167. The secretary of WP.5 provided an update about the recent activities with respect to electric vehicles and its infrastructure, reminding WP.29 that ITC requested WP.5 and WP.29 to consider Electric Vehicles (EVs) and their charging infrastructure.

168. Following this mandate from ITC, he informed that WP.5 produced a publication to be released in the near future on “General trends and developments surrounding electric vehicles and their charging infrastructure” (ECE/TRANS/WP.5/2023/4, /5, /6, /7 and /8) and invited WP.29 to provided comments and suggestions before the end of 2023.

169. He explained that WP.5, at its last session in September 2023, agreed to create an informal task force focusing on coordinating efforts related to EV developments and their charging infrastructure both within ECE (across its different sub-programmes) and in collaboration with other institutions should be established. He added that the WP.5 secretariat together with the WP.5 Chair was tasked to develop draft terms of reference for such a task force in close consultation with other relevant Working Parties such as WP.29 and relevant intergovernmental groups in the ECE Sustainable Energy Division and submit this to ITC for discussion and possible adoption at its next annual session.

170. The Chair of GRPE emphasized the key role of the Working Party on Pollution and Energy, given its mandate to work on energy topics, and reminded the on-going activities of the IWG on EVE on the matter. He agreed this topic would be a good opportunity to work together with WP.5 on this matter. The Vice-Chair of GRPE, Co-Chair of the Vehicular Communication Task Force, recalled the workshop on the topic of EV recharging communication that had taken place late August 2023. He added that the participants to the workshop agreed about the importance of this topic, adding that there was disagreement among contracting parties on the appropriate timing for regulation in that field.

171. The representative of OICA emphasized the need for adequate and rapid deployment of charging infrastructure to keep up with the quick EV deployment pace, providing some evidence for the California Energy Commission that there are 26 EVs per public charger, when the target should be 7 EVs per public charger. He added that recharging infrastructure was lagging behind, that the gap between the number of EVs on the road and the necessary recharging points is even increasing and that was certainly one of the main stumbling blocks towards electrification, also highlighting the high investments needs to deploy it.

172. The Chair invited the VCTF to take care of the topic. The Co-Chair of the VCTF reminded that VCTF focused on communication aspects, and thought GRPE might be best placed to look at this topic in a coordinating role, with support from VCTF when and where needed. OICA supported the proposal from the VCTF co-chair, and offered their support to this activity. The representative from France agreed the activity was essential and the essential role of GRPE on electric vehicles and recognised also the role of other GRs, such as GRE on electromagnetic compatibility or GRSP on electric safety.

173. The secretary of the IWG on ITS reminded that WP.29, at its March 2023 session, “agreed that the IWG on ITS would address the ITC request related to the communication protocols between electric vehicles and their recharging infrastructure” (ECE/TRANS/WP.29/1171, para. 38) and inquired if this decision should be maintained or changed. The representative of Canada stated that this activity might stay at Working Party level, and that WP.29 would find a suitable place to tackle this topic. The representative of USA, co-Chair of the IWG on ITS, confirmed that the IWG on ITS had many items on its agenda, and that the expertise on this topic was also lying at GRPE and other GRs. She agreed with the comment from Canada and requested that this activity to no longer be assigned to the IWG on ITS. WP.29 agreed with this request.

174. The representative from the Netherlands agreed that this topic was broader and different from what the IWG on ITS was working on. He invited WP.29 to re-think the organizational framework between working parties on this topic, requiring the support of the IWG on ITS, when needed.

175. Given the tight timeline described by the Secretary of WP.5, the Secretary of GRVA offered to create a distribution list (emails) to allow WP.29 experts to exchange on that topic. The representative of Canada asked that he circulated relevant documents via email and that he added the Chairs of relevant groups to the distribution list. The representative of the United States of America proposed to create a special interest group and invited all interested parties to contact the secretariat to provide comments and inputs to the draft terms of references of the WP.5 informal task force on electric vehicles and its infrastructure. WP.29 agreed with the proposals from the Secretary of GRVA, and from the representatives of Canada and the United States of America and invited all participants to contact the GRVA Secretary (francois.guichard@un.org) to indicate their interest to be involved in this activity.

176. The representative of China explained that battery swapping was an important way to supply the power to electric vehicles: from 2021, China launched pilot projects in eleven cities and gained experience on that charging mode. He suggested to consider that this mode in the future work of this group and indicated that he was willing to make active contribution.