Electromobility standards

For e-cars to achieve their potential not only will standardised charging stations be required but also a progressive standardisation of technologies and interfaces. Modern e-mobility should not be viewed as a stand-alone system but rather one that can be linked with numerous other electrical systems. In the future, electric cars will be able to interact within smart grids and smart cities, communicate with household appliances in a smart home, serve as storage for electricity via bidirectional charging and stabilise the power grid. 

Standards connect technology development and marketing

Electric vehicles will only be able to make use of all these possibilities if the information and communication technologies (ICT) apply standards that enable such networking. With the “ICT for electromobility” programme the BMWK has already been supporting the development and trial of innovative ICT-based system solutions for e-mobility since 2009. In the context of the accompanying research for the project financed through the programme, Prognos examined how best to achieve standardisation for the project participants – because to enable further innovations in e-mobility it is essential that this expansion be based on reliable standards.

The most important results of the study are:

• Technologies become standards if they are widespread and have a large user basis. Only then can the use of products be made simpler, by reducing complexity.
• Standardisation bodies alone cannot achieve standardisation.
• The projects in the “ICT for electromobility” programme must for this reason take into account current market technologies as well as those under discussion in consortium and the relevant bodies.
• Both forms of standards – those available on the market and those decided by official bodies – function as the link between technology development and marketing. They document the current status of the technology and thus facilitate the strategic focus of new research projects.
• Standardised ICT technologies play a key role in sector coupling that is, on the other hand, indispensable for the energy and transport transition. The coupling concerns the technologies as well as the concerned parties:

1. Sector coupling means technology coupling: Standardisation is a prerequisite for linking together the until now separate technology eco-systems such as vehicles, buildings and the energy network.
2. Sector coupling means actor coupling: ICT standards are the central and linking element between transport and logistics systems. The study shows the high level of need for networks between providers and customers of, for example, charging services, even before charging begins. 

• Despite advances in recent years there is still a significant need for the further standardisation of data models, interfaces and architectures.

Which standards are required for innovation in electromobility?

Three standardisation fields stand at the centre of the investigation:

• Charging technologies
• Embedding in the networked energy system
• Embedding in transport and logistic systems

We approached the study in four stages:

1. An introductory presentation on the topic of standardisation for the project managers of the funding programme by a representative of the DIN and the ELSTA-project.
2. Written feedback from participants to gather their experiences and requirements on the topic of standardisation.
3. Further follow-up interviews with project leaders and representatives as well as external experts.
4. Desk research and background research to categorise and systematise the information and interviews.

Links and downloads

The standardisation study (PDF in German)

Further information (BMWK website, in German)

More about our work in the context of the accompanying research (in German) 

Project team: Michael Neumann, Christoph Keller, Felix Kuropka, Thomas Stehnken

Last update: 26.02.2024