The UN ECE Regulation on electromagnetic compatibility, Regulation No. 10, was originally written to cover vehicles with an internal combustion engine. Although the requirements of ECE 10 have been revised and updated in recent years to cater for vehicles with an electric drivetrain, the requirements still did not fully cover the external electrical recharging capability of vehicles such as battery electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid vehicles.
It is this external electrical recharging capability where "plug-in" vehicles differ significantly from conventional internal combustion engined and even hybrid electric vehicles. Whilst"plug-in" vehicles are recharging via an electrical connection to the mains electrical supply, they are stationary, with their "ignition" off. In a normal, internal combustion engined vehicle, this would represent an electromagnetically benign state. However, when a"plug-in" vehicle is being recharged, electrical energy and electrical communication signals are flowing between the vehicle and the charging equipment supplying it. Therefore, electromagnetic compatibility issues can occur in this condition. For example, the charging equipment installed into the vehicle could generate excessive electromagnetic radiation or the onboard electronic systems controlling the recharging could be adversely affected by external electromagnetic interference.
Furthermore, because the vehicle is directly connected to the mains electrical supply, it must be ensured that the vehicle and the mains electrical supply do not have adverse effects on one another. For instance, the vehicle must be able to cope with variations in the incoming electrical power supply, such as power surges, whilst at the same time not inducing problems back into the mains electrical supply, such as voltage fluctuations and harmonics.
To address these issues, the 04 series of amendments to UN ECE Regulation No. 10, which were published on 13th March 2012, introduce new requirements to specifically cover vehicles with an external electrical charging capability when they are recharging via an electrical connection to the mains electrical supply.
The new/revised tests introduced by the 04 series of amendments reference the relevant IEC and CISPR standards and cover the following areas:
- Broadband electromagnetic radiation from vehicles.
- The emission of harmonics generated on a.c. power lines from the vehicle.
- The emission of voltage changes, voltage fluctuations and flicker on a.c. power lines from the vehicle.
- The emission of radio frequency conducted disturbances on a.c. or d.c. power lines from the vehicle.
- The emission of radio frequency conducted disturbances on network and telecommunications access from the vehicle.
- The immunity of vehicles to electromagnetic radiation.
- The immunity of vehicles to electrical fast transient/burst disturbances conducted along a.c. and d.c. power lines.
- The immunity of vehicles to surges conducted along a.c. and d.c. power lines.
Compliance with the requirements of ECE 10.04 becomes mandatory from 28th October 2014 for new types of vehicle and from 28th October 2016 for all new vehicles.