Eichrecht or Calibration Law is a German regulation designed to protect consumers also when they charge EVs.
The law states that kWh is the only fair metric when charging and drivers should have access to this data. Consumers will pay for what they consume and nothing else. Does it sound familiar? It’s the same proposition given to ICE drivers at a gas station.
Eichrecht gives consumers a consistent and comparable experience when charging across Germany. The regulation was introduced in 2015 and is part of a general public protection program, Mess- und Eichverordnung – MessEV.
How does Eichrecht change your business?
Eichrecht requires a calibrated and transparent approach to EV charging. This means everything needs to be recorded on a kWh scale, in a certified & replicable way, then shared responsibly.
Calibration law includes, but it is not limited to the following:
- A charging station must physically show the kWh to its user
- A charging station must have a publicly accessible key which users can check for authenticity
- Charging sessions must have a data record:
- Measurand: e.g. meter start and stop value or difference
- Unit of measurand
- Time stamp
- Unique ID of charging system (e.g. EVSE-ID or Meter-ID)
- Identification of consumer (e.g. EMAID, Session-ID, UID, RFID)
- Cryptographic signature of the entire dataset
- Data shared between the station and its backend must be securely handled
- Users must be able to access a signed meter reading and other details of a transaction
Smart software solutions
Charging stations (hardware) aren’t born “smart”. They deliver electricity but many features rely on a platform connection. Think of a PC without an internet connection. It will process all sorts of files, but it can’t send data, update security or communicate.
Businesses choose Everon, an EV charging management platform, to control their stations. Users can record transactions, sessions, gather insights, build support services, remotely troubleshoot, set pricing plans and much more. A platform like this takes you two steps closer to best practice. Over the course of 2020 Everon will be working on Eichrecht solutions, if you’d like to hear more about our roadmap please get in contact.
Outlook Germany and Europe
As it stands, Eichrecht is unique to Germany but this approach could be adopted by other countries. The blend of transparency, protection and scale makes Germany an exciting but also important market for eMobility. If you want to learn more about European policy check out ChargeUp Europe; an EV charging infrastructure industry alliance, working towards a swift and efficient rollout of EV charging infrastructure.