Electrical Vehicle Charging and NFPA Electrical Safety Codes

Fire Protection Research Foundation report: "Electrical Vehicle Charging and NFPA Electrical Safety Codes and Standards"
Author: Lonny Simonian, PE, Dr. Thomas Korman, PE, Dr. Frederick W. Mowrer and David Philips, California Polytechnic State University
Date of issue: October 2011

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"Electrical Vehicle Charging and NFPA Electrical Safety Codes and Standards" (PDF, 1 MB)

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Foreword
Recent forecasts indicate that almost one million Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle (PHEV) or Plug-in Electric Vehicles (PEV) charge points will need to be installed in the United States by 2015, with approximately one-third of these being non-residential charging units. The National Electrical Code® addresses the safety of the built infrastructure wrt to charging and in 2011 a Task Force was established to explore this issue and its implications for the NEC. This project was undertaken in support of that Task Force.

This report presents the results of a project whose overall goal is to facilitate the safe integration of electric vehicles in the nation’s electrical safety infrastructure. It describes a review of technologies likely to impact electrical safety and presents an assessment of needed changes to codes and standards and a roadmap for needed research on this topic.