News analysis Plug-in problem
Confusion over home chargers is delaying fleet EV adoption, the AFP has warned. Sean Keywood reports.
ncertainty over rules covering the installation of home chargers is delaying fleet EV adoption, according to the Association of Fleet Professionals (AFP). The organisation said problems were arising over the fitting of isolators usually put in place as part of the home charger circuit, providing the means to completely cut power to the charging unit if required. The issue stems from the Meter Operation Code of Practice agreement (MOCOPA), created by electricity distributors and meter operators, which in June 2021 removed the ability for third parties such as charger installation companies to put isolators in place, stating that this needed to be arranged by energy providers themselves. According to the AFP, this had such a detrimental effect on charging installation – introducing delays of typically four to six
U
weeks – that the decision was reversed in September. However, in January this year, the new Retail Energy Code (REC), which has superseded MOCOPA, said that the original June decision would be reinstated pending an independent review, expected to take around six months.
AFP chair Paul Hollick said: “Home charging is essential to the adoption of electric cars and vans and, according to the accounts that we are hearing from our members, this issue is causing both confusion and substantial delays to fleet electrification.
“It means that almost every home charger installation will now require two engineers – one authorised by the energy provider to put an isolator in place and another to install the charging equipment. This makes the process slow and difficult both for fleets wanting to support the
installation of home charging equipment and the employees whose homes are being affected.
“At a time when EV adoption has already been hit by delivery delays that mean many key models are not available for a year or more, this is a further exasperating difficulty that is being introduced into the process of electric car and van adoption,” he continued.
“We, of course, very much support the principle that home charger installation should be as safe as possible but there was nothing, as far as we are aware, to suggest that the original process was not resulting in high-quality installations.”
Hollick added that the issue had also influenced a rise in the cost of isolator installation, from around £75 in June, to £200 now, according to reports from several AFP members.
He said: “On top of this price increase, we are also hearing that there are difficulties getting hold of charging units themselves because of the semiconductor crisis affecting production, which is compounding the issue to some extent. “So, we are asking REC, in the short term, to revert to the process of pre- June 2021 to enable rapid deployment of EVs by our members. In the medium and longer term, we would like to see qualified electricians given the ability to install the isolator and charger in one instance, essentially returning to the pre- June situation, which was working well.” Hollick added that some home charger installation companies did not use isolators, instead wiring straight into the main fuse board, but it was believed that that most fleet operators were using more comprehensive isolator-based solutions.
“Home charging is essential to the adoption of electric cars and vans.”
6 | March 2022 |
www.businesscar.co.uk
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