Chloe Sharp at Rolec discusses Part S regulations and their impact on the future of home and business developments
The introduction of EV charge points as part of the national homestead is set to make EVs a part of the furniture. No longer a novelty or luxury item, but a normal part of everyday life. Which, in essence, is the purpose of the Part S regulations. Making it mandatory for new residential and non-residential buildings to provide access to an EV charge point.
With any luck this will change the image of what a housing development looks like in the mind of future generations, or at least that is what the government hopes. I know that might seem like an exaggeration but if you want to see this change in real time, just ask anyone under the age of 15 to mime using the phone. A shift is happening.
But what will this mean specifically for the future of construction? And is enough being done to ‘patch the cracks’ in peoples’ perception of EV infrastructure?
Well to really get into this, we first need to see what it is that the government expects from new EV tech. To support this widespread installation, guidelines have been put in place to maintain a benchmark of quality between companies. With the intention of ensuring units are as future-proof as possible.
Along with the recognised standard features of an electric vehicle charger, such as a minimum power output of 7kW and a universal, untethered socket, they have also mandated that your unit must be smart. Meaning that it should be able to schedule charging during off-peak hours or when demand is at its lowest, to reduce pressure on the grid.
Your electric vehicle charge point should also have the capacity to measure, record and transmit your usage in units of energy or time. As well as a physical indicator of your vehicle’s charging status, such as an LED display. It’s all about accessibility with these new regulations. Chargers need to be easily adoptable by people and information on usage, cost and time must be available at the drop of a hat.
The EV industry has always been fast-paced and even now, less than a year after these regulations have been introduced, developments have been made to the technology. But, in terms of setting a benchmark that goes as far as it can without telling the future, it does seem to do a good job.
Concessions have been made for the anticipated influx of energy demand, as well as universal access (which seemed to be a hot issue when EV’s were first introduced), and useability. Whilst still leaving room for product developers to, well, develop.
When it comes to changing perceptions, it does make a start at addressing charging anxiety. Increasing the availability of public chargers, or at least setting the framework for availability to increase over-time. Which, as always, comes back to the ambitious target of installing 300,000 public charge points by 2030.
Responsibility of paying for this infrastructure falls, in part, in the lap of businesses. OZEV grant funding is still available, however, for workplaces and apartments, so now might be the time to take advantage of the opportunity. Since funding won’t last as long as the need for EV infrastructure.