T&D Engineering: The "Right to Repair" Directive is a matter of engineering ethics that we have been working with for years

Almost 2 years ago, Europe officially put an end to the era of single use electronics with the Right to Repair directive. While it was aimed primarily at small electronic items, this regulation dictates the rules also with the infrastructure of electric automobiles, where reliability is paramount. The problem with a lot of charging stations is their “capsule” design, which makes changing separate defective components rather difficult. To answer this, local production in Bulgaria by T&D Engineering bets on industrial mobility, where every part is accessible for service.

"For us, the charging station is an asset that needs to evolve, not a consumable that needs to be replaced regularly. That's why we design the systems to be fully serviceable and software flexible, working for years after the end of the warranty," commented BalkanEngineer.com from T&D Engineering, a company with over 20 years of experience in industrial automation. Under the eCS brand, it develops intelligent charging solutions that work in sync with the GRID-ONE energy management platform.

On the 13^th of June 2024 the European Union official accepted Directive (EU) 2024/1799, best known as the “Right to Repair”. This document, together with the Eco-design regulation (ESPR), which took effect during July of the same year, redraws the technology market in Europe. The main goal of the new legislation is to remove barriers regarding maintenance and ending the practice of “encapsulated” products, items that are difficult or impossible to repair due to technological or economic reasons. Based on the new requirements, producers are required to ensure spare parts and service documentation at reasonable prices for a period of 5 to 10 years after the product is introduced onto the market. Furthermore, the regulation explicitly prohibits the introduction of hardware or software barriers to independent repair shops. In the electromobility sector, this means a major change. The charging station is now viewed as a long-term asset that must be subject to modular repair and upgrade.

Photo source: T&D Engineering, Engineer BG via canva.com