The property can be a single building with a permanent tenant (holiday homes are exempt), flats or apartment buildings. The parking space must also be allocated to that building (ie not a public space) and off the road.

If a property meets these requirements then the Landlord can claim the grant for up to 200 properties each financial year.

Commercial properties are covered too

The OZEV grant scheme also covers commercial and workplace properties. So if a Landlord owns a shop or office block the same grants are available.

The Hydra Zodiac was designed as a residential 7kW EV chargepoint and is also OZEV approved. It offers simple Plug’n’Play operation, app controlled charging or RFID controlled access. This means access to the charging facilities can be restricted to tenants and other authorised users if required.

The Zodiac is also available with a 22kW output if the building has a three-phase electric supply which offers faster charging times if the tenant’s EV is able to accommodate it.

For landlords with a larger estate or apartment block there is a separate EV Infrastructure grant scheme which additionally covers part of the infrastructure costs (wiring etc) as well as the cost of the EV chargepoint itself.

The infrastructure grant covers £500 for wiring and other installation costs plus the £350 chargepoint grant. The building must have at least five dedicated parking spaces and one EV chargepoint installed per five spaces.

More details can be found on the Government’s OZEV website:

Please get in touch with us if you have any questions about which grants are available for you and which EV charging products you can install. We also have a network of Hydra Approved Installation Partners who can carry out a site survey, assess your needs and give a quote for installation In accordance with the OZEV grant scheme.

The post Landlords can claim £350 per socket (and up to £70,000 in total) for installing EV chargepoints for their tenants. appeared first on Hydra EVC.

These regulations introduce several new features which EV chargers must have, most of which are intended to safeguard the draw on the National Grid and ensure the end user is protected.

Off-Peak Charging

Many EV drivers prefer the simplicity of plug’n’Play when it comes to charging their car. Just plug in the lead to start and unplug to finish charging. However from July, all EV chargers will default to off-peak charging. So even if you plug your car in during the afternoon, it will not commence charging until off-peak electricity hours. This obviously has the added benefit of costing you less money if you have an energy tariff which charges more at peak hours.

Don’t worry, though, this can be overridden, so you will be able to still charge your vehicle during peak hours if you need to. It is just the default setting for EV chargers.

Randomised Delays

To accompany the setting which defaults to off-peak charging there is an additional safety feature which randomises the time the charge actually starts. This is to prevent a peak surge on the power network when off-peak charging kicks in. The charger will start at a random point within the first 10 minutes after peak hours end.

Enabling Demand Side Response (DSR)

DSR is a procedure for the National Grid to send a signal to sites that draw high levels of power. The automated signal requests an increase/decrease in the load to compensate for dips/surges in power supply.

Other requirements:

• Smart Functionality – EV chargeers must be able to send and receive information via a secure communications network (OCPP compliance).
• Electricity supplier compatibility – The smart functionality of an EV chargepoint must continue even if the owner switches electricity supplier.
• Robust WiFi/4G network access – The charger should continue to charge an electric vehicle even if the comms network fails for any reason.
• Metering – The EV chargepoint must accurately measure electric usage.
• Reporting – Every charger sold must be recorded by the retailer including details of its make, model, software version, date of sale, etc.

IMPORTANT: The Government has recognised that many manufacturers will already have units in the supply chain which may not meet these new technical requirements. It has stated that the sale and installation of these non-compliant can still go ahead on the understanding that software or firmware updates can be installed during the installation and commissioning process. All Hydra EV charging units are able to be updated remotely so will be compliant with no further action required by the end user.

For more information go to: Gov.uk

The post Changes to EV chargepoint regulations effective from June 30th appeared first on Hydra EVC.