Charging Infrastructure Electromobility: The Technical Guideline for installation and operation in practice

Electromobility in Germany is clearly on the rise, as evidenced above all by the increasing number of new registrations of electric cars in recent years. The German government has set itself the target of seven to ten million electric cars being registered in Germany by 2030. 

To drive forward the expansion of the charging infrastructure, the federal cabinet adopted the Charging Infrastructure Master Plan II in October 2022. This serves as a roadmap for the tasks of the next few years and comprises a total of 68 measures in the areas of funding, enabling local authorities, land availability, power grid integration, charging on buildings and charging of heavy commercial vehicles. The installation of charging stations in the public and private sectors as well as the expansion of the charging infrastructure are greatly facilitated by the existence of a well-developed electricity infrastructure.

A user-friendly, safe, area-wide and high-performance charging infrastructure has a significant influence on the safe and reliable charging operation of electric vehicles and is one of the basic prerequisites for greater acceptance of electromobility.

The Technical Guide shows which aspects must be taken into account in the expert planning, installation and operation of the charging infrastructure and provides information on how to avoid hazards or costly bad investments.

In addition, the guide provides an overview of important standards and regulations to be observed, but can only serve as a recommendation and does not replace the support of qualified personnel for the installation of the charging infrastructure.

The aim of the guide is to communicate the advantages of electromobility in a comprehensible way and to reduce fears and prejudices towards this new type of drive technology.

The guide also highlights the importance of the "charging infrastructure" system. Only if the charging infrastructure for electromobility can be established in a user-friendly, safe and comprehensive manner will electromobility be accepted in the long term.

In summary, the Guideline provides recommendations for action and advice on the following questions:

• What has to be considered when planning, constructing and operating a charging infrastructure?
• How can potential dangers or costly misinvestments be avoided?
• Which standards and regulations are relevant in the context of the charging infrastructure?
• What role will smart grids and inductive charging play in the future?

The Guideline is the result of the cooperation of a project team in which all interested experts were involved in the commentary phase. The project team consists of the following organizations and associations:

• DKE – German Commission for Electrical, Electronic & Information Technologies of DIN and VDE (Association for Electrical, Electronic and Information Technologies)
• BDEW – German Association of Energy and Water Industries
• ZVEH – Central Association of German Electronics and Information Technology Crafts
• ZVEI – Central Association of the Electrical Engineering and Electronics Industry
• VDE FNN – Network Technology Forum/Network Operation in VDE
• VDA – German Association of the Automotive Industry

The revision of the guide was necessary because of rapid technological advances and further developments in the field of e-mobility. Since the publication of the last edition, charging technology has also undergone continuous development.

In addition, the issuance of new application rules and guidelines as well as the further development of norms and standards have made it necessary to adapt the guide. The application examples for public and private charging infrastructures have also been adapted and expanded in line with the changed technical and legal framework conditions.

The guide itself is justified by the growing importance of electromobility and the desire to bring the technology closer to the general public. The aim is therefore to make electromobility understandable and tangible for everyone by reducing prejudices against it and communicating its advantages.

One of the main changes is the 2021 update of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy's Ordinance on Charging Stations (LSV). It defines standardized legal requirements for the technology and positioning of charging stations in public spaces as well as minimum requirements for the payment system used.

VDE-AR-E 2532-100 supplements these updated requirements with uniform standards for billing and authentication processes at charging stations and defines the minimum requirements for reliable and data protection-compliant systems for recognizing authorization at charging stations. The aim of this new VDE application rule is to ensure that the minimum standards of the LSV, which will apply from July 2023, can be met with the highest possible level of security.

The German government's draft for a Building Electric Mobility Infrastructure Act (GEIG) is also relevant. The draft law implements a requirement of the EU Buildings Directive for the installation of charging and line infrastructure for electromobility in buildings and stipulates the installation of protective pipes from a certain number of parking spaces.

Technical developments in the areas of power management, charging modes, Combined Charging System (CCS), fast charging points (DC and HPC) and inductive charging are also taken into account in the revised Technical Guide. The outlook also outlines for the first time the solutions currently being developed for charging heavy electric commercial vehicles.

In addition, new graphics have been created and existing graphics have been revised to bring them into line with the current state of science and technology. One new addition, for example, is an overview graphic that clearly shows norms and standards in the field of electric vehicle charging.

This Technical Guideline is primarily aimed at the following target groups:

• Property managers and parking garage operators
• Architects and urban planners
• Public administration employees
• Network operators and energy suppliers
• Electrical planners and installers

The latter two assume a service provider role in relation to the other target groups. Investors, urban planners and operators, for example, re-quest services, while network operators and energy suppliers, as well as electrical planners and installers, can fulfill these requirements.

Information for end users can be found in the HEA guidelines "Ladeinfrastruktur in Wohngebäuden” (Charging infrastructure in residential buildings).

Electromobility is a leap innovation that requires new, overarching systems thinking. In order to position the German economy successfully in the field of mobility, it is important to incorporate the positive effects of norms and standards into the development process from the very beginning and thus fully exploit them. The same applies to the latest developments in the field of mobility - micro-mobility. You can find further content on this subject area in the