Improvements planned for National Chargepoint Registry

Cenex has announced its plans for the development of the National Chargepoint Registry (NCR), working in partnership with green energy software systems specialist Apetrel Systems.

It is also being funded by the UK government’s Office for Low Emission Vehicles.

The upgrades to the NCR will help to ensure that the information on charge points in the UK is accurate and up-to-date, and will allow developers to build mapping and journey planning applications using the best available data.

It was originally established in 2011 to provide a free database of publicly-accessible charge points in the UK, and currently holds data provided by Chargepoint operators on Chargepoints’ location, compatibility, and hours of operation.
There are several mapping tools and apps that use the NCR data to help EV drivers find suitable charging facilities on their route.

These include: ecarNI which shows charge points in Northern Ireland; Greener Scotland which shows Scottish EV chargers; PlugSurfing, a service covering EV charging locations across Europe; and Open Charge Map, which shows charge points both in the UK and globally

Adrian Vinsome, head of Energy Systems, Cenex said, “Providing a flexible, accurate database of the UK’s charge points is critical to deliver the government’s vision for EV uptake. In many ways, the NCR was ‘ahead of its time’ but it needs better mechanisms to upload and download the data in real-time.

“This will be our initial focus, and this will ultimately improve the EV motorist’s experience as better tools and apps are built on a solid, reliable and accurate foundation.”