TL;DR
Get backup power and energy gear delivered free with Prime
- Fast, free delivery on millions of items
- Prime Video, Amazon Music and more included
- Member-only deals all year
California’s Energy Commission has adopted reliability and data-sharing requirements for EV chargers supported by state agencies or regulated utilities, following laws passed in 2022 and 2023. The rules include a requirement for certain new public fast chargers to support a common communications protocol, but experts say gaps in diagnostics and coordination still complicate repairs.
California’s Energy Commission has put new reliability and data-sharing rules in place for electric-vehicle chargers supported by state agencies or regulated utilities, carrying out laws passed in 2022 and 2023. The rules seek to make publicly funded charging more dependable, but industry and repair experts say standards alone will not resolve persistent problems with charger diagnostics and coordination.
One requirement applies to publicly funded direct-current fast chargers installed on or after Sept. 28: they must support OCPP 2.0.1, the latest version of the Open Charge Point Protocol. The standard allows chargers and network-management systems made by different vendors to communicate. The source report does not specify the year for the Sept. 28 start date.
Obrie Hostetter, director of fleet decarbonization programs at the Center for Sustainable Energy, said public projects should reliably serve the public and that performance data can help determine whether they do. A charging-network employee quoted anonymously in the report called the regulations “largely an onerous data-reporting exercise” and questioned whether they would improve reliability.
Michael Bakunin, chief executive of charging-software company Epic Charging, said migrating some chargers to new software was difficult and described the commission’s protocol requirements as strict. He said the rules could help make it possible for future chargers to change software providers. The report also identifies a separate state effort: a $4 million CEC grant for the Capital Charge Yard, a Sacramento testing lab that opened in August. The source does not give the year.
Making Public Chargers More Dependable
Charging reliability affects whether drivers can count on public stations when they need them. A charger that is unavailable, cannot communicate with a vehicle, or fails during payment can make a charging stop unusable, even when the station appears on a map. That matters in California, which has more EVs than any other state, and where public money is being used to expand charging.
The new rules address some of the risks tied to publicly funded equipment, especially dependence on a single vendor’s software. A shared protocol may make it easier to switch providers if a company exits the market or stops supporting its system. But the standards do not, by themselves, demonstrate that chargers are working more often or that repairs are faster. The report offers no measured reliability results since the rules took effect.
The policy challenge is both technical and institutional: equipment, software, vehicles, payment systems and repair services have to work together. The state is using regulation to set expectations and public funding to support testing, but the report’s sources say coordination and access to useful fault information remain obstacles.
Products Worth Considering
Shark Navigator Robot Vacuum with 30-Day Self-Emptying Base, White (AV2110S)
Levoit Core 400S-P Smart Air Purifier for Large Rooms
Philips Hue Festavia 130-Foot Indoor/Outdoor Smart String Lights, 500 LEDs
As an affiliate, we earn on qualifying purchases.
From State Laws to New Standards
Federal policy helped put charger reliability requirements on the agenda. The report says the Biden administration attached such requirements to a $5 billion federal EV-charger program, but that later changes to federal leadership left states to take on more responsibility. It does not detail those changes or their specific effects on California’s rules.
California laws passed in 2022 and 2023 directed the CEC to enforce reliability and data-sharing standards for charging installations receiving money from state agencies or regulated utilities. The rules took years to develop. The new OCPP requirement is intended to reduce the risk that a charger will be difficult to operate if its original manufacturer or network operator is no longer available.
Repair company ChargerHelp’s CEO and co-founder, Kameale Terry, said her company’s crews still lack some information needed to diagnose broken chargers. She also pointed to unclear responsibility for managing the handoffs among charger diagnostics, vehicle communications and payment authorization. The report presents those as continuing operational problems, not issues already resolved by the new standards.
“Largely an onerous data-reporting exercise.”
— An employee of a large charging network, quoted anonymously in the report
Reliability Gains Remain Unproven
The available report does not provide results showing whether the new rules have reduced charger failures, shortened repair times or improved drivers’ experience. It also does not specify the year attached to the Sept. 28 OCPP deadline or the August opening of the Capital Charge Yard.
It remains unclear how much data charging operators will have to share, how consistently the CEC will enforce the requirements, and whether repair crews will gain access to the diagnostic information they say they need. The report also describes no common rules requiring companies to coordinate the technical handoffs that can cause charging sessions to fail. Those gaps make the rules’ practical effect uncertain.
Testing and Enforcement Ahead
The CEC’s standards are now in place, and covered publicly funded fast chargers installed from the specified Sept. 28 date must support OCPP 2.0.1. The next test is whether the requirements lead to better performance in operation, rather than mainly producing additional reports. The source material does not give a timeline for a formal review or publish a target for charger uptime.
The Capital Charge Yard offers another route to improvements. Orville Thomas said the CEC-funded facility can build on technician training by testing how chargers perform before and after deployment. Its stated goal is to help companies find interoperability problems earlier. The report does not say when particular testing programs or results will be released.
Repair specialists and charging companies will also need to address the information and coordination gaps raised by Terry. How state agencies, manufacturers, software providers, vehicle companies and payment services divide responsibility for diagnosing and fixing failures remains unsettled in the account. Further evidence about charger performance and enforcement will show whether California’s combination of rules and testing can improve reliability.
Key Questions
What new EV-charger requirement has California adopted?
The CEC rules require covered publicly funded DC fast chargers installed on or after Sept. 28 to support OCPP 2.0.1. The source report does not state the year for that date.
What does OCPP 2.0.1 do?
It is a communications standard that lets EV chargers and network-management systems from different vendors communicate. The aim is to make it easier to change software providers if a charger’s original manufacturer or operator is no longer available.
Do the rules prove that California’s chargers are more reliable?
No performance results are provided in the report. The rules set requirements, but their effect on charger availability and repair times has not been established in the source material.
What problems do repair crews still report?
ChargerHelp CEO Kameale Terry said crews lack some information needed to diagnose failures. She also described unclear coordination among charger diagnostics, vehicle communications and payment authorization.
What is the Capital Charge Yard?
It is a Sacramento testing lab supported by a $4 million CEC grant and managed by the California Energy, Power, and Innovation Collaborative. The report says it works with EV and charging companies and hosts technician training; it does not provide a timeline for published test results.
Source: canarymedia.com
