This part of IEC 61851 applies to on-board and off-board equipment for charging electric road vehicles at standard a.c. supply voltages (as per IEC 60038) up to 1 000 V and at d.c. voltages up to 1 500 V, and for providing electrical power for any additional services on the vehicle if required when connected to the supply network.

Electric road vehicles (EV) implies all road vehicles, including plug in hybrid road vehicles (PHEV), that derive all or part of their energy from on-board batteries.

The aspects covered include characteristics and operating conditions of the supply device and the connection to the vehicle; operators and third party electrical safety, and the characteristics to be complied with by the vehicle with respect to the a.c./d.c. EVSE, only when the EV is earthed.

NOTE 1 Class II vehicles are not defined, but the lack of information for this type of vehicle means that the requirements for the standard are under consideration.

NOTE 2 This standard also applies to EVSE with on-site storage capability.

Requirements for specific inlet, connector, plug and socket-outlets for EVs are contained in IEC 62196-1:2003. Standard sheets for the vehicle connector and inlet are also under consideration. They will be incorporated in a separate part of standard IEC 62196.

This standard does not cover all safety aspects related to maintenance.

This standard is not applicable to trolley buses, rail vehicles, industrial trucks and vehicles designed primarily for use off-road.