Australian EV charging standards released to help home and fleet owners

A big stumbling block for anyone installing EV charging is the question of “where do I start?”

One aspect of this issue was addressed by the EV charging installation course for electricians that began some 12 months ago.

For others though, EV charging can still seem something of a ‘black art’ that is learned from experience, as well as from existing owners. (Plus the occasional frustrating failure).

Such issues can be problematic – especially when it comes to fleet owners trying to help their drivers understand EV driving and charging, or people who live in apartments trying to convince body corporate managers that EVs are not either:

• going to black-out the building every evening or
• a potential fire-bomb in waiting.

Standards Australia have now addressed many of these topics with the release of two new Technical Standards covering the installation of EV chargers in residential and commercial situations.

In development for over 12 months (with funding from the NSW government plus a grant from the NSW Environmental Trust), they are now available for free from the Standards Australia Store.

These standards were not developed in isolation – such work has been going on overseas well before Australia got on board, and the Australian work drew heavily from work in New Zealand, with the Australian committee’s work focussed on fully contextualising (and updating) them to meet the needs of the current Australian EV market.

The Residential technical standard in particular offers much more than advice on charging, with sections on:

• Understanding battery capacity and charging times;
• Planning a trip in your EV;
• EV etiquette;
• Accessories for you EV;
• Electrical Safety.

As such, it would be an invaluable guide for any new or intending EV owner on both driving as well as charging their new purchase.

The commercial technical standard additionally covers such topics as:

• planning and connecting to the electrical network;
• analysing electrical load available for accommodating chargers;
• testing requirement recommendations for publically available chargers.

Together, they make an ideal resource for homeowners, electricians, builders, developers, architects, fleet managers and others (even car salespeople!) to better develop their understanding of what is needed to install the best EV charging solution for both their own and/or their customer’s needs.

In the interests of full disclosure: Bryce Gaton (as EV Choice Consulting) was both a written supporter of the proposal to set up the project as well as a member of the Standards Australia committees that developed both standards.