DLMS looks to reduce the costs of the roll out of Electric Vehicles for consumers and manufacturers with the launch of new Working Group

DLMS, the global standard for interoperability, security and flexibility in smart metering, has just launched a call for members for their latest Working Group, which will examine ways in which existing in home technology can be used optimise the use of Electric Vehicle Charging, reducing costs and allowing access to innovative smart charging capability.

With the growth of electric vehicle adoption comes another challenge – how can the demands of in-home charging be met, without putting additional pressure on the grid? Currently, there are no existing protocols that can fully integrate the ‘smart charging’ innovative functionality offered by todays Electric Vehicle Charging Stations (EVCS) with state-of-the art intelligent grid management, all whilst offering consumers a convenient digital experience. Whilst the EVCS usually has ‘smart charging’ capability built in as standard, optimising the charging sessions needs to be done via a third party ‘energy manager’ device which adds additional costs – for both consumers and the manufactures of charging units. Offering additional functionality or services is difficult, costly and presents interoperability issues meaning that consumers aren’t able to access the full range of services that e-Mobility Operators offer, giving a poor consumer experience.

In many countries, the roll out of smart meters offers an opportunity for the EVCS to exploit data available via the meter and today used only by the Utility. The DLMS User Association is working with interested parties from across the industry to extend the use of its protocol to other users, driving greater consumer engagement whilst maintaining full data privacy.

Based on the internationally recognised DLMS/COSEM Standard, the protocol will directly link the EVCS to the meter – removing the need for any third-party devices and creating direct benefits to consumers and manufacturers alike. Using DLMS, the EVCS device Manufacturer will be able to exploit the real time energy data available in the smart meter without any additional cost. e-Mobility operators can continue to connect to the EVCS through their conventional channels or via the DSO , should such a partnership exist, but in all cases in an interoperable way. End-consumers can access flexible products such as ‘time of use’ tariffs that can reduce their overall energy costs, and initial EVCS installation costs could potentially be halved due to the redundancy of the ‘energy manager’ device.

To develop this new use case, DLMS UA has launched its ‘Electric Vehicle Charging Station’ Working Group to enable smart Grid integration. The Association encourages participants in the e-Mobility ecosystem, including Charging Station and Electrical Vehicles Manufacturers, e-Mobility Operators, Electricity Suppliers or Distributors etc, to participate in the DLMS EVCS Working Group and to take advantage of the proven and recognised industry DLMS standard as well as the DLMS Certification Scheme. By extending the DLMS Standard to the field of EVCS and e-mobility industry participants can work towards lowering the costs of Electric Vehicle Charging Stations.

To find out how to get involved email evcswg.secretary@dlms.com