Charging develops flexibility – Newspaper Kommersant No. 225 (7426) of 05.12.2022

The Ministry of Industry and Trade is revisiting the requirements for subsidized charging stations for electric vehicles. The ministry changed its mind about equipping stations with at least one Chinese GB/T connector. Now the investor can, if desired, install stations only with European CCS2 connectors. The ministry also wants to ensure that cars of all standards can be charged at the same time at the same station, although market players have mixed opinions about this idea.

Performance requirements for subsidized electric vehicle charging stations (ECS) can be adjusted less than a year after approval – the Ministry of Industry and Trade has published a draft of the changes on regulation.gov.ru. Judging by the document, the ministry wants to abandon the requirement to equip charging stations with a Chinese standard GB / T connector (see Kommersant of June 3). The investor will still have to install an EZS with three connectors to receive a subsidy, but now any combination of them is allowed. You can choose from CCS2 (European vehicles), CHAdeMO (such as Nissan Leaf) and GB/T connectors. Charging output power via CCS2 and GB/T connectors is at least 120 kW. The Ministry of Industry and Trade told Kommersant that the decision to adjust the order was made after meetings with market participants.

Charging station operator Punkt E is positive about the removal of the mandatory GB/T installation, since this standard is only present in cars brought by parallel imports from China. “Russian manufacturers of electric vehicles have made a reasonable choice in favor of the global CCS2 standard,” they say. The company even proposes fixing the CCS2 standard as the only one that will “significantly reduce the cost of stations”. Kommersant’s interlocutors on the market also note that stations with a GB / T connector are already having problems with the software.

Advisor to the President of Sitronics Group Armen Safaryan believes that the new edition will allow investors to more flexibly formulate policies depending on the structure of the electric vehicle fleet in the region. “For example, for the Far East, GB/T and CHAdeMO will be the most popular,” he explains. Now the investor will determine the type of connectors together with the authorized body of the region, adds Director for the Development of Civil Products of KRET (part of Rostec) Maxim Motorin.

Dmitry Babansky from SBS Consulting notes that the amendments allow for a more flexible approach to the development of charging infrastructure, since the decision on the configuration of stations will be made on a case-by-case basis.

The current version of the order made it possible to interpret the possibility of using two connectors at the same time in two ways, continues Mr. Safaryan. We are talking about restrictions on simultaneously charging, for example, Nissan Leaf and Evolute (combination of CHAdeMO and CCS). But now it is written in the project that simultaneous charging should be provided in all modes of operation. “There are such stations on the market,” he concludes.

However, the manufacturer of the EZS Parus Electro, in its response (available to Kommersant) to the project of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, expresses concern that the new requirement for parallel charging through the CCS2 and GB / T connectors with a power of 120 kW each will lead to an increase in the input power of the EZS up to 240 kW. We will have to change the design documentation, they believe there. According to Sergey Yakovlev, General Director of Green Drive, the power of 120 kW for each connector included in the order is the parameters for the future, which can become in demand only in three to five years. According to his estimates, the payback period for such projects increases to seven years or more.

The proposed changes are aimed at increasing the instantly output power by charging stations, according to RusHydro. It is important that manufacturers have time to establish their production. “The construction season is starting soon, and we need to have time to contract equipment at the factories,” the company notes.

Manufacturers of EZS already this year disrupted delivery times, Kommersant’s sources in the industry say. According to their estimates, the regions will have time to install a maximum of 300–400 stations by the end of 2022. A Kommersant source close to the government confirms that the installation of EZS in the regions was complicated by problems with the supply of components, as well as uncertainty for investors due to restrictive measures to import imported electric vehicles. Nevertheless, in a number of regions the implementation of the plan is 100%, in one region the EZS was built more than the plan, but there are also regions with a significant lag behind the plan, the Kommersant source clarifies. According to his forecasts, at least 80% of the planned EZS volume will be installed in 2022. Next year it is planned to install about 870 stations.

Olga Nikitina, Polina Smertina, Diana Galieva