Written response to the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero call for evidence: Data for AI in the energy system

Abstract

This response advocates for the provision of a government facilitated and governed interface (API) for live charge point data to enable the development of software and research addressing electric vehicle (EV) driver concerns when planning journeys. While regulations like the Public Charge Point Regulations 2023 mandate that charge point operators make certain data freely available, the current arrangements are impractical for real-world use. Each operator publishes data only for its own network, but this is often inconsistent, unreliable and in non-standard formats, requiring researchers and developers to negotiate access and maintain integrations on a per-operator basis.

Commercial aggregators, such as EcoMovement, address this fragmentation by packaging these data sources and selling access as a service. While this provides a workable solution, it falls short of enabling the Government’s objective of open, freely available charge point data that can be readily used to improve the EV charging experience. In practice, the fragmented and operator-specific nature of current data publication makes large-scale reuse costly and continues to constrain research and innovation.

By enabling reliable, standardised and openly accessible live charge point data on a national scale, the Government would unlock significant benefits across industry, academia and the EV user community. Improved data access would support the development of more accurate driver-facing services, better evidence-based infrastructure planning, and higher-quality research outcomes. Collectively, these improvements would enhance confidence in the public charging network, reduce friction for EV drivers, and support wider EV adoption - helping to advance the UK’s transport decarbonisation and net-zero objectives.

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Identifiers

ORCID for Bruno Arcanjo: orcid.org/0000-0003-0783-8394

ORCID for Jan Buermann: orcid.org/0000-0002-4981-6137

ORCID for Sebastian Stein: orcid.org/0000-0003-2858-8857

ORCID for Andrew Cruden: orcid.org/0000-0003-3236-2535

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