A new edition of IEC 61851-1 (edition 4) is currently in preparation

IEC 61851-1 applies to EV supply equipment for charging electric road vehicles, with a rated supply voltage of up to 1 000 V AC or up to 1 500 V DC and a rated output voltage of up to 1 000 V AC or up to 1 500 V DC. 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).

The main proposed difference between the 3rd and the 4th editions is a change in the requirement for the minimum opening of contacts of a main switching device. The switching device will have to be able to operate after applying a conditional-rated short-circuit current of at least 3 kA. Additionally, EV supply equipment will have to be able to detect welded contacts. Also, users will have to be notified about EV supply equipment status, either via some sort of a display, but at least with red, green, and blue signal lights. One of the major changes will be the introduction of surge protective devices according to IEC 61643-11 to lower the overvoltage category. Surge protective devices will also have to be installed within EV supply equipment.

More information:
David Kogej
E-mail: david.kogej@siq.si
Tel.: +386 1 4778 304