BS EN IEC 61851-1:2019

What is BS EN IEC 61851‑1 - Electric vehicle charging requirements about ?  

BS EN IEC 61851 is a series of international standards on an electric vehicle discussing the general requirements for the supply of electric energy to electric road vehicles. 

BS EN IEC 61851‑1 is the first part of the BS EN IEC 61851 series of documents that applies to EV supply equipment for charging electric road vehicles, with a rated supply voltage up to 1 000 V AC or up to 1 500 V DC. and a rated output voltage up to 1 000 V AC. or up to 1500 V DC. 

BS EN IEC 61851‑1 also applies to EV supply equipment supplied from on-site storage systems (e.g., buffer batteries). 

The aspects covered in BS EN IEC 61851‑1 include: 

• The characteristics and operating conditions of the EV supply equipment 
• The specification of the connection between the EV supply equipment and the EV 
• The requirements for electrical safety for the EV supply equipment

Additional requirements may apply to equipment designed for specific environments or conditions, for example: 

• EV supply equipment located in hazardous areas where flammable gas or vapour and/or  combustible materials, fuels or other combustible, or explosive materials are present 
• EV supply equipment designed to be installed at an altitude of more than 2000 m
• EV supply equipment intended to be used on board on ships

NOTE: Electric-road vehicles (EV) cover all road vehicles, including plug-in hybrid road vehicles (PHEV), that derive all or part of their energy from on-board rechargeable energy storage systems (RESS). 

NOTE: BS EN IEC 61851‑1 does not apply to: 

• Safety aspects related to maintenance 
• Charging of trolley buses, rail vehicles, industrial trucks and vehicles designed primarily for use off-road 
• Equipment on the EV 
• EMC requirements for equipment on the EV while connected, which are covered in IEC 61851-21-1 
• Charging RESS off board of the EV 
• DC EV supply equipment that relies specifically on double/reinforced insulation or class III protection against electric shock. 

Who is BS EN IEC 61851‑1 - Electric vehicle charging requirements for ? 

BS EN IEC 61851‑1 on EV charging system is useful for: 

• EV designers and manufacturers  
• Electrical and mechanical engineers 
• Manufacturers of EV batteries 

Why should you use BS EN IEC 61851‑1 - Electric vehicle charging requirements ?  

EV supply equipment is the equipment or a combination of equipment, providing dedicated functions to supply electric energy from a fixed electrical installation or supply network to an EV for the purpose of charging. BS EN IEC 61851‑1 provides the general requirements on the EV supply equipment. 

BS EN IEC 61851‑1 navigates you through the characteristics of power supply input and output of EV supply equipment connected to AC and DC supply network. 

BS EN IEC 61851‑1 describes the different charging modes and functions for energy transfer to EVs and the digital communication between the EV supply equipment and the EV as well as the management systems. Protection against electric shock is mentioned in BS EN IEC 61851‑1. BS EN IEC 61851‑1 provides the functional description of the conductive electrical interface requirements. 

Moreover, BS EN IEC 61851‑1 could help you with the marking and instructions used for installation of the EV supply equipment for charging electric road vehicles from EV charging stations. In this manner, you can ensure that the energy transfer operates safely making vehicle performance more reliable and minimising the risk of danger to the user or surroundings. 

What’s changed since the last update ?  

BS EN IEC 61851‑1:2019 supersedes BS EN 61851‑1:2011. BS EN IEC 61851‑1:2019 includes some technical changes with respect to BS EN 61851‑1:2011. These include: 

• Numbering of clauses has changed as new clauses were introduced and some contents moved for easy reading 
• Any requirements that concern EMC have been removed from the text and are expected to be part of the future version 
• New requirements in various clauses of standard have been added.