American and European Standards Organizations Agree to Strengthen
Transatlantic Cooperation on Standards for Electric Vehicles
BRUSSELS
and NEW YORK, Dec. 6, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ --
Cooperation on eMobility standardization was the focus of
discussion during a Transatlantic Roundtable organized by the
European Committee for Standardization (CEN), the European
Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization (CENELEC), and the
American National Standards Institute (ANSI), which took place in
Brussels on November 28-29.
This event brought together technical experts from industry,
government, and other stakeholders from both sides of the Atlantic
to compare and discuss standardization priorities for electric
vehicles (EVs) outlined in the October
2011 Report of the CEN- CENELEC Focus Group on European
Electro-Mobility and the April 2012
Standardization Roadmap for Electric Vehicles – Version 1.0,
developed by the ANSI Electric Vehicles Standards Panel (EVSP).
Information was shared on cooperative efforts already underway
among organizations involved in electric vehicle standardization
such as the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), the
International Organization for Standardization (ISO), SAE
International, and Underwriters Laboratories, Inc. (UL).
The discussions in Brussels
last week concentrated on four key areas:
- Coupler safety and interoperability, fast
charging
Many relevant international standards are
already in place or in progress. Dialogue between the different
standards organizations is improving, and industry is working to
make ISO and IEC standards address the different charging scenarios
as comprehensively as possible, for instance through incorporating
the SAE J1772TM combo coupler. There will always be some
slight differences in coupler configurations as a result of
specific regional electric grid requirements.
- Vehicle-to-grid communications –
integrating the electric vehicle with its infrastructure There
is a need for common standards for communication between the
vehicle and the grid, and to address roaming of electric vehicles
and smart charging. Harmonization of the communication protocols is
already taking place between IEC and SAE but further work is
needed. Efforts are also underway to address various
interoperability issues when an EV is roaming between charging
networks and to address communication of electric vehicle supply
equipment (EVSE) metering data. As smart grid technologies continue
to evolve, communications interoperability will require intensified
collaboration among relevant actors, including automakers, charging
network and utility providers, and standards bodies.
- Wireless charging
Early cooperation among
standardizers is taking place, including at the international
level, and will help to avoid future compatibility issues. Safety
aspects and seamless charging are challenges that standardization
must address.
- Safety of electric vehicle
infrastructure and batteries
Much standards work has been
undertaken to ensure the safety of lithium-ion batteries and EVSE.
Additional investigation into safe storage, transport and
interoperability aspects of EV batteries is needed, for example to
support the battery exchange infrastructure market, and extensive
work is still needed on testing in line with standards.
Participants acknowledged that a number of organizations produce
globally relevant standards following open, transparent, and
consensus-based processes. While one global standard is always the
preferred objective, intellectual property, copyright, and
commercial issues sometimes result in more than one standards
organization working on the same or similar issues. Regulatory
and/or infrastructure differences between regions can also result
in variations. In order to prevent the proliferation of conflicting
standards, the meeting participants agreed to continue their
cooperation on promoting and enabling the harmonization and
alignment of standards in this area. Participants also recognized
that governments, including the European Commission and other
inter-governmental bodies, must play their part by working towards
the increased harmonization of relevant laws and regulations.
The decision to organize the Transatlantic eMobility
Standardization Roundtable was prompted by the eMobility work plan
put forward by the Transatlantic Economic Council (TEC) in
November 2011, and following comments
made by European trade commissioner Karel
De Gucht and U.S. deputy national security advisor for
international economic affairs Michael
Froman at an October 2011
ANSI-ESO conference on transatlantic partnerships that can promote
economic growth.
In a video message to the roundtable participants, Mr. Froman
remarked, "By working closely on emerging technologies like
electric vehicles at an early stage, we can avoid creating
unnecessary barriers to trade and investment that many of our
countries and their workers face."
In response to a request from Mr. Froman to identify the
standardization priorities for 2013 and how government can help,
participants agreed that the priority areas discussed at the
meeting will continue to be the focus of attention next year. In
addition to supporting a call from Mr. Froman for regulatory
harmonization to support standardization, participants were also
supportive of a proposal he made to leverage the work of the
EV-Smart Grid Interoperability Center at the U.S. Department of
Energy (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory and the EU's Joint
Research Centre (JRC), established as part of the TEC work plan.
