WASHINGTON -- In a sign that the electric vehicle market ismaturing, a key industry group has taken the first pass at an EV standardsroadmap that will tackle technical issues such as developing an interoperablecharging infrastructure for emerging plug-in EVs.
Version 1.0 of the American National Standards Institute's(ANSI) roadmap for EV standards seeks to identify and evaluate existing rulesof the road for plug-in EVs and determine where there are gaps in technicalspecs. ANSI is working with several auto makers along with a host of cleantechcompanies and utilities focusing on smart grid deployment. Among the automotiveelectronics specialists participating in the EV standards effort are STMicroelectronics and Sony Electronics. Qualcomm is also listed as aparticipant.
ANSI said it hopes to enlist more battery manufacturersalong with large municipal and commercial fleet owners that are expected toboost adoption of plug-in EVs. So far, battery makers Magna E-Car, Delphi andSiemens have signed on to the standards effort.
Jim McCabe, ANSI's senior director for standardsfacilitation, said the group hopes to capitalize on the momentum generated byPresident Obama's goal of 1 million EVs on the road by 2015. The standardsroadmap represents an attempt to explore technical issues like an EV charginginfrastructure "at a deeper dive level," McCabe said.
While maintaining the EV roadmap as a "living document" thatreflects technology advances, McCabe said he expects a full revision of theroadmap to be issued in the next 12 to 18 months. ANSI hopes to keep pace withtechnology development as a way to promote innovation in EV development, headded.
In the interim, the group wants to work with Europeanpartners to coordinate EV, charging station and others standards to ensuregreater interoperability and safety. One goal would be to ensure that a varietyof plug-in electric vehicle models could use any recharging station.
ANSI's effort also includes the IEEE, the National Institutefor Standards & Technology and other federal agencies like the EnergyDepartment, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and severalnational laboratories. McCabe said the group also hopes to enlist state andlocal governments in standards development.
The Energy Department, which is spearheading related effortslike battery technology development, is also assisting the standards effortwith demonstration projects and technical expertise.
While ANSI seeks to broaden participation in its plug-in EVstandards effort, McCabe said it is "looking forward to hearing back fromstakeholders" about the roadmap. Along with addressing safety andinteroperability issues, the standards effort will seek ways to reduce theoverall cost of EVs. High sticker prices for first-generation plug-in hybridand all-electric vehicles, for example, have limited sales.
Another barrier to consumer acceptance has been EVs'relative lack of performance compared to conventional vehicles power byinternal combustion engines. "The ability to extend the driving range of EVs ona single battery charge without the need for range extension is largely due toenergy storage capabilities [batteries] and a function of technologydevelopment," ANSI said in a preamble to the roadmap.
Coordination on standards development is generally viewed asa key step in the transition from technology development to deployment. Onereason is that standards reduce market uncertainty, thereby encouragingmanufactures to invest in emerging markets. Experts point to the explosion ofIT markets after standards were established as an example.
Coordinating to replace proprietary specs with technicalstandards will provide greater certainty in emerging cleantech markets,observers said. The ANSI effort "is good for the overall transition to EVs,"said a spokesman for Better Place, a cleantech group that is promoting thetransition to electric vehicle technology.
Click hereto see Version 1 of ANSI's EV standards roadmap.
This story was originally posted by EETimes.
