Europe discusses electric vehicle charging standards

The European Commission is facilitating discussions among member states, motoring associations and industry associations to implement common standards and infrastructure for the charging of electric vehicles all over Europe. This is important to make electric mobility as a viable sustainable transport. Electric mobility requires that the connection between the electric vehicles and the electric grid be standardised which requires a single harmonised plug system for all over Europe for recharging of electric vehicles on both the vehicle and infrastructure sides. Recharging infrastructure for electric vehicles is already installed in different countries but different plug systems are used. Some countries use the two-pin plug system which is considered unsafe in many other countries. Standardised infrastructure and common standards will enable economies of scale to be implemented thus reducing the cost of electric mobility and helping it gain more user acceptance. It will also and provide predictability to investors.