Citizens Advice response to DfT’s consultation on Electric Vehicle Smart Charging
Citizens Advice response to DfT’s consultation on Electric Vehicle Smart Charging [ 230 kb]
Citizens Advice supports the Government’s proposal to set device level standards for smart chargers, with a long term decision on enduring technology and wider requirements on chargepoint operators to be made at a later point.
We recommend the government:
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agree indicators with stakeholders, which once met instigate the transition to a long term approach. These indicators should be transparently shared to encourage stakeholders to share evidence regularly and support an informed transition;
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clearly understands the magnitude of risk (to both individual consumers and the grid) of proceeding with a phased approach, where additional obligations are not placed on chargepoint operators, and ensures these risks are mitigated;
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apply similar proposals as has been suggested in this consultation to public chargepoints, which have a similar rate of charging and duration of use;
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assess and encourage the potential for industry collaboration on security to reduce the financial burden ultimately passed on to consumers, where reasonable;
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ensure consumers can retain smart functionality regardless of which supplier, tariff or chargepoint operator they choose and that the value of smart charging is competitive and passed onto consumers;
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ensure any default settings are designed to benefit consumers and reflect a changing energy system;
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ensure consumers can access data about charging events and that this data is relayed in a consumer-friendly way, alongside other relevant data sources that provide meaningful information;
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produce long term standards, which are consistent with international standards so that costs are not increased for British consumers; and
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assess the need, benefits and possible risks of sharing live usage data from domestic chargers with networks, given there is a breadth of evidence indicating consumer concern for data sharing.