Electric Vehicle Components

Electric vehicles (EV) have existed as long as the internal combustion engine, and today are finally becoming a viable alternative to gasoline-powered vehicles. In the late 1990s, UL joined forces with the automotive and utility industries to help develop the infrastructure for electric vehicles and their charging systems. UL participated in a number of EV committees, including the Electric Power Research Institute Infrastructure Working Councils (EPRI IWC) on Load Management and Power Quality, Health and Safety, and Connector and Connecting Stations, and on various Society of Automotive Engineer (SAE) committees, including the SAE EV Battery Safety Issues Task Force.

Common efforts among these groups include the development of requirements for EVs and their charging systems so that consumers driving and charging these vehicles can be confident that EV charging systems have been safety tested. As UL has become recognized as the premier third-party safety testing organization, the American and Japanese automotive industries have called upon UL to evaluate EV charging systems and components.

UL has made a number of major contributions to the certification of EV products and systems. These include, among others, UL Listing of an inductive charging system for GM's EV1 vehicle, UL Listing of a conductive power post for Ford's Ecostar, and UL Classification of EV battery packs for GM, Ford, Toyota, Nissan, Honda and Solectria. To find out more details about UL's involvement with electric vehicles, select from the list on the left.

 Additional resources

• Download an overview of UL's electric vehicle service.