Agency sets standards for the electric vehicle

Agency sets standards for the electric vehicle

American National Standards Institute releases “Standardization Roadmap for Electric Vehicles”

BY JEFFREY BAUSCH

In preparation for the mass deployment of electric vehicles (EVs) and charging infrastructure in the United States, the American National Standards Institute has formally released the Standardization Roadmap for Electric Vehicles — Version 1.0 .

ANSI has released standards for the emerging electric vehicle industry. (Via: inhabitat.com)

Developed by the Institute’s Electric Vehicles Standards Panel, the report assesses the standards, codes, and regulations, as well as conformance and training programs, for this emerging industry.

“The Roadmap delivers on its promise to pave a smoother road to the large-scale rollout of electric vehicle technology. And from the economic and environmental points of view, the timing couldn’t be better,” said Jim Matthews, EVSP co-chair and director of technical standards and standards policy at Corning Incorporated. “EVs offer the potential to significantly reduce our nation’s dependence on imported oil, create well-paying jobs through the establishment of a broad, domestic EV industry, and reduce on-road vehicular emissions.”

Overview of what’s in the report

The report focuses specifically on plug-in EVs, both full-battery and plug-in hybrids, as well as the charging infrastructure necessary to support them and their current range limitations.

Specifically, in regards to consumer adoption of EVs, the report addresses EV safety, affordability, interoperability, performance, and environmental impact. It then gets into support services for EVs, including training of emergency first responders, vehicle technicians, electrical installers, and inspectors, as well as educating authorities who have jurisdiction, building owners, and consumers on the topic, too.

The purpose of the Roadmap is to identify standards, codes, and regulations that already exist or are otherwise in development, as well as gaps where new or revised standards are needed. From there, the industry can better determine the conformance and training programs that are necessary to effectively respond to these needs. To this end, the report includes prioritized timelines for when standardization should occur, as well as the identification of appropriate SDOs.

A lot of groups were involved with developing the Roadmap

“The release of the Standardization Roadmap for Electric Vehicles – Version 1.0 is a critical step forward in facilitating mass EV deployment in the U.S.,” said S. Joe Bhatia, ANSI president and CEO. “This effort relied upon the collaborative work of experts from the public and private sectors and across industries, all focused on the common priority of enabling the EV market to expand and thrive.”

To Mr. Bhatia’s point, the actual development of the Standardization Roadmap started in June 2011 and over the course of its development, representatives from 80 leading organizations were involved. Most of the work was carried out electronically via seven working groups:

• Energy storage systems

• Vehicle components

• Vehicle-user interface

• Charging systems

• Communications

• Infrastructure installation

• Education and training

Given the active nature of standardization, and as ANSI continues to assess the progress of standards and conformance programs and any gaps requiring further discussion, it’s envisioned that the Standardization Roadmap will be periodically updated going forward.

The hope is that the Roadmap will come to serve the industry as a living document which will help guide, coordinate, and enhance the standards landscape in support of the widespread deployment of EVs and charging infrastructure.

Review the report for yourself

The Standardization Roadmap is long — 122 pages long as a matter of fact. The good news is that it’s a searchable spreadsheet wherein inventories standards that are directly or peripherally related to one issue or another are clearly identified, and related issues to which the standards potentially apply are noted as well.

“All of us stand to gain when we work cooperatively to carve out a vision for EV technology in a way that is effective, efficient, and economically beneficial for U.S. industry and safe and effective for consumers,” added Jim Pauley, EVSP co-chair and senior vice president of external affairs and government relations at Schneider Electric. “Version 1.0 of the Roadmap does just that, but an ever-evolving technology needs an ever-evolving and coordinated approach. We are excited to continue this important work, and I would encourage anyone who downloads and reads the document to give ANSI their comments and feedback.”

Download your copy of the Standardization Roadmap (for free) . ■