A March 4 meeting convened by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) has resulted in an agreement by key stakeholders from the private and public sectors to develop a standardization roadmap to enable the safe, mass deployment of electric vehicles and associated infrastructure in the United States. ANSI will form an Electric Vehicles Standards Panel (EVSP) to begin this critical work effort.

The decision was reached at the first meeting of an interim steering committee convened by ANSI in response to suggestions that the U.S. standardization community needs a coordinated approach to keep pace with electric vehicles initiatives moving forward in other parts of the world.

"With our history of bringing diverse stakeholders together to develop consensus-based solutions for emerging priorities and new technologies, ANSI is well positioned to respond to the need for greater standards coordination in this critical technology area," commented ANSI President and CEO S. Joe Bhatia.

ANSI previously has convened standards panels in diverse areas such as homeland security, healthcare information technology, and nanotechnology.

"The EVSP will provide a mechanism to foster coordination and collaboration among public and private sector stakeholders – including industry, government agencies, utilities, standards and conformity assessment organizations, code officials, and others – to enable the safe, mass deployment of electric vehicles and associated infrastructure in the U.S. with international coordination, adaptability, and engagement," noted Mr. Bhatia.

Through ANSI's role as U.S. member of various regional and international standardization bodies, the panel will also provide coherent and coordinated U.S. policy and technical input to relevant regional and international audiences on needed standards and conformity assessment programs related to electric vehicles.

In addition, the EVSP will liaise and coordinate as appropriate with other domestic and international electric vehicle initiatives. Many such activities are already underway that will inform the panel's work, including the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Smart Grid Interoperability Panel (SGIP) vehicle-2-grid activity.

Participants in the meeting included representatives of:

• the automotive industry (Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, Automotive Aftermarket Industry Assn., Electric Drive Transportation Assn., General Motors, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Toyota);
• the electrotechnical industry (Corning, Inc., Eaton Corp., Electronic Components Industry Assn., General Electric, Hubbell Incorporated, International Assn. of Electrical Inspectors, Intertek, National Electrical Contractors Assn., Siemens Industry, Inc., Schneider Electric);
• the utilities industry (Con Edison, Duke Energy, Edison Electric Institute, EnerNex, Pacific Gas & Electric, Southern California Edison);
• standards developing organizations (ASTM International, International Code Council, National Electrical Manufacturers Assn., National Fire Protection Assn., SAE International, Underwriters Laboratories, Inc.);
• the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC)/e8 strategic group; and
• government agencies (U.S. Department of Commerce International Trade Administration and NIST, U.S. Department of Energy, and U.S. Department of Transportation National Highway Traffic Safety Administration).