best serve the market in Great Britain. We can continue to sell Pulsar Max, Pulsar Plus and Copper SB. Wallbox worked directly with the Office of Product Safety and Standards (OPSS), which is the official UK body responsible for a range of goods-based and standards-based regulations, to ensure that sales could continue without interruption. With this is in mind, please note the following: Pulsar Max is fully compliant and can be sold with no additional actions needed. Pulsar Plus and Copper SB have been granted an Enforcement Undertaking from OPSS which will allow for the continued sale of these chargers. All partners and resellers offering Pulsar Plus and Copper SB must provide a Statement of Compliance at the time of sale. If you are a certified Wallbox partner, you can access these statements in the partner portal here. Please note sellers must change the seller details to their own prior to sale. Quasar can only be sold in situations in which a third party will control the charger, through a Demand Side Response (DSR) agreement, for example. Please be aware that Wallbox chargers that are operated by an entity other than Wallbox (i.e. through OCPP) are not subject to Wallbox’s off-peak schedule and randomised delay software updates. These software features should be provided by the third-party operator of those chargers. Stock of Pulsar Max, Pulsar Plus and Copper SB is available and ready to ship today! More on Pulsar Plus and Copper SB Compliance via Software Update Wallbox is currently working on software updates for Pulsar Plus and Copper SB which will be in place before the end of October, making these products fully compliant with the regulations that came into effect on June 30th 2022. Once fully compliant, the Enforcement Undertaking will no longer be necessary.     What’s Next? New Security Requirements. On December 30th 2022, the second part of the UK Smart Charge Points Regulations will come into effect. This part includes several enhanced security measures to ensure that owning and operating an EV charger is as safe as possible. We are pleased to see the UK’s commitment to safety, which has been a core value for Wallbox since their beginnings. Wallbox are hard at work on developments to satisfy these new requirements and intend to be compliant by December.     Check out the Wallbox range at CCL today for all of your EV charging needs.