In the UK, regulations covering new private charge points of less than 50kW sold in Great Britain for use in a domestic or workplace environment were introduced in 2022. These are called The Electric Vehicles (Smart Charge Points) Regulations 2021 (the “Smart Charging Regulations”).

The Smart Charging Regulations require certain charge points (including home chargers) to have smart functionality, allowing the charging of an electric vehicle when there is less demand on the grid, or when more renewable electricity is available. They also require that charge points meet certain device-level requirements, enabling a minimum level of access, security and information for consumers.

All you need to do is make sure that your charger is connected to power and to your home WiFi network, ensure that this connection remains throughout the whole duration of the update and the charger will automatically do the rest.

A randomised delay has been introduced to ensure that chargers don’t all start to charge at the same time. Many people, for example, will schedule charges after work, or to match their electricity tariff. Placing an automatic delay at the start of each charge session therefore limits demand on the grid from increasing too quickly. The delay can currently be up to 10 minutes but will vary each time, and apply to both the start and end of the charging session. While the randomised delay function cannot be turned off permanently, the delay to the start of each charge session may manually be overridden in the web portal.

The bp pulse web portal will indicate that a randomised delay is being applied at the start time of the charge session. You’ll also be notified by the status indicator, which will emit up to ten pulsing LEDs to indicate the number of minutes of delay are added (one LED = approximately one minute of delay), at which point the status indicator will change to pulsing green and the charger will start charging.

Yes, the randomised delay applied at the start of the charge session is repeated at the end of the charge session, before stopping. Therefore, the desired overall duration of the charge session remains unchanged, other than shifting by the random delay being applied.

Override of the randomised delay can be made via the web portal by pressing the “Charge now” button. You can also override the delay by using the function button at the bottom of the charger. Press and hold the function button for three seconds to cancel the current randomised delay and start the charge session immediately.

It is not possible to disable the randomised delay function as this is not permitted by government regulations.

Default charging periods are required to be set on new chargers, to avoid peak hours (when demand on the grid is high). The peak hours as follows:

• 8am – 11am Monday to Friday

• 4pm – 10pm Monday to Friday

You have the option to set your own schedule and/or edit the default charging schedule to suit your charging needs.

No problem, just ensure there are no active scheduled charge sessions, and the charger will simply charge your vehicle from the moment you plug in. Disconnecting the vehicle or stopping the charge via the vehicle will stop the charge. To ensure only authorised users use your charger we recommend you disable the charger when not in use via the web portal.

No. If you have a schedule set, the preset default charging schedule will not overwrite the existing schedule. Adoption of the preset default charging schedule can be made at any time from within the web portal.

You can do this anytime via the web portal. Locate the schedule, edit and save the changes you wish to make.

This might be because a randomised delay is underway. Up to ten pulsing blue LEDs on the front of your home charger indicate the remaining delay is being applied. Either wait for the delay to complete for the scheduled charge session to start or override the randomised delay to start the scheduled charge session immediately. You can also override the randomised delay by pressing the “Charge now” button in the web portal, or press and hold the function button on the bottom of the charger for three seconds.

You still have full flexibility on when you would like to charge and can charge within peak hours.

You can adjust the charge schedule anytime via the web portal to align with your tariff.