Tesla violates German law with 1,800 charging stations

It’s no secret that Germany’s energy transition is making rather slow progress. It is said to be primarily the lame expansion of the charging infrastructure that is acting like a brake block. A few weeks ago, even Federal Transport Minister Volker Wissing publicly clarified this. Behind this is, among other things, the complicated and lengthy approval process that one has to go through when setting up a public charging station. However, the German authorities seem to turn a blind eye to Tesla and other providers of charging stations when it comes to enforcing the law. It has now come to light, for example, that the U.S. automaker is operating 1,800 charging stations in Germany strictly illegally.

Violation of German calibration law

But Tesla is by no means alone in this. Rather, it is rather complicated to find providers who operate legal charging facilities. The reason for the illegality is the Calibration Act. This stipulates that charging at a charging station must be properly accounted for. In this way, the customer should only pay for what he has actually used. To ensure that a charging station really does meet the criteria of the calibration law, it must be calibrated. Only then do the authorities assume that the integrated meter is billing for the exact amount of electricity.

The calibration law has become more important with regard to charging stations, as the electricity here is increasingly purchased for a fee. A few months ago, on the other hand, many providers were still relying on free charging options or flat-rate payment models. Since there were no additional costs to fear here anyway, the calibration authorities turned a blind eye. However, it is questionable how long this tolerance will continue. After all, Tesla in particular is likely to be a thorn in the side of many authority employees. At the so-called Superchargers, there are no control options for the customer.

Plan of calibration conformity 2022 on the part of Tesla is unrealistic

Originally, the authorities wanted to ensure that all charging station providers would adapt their charging facilities in line with the calibration law by 2022. However, this plan now seems rather unrealistic. However, the authorities are not taking a really hard line anyway. Instead, they are currently gathering information from the charging station operators. They are supposed to provide information on when the conversion will be completed. Of course, without correct calibration of a charging station, there is a risk of fraud. However, in view of the shortage of charging stations, this risk must be put on the back burner. The Berlin landlord GEWOBAG shows how well one can fight the shortage. The company will soon be offering its tenants their own charging column on their personal parking space.