These two facilities are expected to play a leading role in sharing
research data and testing methodologies to support EV
standardization.
Both Mr. Froman and Phillipe
Jean, head of unit, sustainable mobility and automotive
industry, in the European Commission's Directorate-General for
Enterprise and Industry, urged support for two informal working
groups on EV safety and the environment that the U.S. and
Europe led in creating within the
World Forum for the Harmonization of Vehicle Regulations (WP.29 of
UN-ECE). This body works to develop global technical regulations
for the industry.
Mr. Jean reported that the Commission has adopted a CARS 2020
European strategy paper for the automotive industry and will
propose a legislative measure in 2013 for the EV recharging plug if
industry is not able to agree which standardized option should be
applied for plug and socket outlets for dedicated charging
stations. He also reported that the Commission had recently
developed new type approval tests to address EV battery safety
issues.
Andrew McCall, executive director
of governmental affairs for Ford of Europe, and a member of the TransAtlantic
Business Dialogue (TABD), also called for regulatory harmonization
and standardization to help companies reduce operating costs and
create opportunities for the EV market to thrive. He applauded the
progress that has been made via the TEC process, where Ford, Audi,
and the TABD had worked with other industry players and public
authorities on both sides of the Atlantic to produce the eMobility
work plan. He called upon the governments to endorse the industry
agreement on the combo coupler to facilitate the development of the
EV charging infrastructure.
CENELEC president David Dossett
and ANSI president and CEO S. Joe
Bhatia co-chaired the roundtable. "Much progress has been
made since 2009 when CEN and CENELEC and ANSI first started to
discuss this issue and there has been a great willingness to work
collaboratively," remarked David
Dossett. "This was a highly constructive dialogue to
facilitate ongoing cooperation on shared near-term priorities, one
that will move us closer to global harmonization on important
aspects of EV standardization," added S.
Joe Bhatia.
Notes
About CEN and CENELEC
CEN (European Committee for Standardization) and CENELEC
(European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization) are
officially recognized organizations responsible for developing and
defining standards at European level. These standards set out
specifications and procedures in relation to a wide range of
products and services, thereby facilitating commerce and industry
throughout the European Single Market.
The members of CEN and CENELEC are the National Standards Bodies
and National Electrotechnical Committees of 33 European countries
including all of the EU member states plus three EFTA countries
(Iceland, Norway and Switzerland) and three EU candidate countries
(Croatia, Turkey, and the former Yugoslav Republic of
Macedonia).
European Standards (ENs) are developed through a process of
collaboration among experts nominated by business and industry,
research institutes, consumer and environmental organisations and
other societal stakeholders. These standards are accepted and
recognised throughout all of the countries covered by CEN and
CENELEC members. For more information see: www.cencenelec.eu
CEN and CENELEC are working to promote the international
harmonisation of standards in the framework of technical
cooperation agreements with ISO and IEC.
A CEN-CENELEC Co-ordination Group on eMobility is overseeing the
implementation of the recommendations of the Focus Group report to
support coordination of standardization activities during the
critical phase of writing new standards and updating existing
ones.
About ANSI
The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) is a private
non-profit organization whose mission is to enhance U.S. global
competitiveness and the American quality of life by promoting,
facilitating, and safeguarding the integrity of the voluntary
standardization and conformity assessment system. Its membership is
comprised of businesses, professional societies and trade
associations, standards developers, government agencies, and
consumer and labor organizations. The Institute represents the
diverse interests of more than 125,000 companies and organizations
and 3.5 million professionals worldwide. The Institute is the
official U.S. representative to ISO and, via the U.S. National
Committee (USNC), IEC. For more information see: www.ansi.org
The ANSI Electric Vehicles Standards Panel (EVSP) is a
cross-sector coordinating body whose objective is to foster
coordination and collaboration on standardization matters among
public and private sector stakeholders to enable the safe, mass
deployment of electric vehicles and associated infrastructure in
the United States with
international coordination, adaptability, and engagement. For more
information on the work of the EVSP, visit www.ansi.org/evsp.
SOURCE American National Standards Institute