A third of electric vehicle (EV) owners are unclear on what smart charging actually means, a survey has shown.
Danish EV charging platform Monta commissioned a YouGov survey to monitor awareness of recent UK government legislation among EV owners.
Some 44% of respondents, which included people considering buying an EV, were not confident in defining smart charging.
However, when offered correct definitions, 62% of those surveyed understood that smart charging was beneficial for the national grid and 67% recognised that smart charging offered a more sustainable and cheaper alternative.
Despite this, 30% and 35% of respondents were uncertain when presented with two correct definitions, showing that a third of current drivers were not fully aware of or prepared for the government legislation.
“The survey shows there is still a lot of confusion among UK drivers, with many still wondering how the new smart charging legislation will affect them,” said Alok Dubey, UK country manager at Monta.
“The government should be promoting and celebrating this legislation, but it needs to do more to spell out the changes.
“We’re supportive of smart charging, but right now, without any real clarification, many are going to be left confused as to why they can’t charge their own vehicle as standard at 5pm.
“Charge point manufacturers and installers have had to rush to get equipment ready for the changes, but progress for a lot of them has been stalled with supply chain issues, operating costs, and staffing shortages.
“This legislation is designed to make the EV rollout easier, but right now it’s just causing uncertainty.”
The legislation mandated that all new charging outlets be capable of smart charging and be automatically set to charge at non-peak times.
The purpose of this was to regulate grid demand and to incentivise users with off-peak prices, especially as the number of EVs in the UK grows.
The Electric Nation project conducted an 18-month smart charging trial with 700 EV drivers, which showed a surge at 10pm as charge points came online with off-peak prices.
As a result, a randomised delay at the start of charging was included in the government legislation.
Read more: Electric Nation V2G charging project reduces home energy bills
