Process evaluation for the Electric Vehicle Smart Charge Point Regulations

***** THIS IS AN AWARD NOTICE, NOT A CALL FOR COMPETITION *****

This procurement is being concluded following a mini competition under the CCS Research and Insights DPS.

Brief Description of Requirement

BEIS are commissioning a process evaluation of the regulations, to understand how well they have been implemented and how industry and consumers have responded to their implementation. This will inform further policy development on smart charging and provide lessons learned for wider policy development. This includes measures on smart secure energy systems, smart heating appliances, and energy smart appliances currently recently introduced into Parliament through the Energy Security Bill. The aims of the project are as follows: 1. Understand how the chargepoint industry in Great Britain has responded to the implementation of the regulations, and any first-year developments. 2. Understand if the regulations will support opportunities for wider industry (charge point manufacturers, retailers, energy suppliers, technology providers etc.) 3. Understand how the device standards have been adopted by industry and what this may mean for consumer choice and experience. 4. Provide insight into the barriers, enablers and incentives for smart charging. 5. Review the policy process and develop lessons learnt for future policy making To meet the project aims outlined above, the project can be broken down into two parts: 1. Industry Research - Developing a stakeholder system map of the private charging market and assessing how different stakeholders interact with each other and are affected by the regulations - Developing a consumer journey map presenting the steps consumers can take to purchase a chargepoint (from information gathering, to point of purchase and use of chargepoint) - Assessment of the products available in the private chargepoint market - Qualitative and quantitative research with different industry groups to understand how they have been affected by the regulations 2. Consumer Research - Qualitative research with EV drivers to understand their consumer journey experience and explore if and how different types of consumers respond to incentives To inform the research, the successful bidder can carry out informal interviews with policy officials in BEIS. The successful bidder can gather information on the following to fully understand the background of the regulations: - Rationale and objectives for the development of the regulations - Challenges and risks with development or implementation of the regulations - Potential future policy or regulation changes