The Department for Transport (DfT) announced on Friday 14 December that all government-funded home chargepoints for electric vehicles (EVs) must use smart technology from July 2019. The government specified that chargepoints must be able to be “remotely accessed, and capable of receiving, interpreting and reacting to a signal.” The government also announced that the grant to install chargepoints at home and in the workplace will be maintained at the current level of up to £500. Jesse Norman, Roads Minister, said: “We have already supported the installation of over 100,000 home chargepoints. Now the measures announced today will give more people the opportunity to make the move to electric.”
The Energy Networks Association (ENA) has welcomed the move by the government to make all government funded home chargepoints smart. In a Friday 14 December press release, ENA Chief Executive David Smith said: “Smart chargepoints are critical to managing the roll-out of electric vehicles, so this move is a welcome one. Without them there could be a proliferation of non-smart chargepoints that take capacity from the electricity networks, with no opportunity to manage the associated load.” Additionally, Daniel Brown, Policy Manager at the Renewable Energy Association (REA), said that “smart charging will be critical if we are to create a smarter, more flexible energy system”. However, he added: “The key now is to come up with a definition for ‘smart charging’, currently being discussed in the EV Energy Taskforce, which maximises competition and innovation.”