E-charging stations are not only in short supply in Germany, they are also often illegal.
Because many do not comply with calibration law.
This is not good news for customers.
Munich - Thousands of public quick charging stations are illegal.
This is reported by the
Handelsblatt
, referring to manufacturer information and surveys by the legal department of the “ICT for Electromobility” funding project for the Federal Ministry of Economics (BMWi).
They do not comply with calibration law, so consumers cannot be sure whether the measurement is correct and whether they are receiving the correct amount of energy.
Large providers such as EnBW, Allego, but also Tesla are affected.
Normal charging stations and wall boxes are also not necessarily correctly calibrated.
A third of all charging stations in Bavaria are illegal: Politicians and authorities turn a blind eye
Car manufacturers such as Volkswagen, Daimler and Porsche want to switch their fleets completely to electromobility soon. The demand for e-filling stations will therefore increase in the future, but they are still in short supply in Germany. There are currently around 40,000 normal charging points in Germany and around 7,000 fast charging stations. The federal government wants to expand the network to one million charging points by 2030 - that seems almost unattainable.
In order to promote the faster expansion of the charging network, authorities and politicians are currently turning a blind eye to calibration law. Actually, this regulation should ensure that the amount of energy delivered corresponds to the amount paid for. Losses are possible especially with fast charging stations because of the high currents. An error limit of one percent is considered to be in conformity with calibration law. The e-charging stations are currently a long way from that. As a result, there are currently hardly any controls and no fines.
"It was agreed with the Bavarian Ministry of Economics not to hinder electromobility and the construction of charging stations," said Thomas Schade from the Bavarian State Office for Weights and Measures to the
Handelsblatt
.
The federal states can act at their own discretion on this point.
Taking a charging station off the grid would be the toughest measure if guidelines are not adhered to.
"If we were to implement that, the charging infrastructure in Germany would collapse," says Schade.
Around a third of the charging stations in Bavaria and a quarter in Lower Saxony are illegal.
E-charging stations without calibration: consumer advice center demands price reduction of 20 percent
The customer himself cannot check whether the amount of electricity received is correct, which is why he actually has to rely on the calibration - as is the case with conventional petrol pumps at the petrol station.
It is true that the general public has an interest in a good infrastructure with e-charging stations.
But consumer protection suffers.
The Federation of German Consumer Organizations sees a solution in a 20 percent discount on e-charging stations.
Customers should receive this discount until all charging stations comply with the requirements.
Alternatively, operators could also give electricity away for free.
This is partly the case with supermarkets such as Aldi and Lidl, as well as with some hardware stores or fast food restaurants.
Authorities are optimistic: conversion possible until 2022
The authorities have asked the operators of charging stations to draw up a plan by when they will comply with calibration law. The providers should also indicate the current inventory. The operators are facing technical challenges: For a long time there was a lack of suitable measuring devices, especially for fast charging stations. These were simply not yet developed, experts expect a total development time of around three years. "Retrofitting a charging station that does not comply with calibration law can sometimes be more time-consuming than building a new one," adds Checrallah Kachouh, co-boss of the charging station operator Compleo.
The buck lies with the authorities, but not there alone: On the one hand, the approval processes were quite lengthy.
On the other hand, the operators of charging stations seemed to want to wait and see instead of starting with the retrofitting.
"For a long time, however, the pressure from the manufacturers was not there, they waited and perhaps speculated that the tougher rules would not be demanded or weakened after all," said lawyer Katharina Boesche to the
Handelsblatt
.
However, there is also good news: some charging stations from Compleo, Porsche, ABB and Alpitronic already comply with the requirements of calibration law.
And the authorities are optimistic: They hope that all fast charging stations will be in compliance with calibration law by mid-2022.
