european regulations - EV conversion

Hi Martin,

not sure about the EU regulations. What I know from my professional work (consumer electric products) is that regulations change around 48 V (I am mostly working at 3.3 V and around, so am a bit unsure about the exact border voltage).

From a website on testing facilities for EV's in the EU:
http://www.dare.nl/en/testing-examinations/automotive/electric-vehicles

I did find this:
/quote
On the field of product safety (Low voltage directive 2006/95/EC) the following norms apply:

• EN 60950-1:2006; Information technology equipment — Safety — Part 1: General requirements
• EN 60335-2-29:2004; Household and similar electrical appliances – Safety – Part 2-29: Particular requirements for battery chargers
• EN 61558-2-17:1998; Safety of power transformers, power supply units and similar - Part 2-17: Particular requirements for transformers for switch mode power supplies
• EN 61010-1:2001; Safety requirements for electrical equipment for measuring, control and laboratory use – Part 1: General requirements
• HD 60364-4-41: 2007 Low-voltage electrical installations. Part 4-41: Protection for safety - Protection against electric shock.
• EN 62196-1:2003; Plugs, socket-outlets, vehicle couplers and vehicle inlets - Conductive charging of electric vehicles - Part 1: Charging of electric vehicles up to 250AAC and 400ADC
• EN 61508-1:2002; Functional safety of electrical/electronic/programmable electronic safety-related systems - Part 1: General requirements
• EN 61508-2:2002; Functional safety of electrical/electronic/programmable electronic safety-related systems - Part 2: Requirements for electrical/electronic/programmable electronic safety-related systems
• EN 61851-1:2001*; Electric vehicle conductive charging system.
  Part 1: General requirements
• HD 60364-4-41 (2007); Low-voltage electrical installations. Part 4-41: Protection for safety - Protection against electric shock

Note *: The EN 61851-1 2001) refers to the EN 60950-1 and HD 60364-4-41
For ElektroMagnetic Compatibility (EMC directive 2004/108/EC) the following norms apply:

• EN 61000-6-2:2005; Electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) – Part 6-2: Generic standards – Immunity for industrial environments
• EN 61000-6-3:2007; Electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) – Part 6-3: Generic standards – Emission standard for residential, commercial and light industrial environments

In case the device is consuming less than 16 A per phase, and feeded from the public electricity grid (e.g. battery chargers), the following norms do apply:

• EN 61000-3-2 (2006); Electromagnetic compatibility (EMC). Limits. Limits for harmonic current emissions
• EN 61000-3-3 (1995) + A1 (2001) + A2 (2005); Electromagnetic compatibility (EMC). Limits. Limitation of voltage changes, voltage fluctuations and flicker in public low-voltage supply systems

Attention: underlying norms, e.g. for pictogramms, are not mentioned above.

Besides the normes above, a risk assessment needs to be carried out. This assessment can be done following norms: ISO 14121-1 en ISO 14121-2.

/unquote

As stated, this is a quote from a website, so not official information. I would also think that norms are different for individual people converting a car, and commercial entities.

I would personally not go for a low voltage, just to "sneak below" some norm, the disadvantage of low voltages is just too high, and we have sufficient examples of people within the EU who have converted cars with voltages of higher than 100 V up to even ca. 600 V (some AC conversions).

Regards, and good luck,


Huub