What does the sales ban in Sweden mean for Easee in the UK?

Questions and answers about the case with Elsäkerhetsverket in Sweden 11

• Elsäkerhetsverket has imposed a sales ban on Easee chargers. What does that mean for end users in the UK?

  Elsäkerhetsverket (ESV), the Swedish Electrical Safety Authority, has imposed an immediate sales ban on Easee chargers. This means that sales of Easee chargers have temporarily ceased in Sweden.  

   

  The decision by ESV has no implications for our operations in the UK. Our Easee One charger was developed specifically to comply with UK requirements including the Smart Chargepoint Regulations which came into force last year. All Easee products sold in the UK are fully compliant with UK regulations. 

• Does this process have any impact on operations in the UK? Will there be a sales ban here?

  All operations in the UK will continue as normal and our chargers are still available for sale.  

• Why have Elsäkerhetsverket implemented a sales ban on Easee chargers in Sweden?

  Elsäkerhetsverket raises concerns about a few technical elements that it believes have not been sufficiently documented for Easee Charge and Easee Home products. Elsäkerhetsverket is not satisfied with Easee’s original technical documentation. Easee has provided extensive risk assessment documents from independent third parties to Elsäkerhetsverket during the investigation process to remedy this.  

   

  One of the concerns about documented proof of safety relates to Easee’s ground fault protection. Easee Charge and Easee Home have integrated ground fault protection against both AC and DC faults in line with the essential requirements in the relevant directives. This ground fault protection is automatically tested between each charging session and at least once a day. This is a permitted option in IEC 62955 (either manually or automatically). 

   

  Elsäkerhetsverket has been clear in its report that there is no risk to people or property presented by Easee chargers. We have updated our technical documentation to add all necessary information, risk assessments and third-party tests that support the safety of the innovative technology within our products.  

• What is the status now and what happens next between Easee and Elsäkerhetsverket?

  Easee is continuing the ordinary appeal process, which means there is still a sales ban in effect in Sweden. The only other country affected is Holland, which has decided to follow the Swedish Elsäkerhetsverket in its decision to implement a sales ban on Easee Charge and Easee Home products. This is a result of EU/EEA notification procedures. When notified of a ban, a member state can decide whether to adopt the decision or conduct their own investigation. The Dutch authorities have chosen to adopt ESV’s decision and the sale of Easee Charge and Easee Home products will cease until this matter is resolved.  

    

  Easee is now preparing the appeal case for court. We strongly disagree with the basis of this sales ban, which was initiated by ESV, and Easee ASA is currently pursuing legal action against the ban in Sweden.  

• Does Elsäkerhetsverket consider Easee’s previously installed chargers safe, and will there be a recall?

  Elsäkerhetsverket has not ordered the recall of any previously installed Easee chargers, and thus does not deem them to be unsafe. In their report, Elsäkerhetsverket highlight that there is no risk of harm to people or possessions. All of our existing customers can continue to charge in complete safety. Safety has always been our main focus at Easee, and we would never allow customers to charge with an unsafe charger. 

• Why aren’t installed products being recalled?

  Elsäkerhetsverket has highlighted in their final report that our chargers do not pose a threat to people or property. We believe our products are amongst the safest on the market today – and all our customers can charge in complete safety. Safety and innovation have been the main focus at Easee since the very beginning. We would never let anyone charge with an unsafe charger. 

• What can you tell us about user safety?

  The safety of our products is and always has been our top priority. We have rigorous testing and quality control processes in place to ensure that our products meet or exceed all relevant safety standards. Our safety features are independently tested by third parties including Tüv Süd. With the help of our cloud solutions, we also get a steady stream of data after installation, in order to be able to quickly identify any improvement needs. We will continue to monitor our products closely and make any necessary updates or modifications to ensure their ongoing safety and reliability.  

   

  To date, more than half a million Easee chargers have been installed, and we have data from more than 60 million charging sessions. 

   

• What happens to support offerings for my Easee products?

  We will deliver the same technical support and updates to our chargers, our cloud service and operating systems in all our markets. We will increase the number of technical support staff available to help and support our customers as much as possible.  
   

• What about existing Easee chargers, can they continue to be used and will support for them continue to work?

  Elsäkerhetsverket has highlighted in their final report that our chargers do not pose a threat to people or property. We believe our products are amongst the safest on the market today – and all our customers can charge in complete safety. Safety and innovation have been the main focus at Easee since the very beginning. 

   

  We will deliver the same technical support and updates to our chargers, our cloud service and operating systems in all our markets. We will increase the number of technical support staff available to help and support our customers as much as possible. 

   

  We will continue to maintain and update our products and systems to deliver the absolute best to all our customers – no matter their location. 

• Are there back-ups for connectivity with our chargers?

  We would like to reassure you that no matter the outcome of this situation, you will always be able to use our chargers. You can currently continue to use the app with cloud connectivity. Additionally, our chargers are already set up to be able to charge regardless of connectivity to the cloud through our offline fallback mode. 

   

  As an extra safeguard, we are working on making the app able to work without cloud connectivity through Bluetooth in the first instance, and other local controls in the near future. 

• How can you guarantee safety of Easee products in the future?

  We constantly monitor our products and all our customers should continue to charge as before. Our chargers fulfil all the applicable safety requirements, and we will always strive to improve the safety level beyond the requirements. Safety and innovation have been the main focus at Easee since the very beginning. We would never allow customers to charge with an unsafe charger.