To boost smart charging take-up among EV owners, the report calls for all private charging points installed by 2021 to charge smartly by default and for steps to be taken to ensure energy companies sufficiently reward EV owners for doing so.

Another key focus of the report is increasing ‘interoperability’ of public charging points, in order to make it easier for EV owners to charge away from home.

Top charging point maker calls for paying and charging conformity

By 2025, the taskforce wants the government and industry to agree on a common set of charging standards – for example, standardised charging ports – and propose that they be adopted on an international level. 

It has also proposed that EV charging firms enable ‘roaming services’ by 2021, allowing EV drivers to use any public charge point through a single payment method.

In addition, the report calls for the government, as a matter of urgency, to introduce better forward planning to co-ordinate the growth of EV chargers and network infrastructure at national and local level. 

There are also proposals to safeguard consumer data and for charging firms to make all charge point data openly available to drivers.

The taskforce report was presented at an event in London attended by George Freeman, the minister for the future of transport.

The taskforce is co-ordinated by the Low Carbon Vehicle Partnership, a public-private body tasked with accelerating the take-up of low-emission vehicles. Car firms involved in the taskforce include BMW, Ford, Nissan, Tesla and Volkswagen. 

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