At Wattsy we design our own charging stations in France.

To guarantee the safety of our customers, we ensure the reliability and conformity of our products. To do this, we carry out a series of rigorous tests on our products. Laboratories in France are also responsible for testing and qualifying them against all the applicable French and European technical standards. These tests are varied and cover aspects as diverse as temperature rise, wear and tear, connectivity and behaviour in the event of abnormal use.

However, for practical and safety reasons, it is not always possible or simple to have electric vehicles available to test our charging points in laboratories or on our premises. To carry out certain tests, we use specialised tools to simulate the behaviour of an electric vehicle.

So you might as well avoid having to run extension leads from the 4th floor to the car park!

Simulating an electric vehicle in the laboratory

Some devices are designed to recreate all the conditions of a conventional recharging cycle and carry out our tests in complete safety.

It simulates the connection of the vehicle to the charging point, the correct activation of the charging points (the actuator, in the jargon) and the correct triggering of the charge. You can modify the power parameters and measure the main charging parameters. It’s also a way of checking that all the communication protocols between the chargepoint and the car are working properly (because yes, you can’t hear it, but your charging point is talking to your car…).

Last but not least, this method can be used to simulate a number of anomalies: by creating fault scenarios (overload, short-circuit, insulation fault), you can ensure that the terminal’s various safety mechanisms work as expected (lucky you!).

At Wattsy, we use the ‘EVSE PCE-EVSE 310’ model from PCE Instruments, which gives full satisfaction and also allows regular checks to be carried out on charging points that have already been installed.

European and French regulations have steadily tightened the requirements for equipping buildings, whether residential or commercial, and company vehicle fleets, to support the transition to electric mobility.

Here we take a closer look at these obligations, both current and future, and try to make them as clear as possible.

It is important to keep in mind that there are two types of obligation:

• -the obligation to pre-equip spaces with electrical infrastructure, which simplifies the subsequent installation of charging points ;
• -the obligation to equip parking spaces with charging points.

These obligations then vary depending on:

• -whether the building is new or old ;
• -the main use of the building: offices, housing, mixed use, etc.

Pre-equipment obligations

This obligation is intended to facilitate the subsequent installation of charging points. It primarily involves setting up conduits for electrical cables, along with power supply and safety devices.

To supply these charging stations, electricity must be supplied :

• -either via a low-voltage main switchboard from the building’s internal electrical installation – this is what we prefer with Wattsy for an initial installation ;
• –or via a public electricity network structure located on the building’s site.

For pre-equipment, the LOM requires the installation of conduits whose size allows a square passage of at least 100 mm on each side to carry the energy to the charging point.

In each of these options, the size of the main LV board must enable at least 20% of the car park’s total capacity to be supplied, with a minimum of one space equipped with a charging point. The power required will vary according to the number of spaces available (see IV).

Another development has also been announced: from 2027, and after transposition into French law, the European Energy Performance of Buildings (EPBD) Directive 2024/1275 will raise the obligations for installing charging points in non-residential car parks.

The LOM also distinguishes obligations for existing buildings

The criterion here is the date on which the building permit was filed. The legislator’s logic was twofold: the newer the building and the larger the parking area, the more pre-equipped it should be.

Obligations to install charging points

For buildings that are not for residential use, such as offices, shops or public services, the obligations set out in the LOM will change from 1 January 2025.

For the implementation of this obligation in 2025, if the work required to adapt the electrical network is considered to be significant (i.e. the cost of resizing the building’s connection to the electrical network upstream of the main LV board exceeds the cost of work on the downstream part), the number of charging points is limited so that the work upstream of the main LV board (including the main LV board) does not exceed the total cost of work downstream of the main LV board.

The French “Climat et Résilience” law of August 22, 2021 also requires local authorities to provide similar facilities by January 1, 2025 (parking lots with more than 20 spaces managed by a public service delegation, a public authority, or via a public contract).

In addition to the 2025 deadline, the implementation of the EPB directive is further away, with obligations starting at smaller parking lot sizes, from 5 spaces upwards.

Beyond infrastructure, obligations for greening the company fleet?

The LOM also imposes obligations on companies with fleets of more than 100 vehicles to reduce their environmental impact according to the following timetable:

1. From January 2022: 10% of new vehicles must be low-emission (electric, plug-in hybrid, CNG, hydrogen, etc.).
2. From 2024: this threshold rises to 20% for fleets of over 100 vehicles.
3. From 2027: the obligation for low-emission vehicles rises to 40% of new vehicles purchased.
4. By 2030: companies must aim for 70% low-emission vehicles in their new vehicle purchases.

Companies must therefore incorporate this transition into their fleet renewal plans in order to comply with the legislation, which also makes the pre-equipment and equipment obligations in commercial buildings less theoretical.

Power requirements to meet equipment obligations

In addition to these general equipment obligations, under French law there is also an obligation to size electrical installations in order to avoid having to reinvest in the infrastructure several times over. This obligation is broken down as follows:

(article R111-14-3 of the Code de la construction et de l’habitation).

What about 2-wheelers on the company premises?

The LOM extends the obligation to provide cycle parking facilities when work is carried out on car parking facilities. The resulting regulations specify the security features, standardize the application to different types of construction and set a minimum surface area per space and a minimum number of spaces for all cycle parking areas.

(Source : see the full text of the EU directive here)

What are the key takeaways ?

Obligations linked to the energy transition in companies are becoming more stringent, particularly for office car parks.. With the LOM already in place, and the forthcoming EPB 2024/1275 directive, companies will not only have to anticipate the need for charging stations for their employees’ electric vehicles, but also provide additional infrastructure to enable these installations to be scaled up.

These measures are designed to support the growth of the electric vehicle fleet and encourage more sustainable mobility in companies, if only because they are not accompanied by a clearly defined penalty system.

However, this could soon change because, unlike the LOM, the EPB Directive requires States to introduce a system of effective and dissuasive penalties for infringements of the national provisions deriving from the Directive:

“Member States shall lay down the rules on penalties applicable to infringements of the national provisions adopted pursuant to this Directive and shall take all measures necessary to ensure that they are implemented. These penalties must be effective, proportionate and dissuasive.” (Article 34).

This means that States must not only transpose the directive, but also provide for penalties in the event of non-compliance.which was not an obligation in texts such as the LOM. It is therefore in your interest, as companies or property managers, to anticipate these deadlines by working now on the conditions for electrifying your fleets and car parks.