Brussels, 24/01/2013 (Agence Europe) - The Commission is proposing a common interface for charging points for electric vehicles.
On Thursday 24 January, the clean fuels in transport strategy was presented by Commissioner Siim Kallas. This strategy provides for significantly increasing the number of charging points for electric vehicles in every member state, as well as proposing a common interface. This aims to facilitate the interoperability of electric vehicle technology across Europe.
In an effort to dispel market uncertainties created by the lack of consensus between manufacturers and the member state on the solutions proposed by standardisation bodies, the Commission announced on Thursday that the “type II” interface was considered the “preferred solution” (from among the three interfaces proposed) in the framework of the package adopted, which would act as a common interface throughout Europe.
In a press release, Antonio Tajani, the Commissioner for industry, stated: “I believe that a single European recharging interface for electric vehicles will allow the EU to become a global leader in the sector. To pave the way for their commercial success, Europe cannot afford to have incompatible systems. A common European solution will strengthen global competitiveness of our industry in this emerging markets sector”.
To justify the selection of the interface model, which is most widespread in Germany, in preference to the others, Commissioner Kallas informed the press that they needed to make a choice and had decided by choosing the most common interface being produced. Commission services explained that “type II” had been chosen by the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA) and by 26 of the 27 member states. (EH/transl.fl)