Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI)

ARAI develops standards for vehicles and its components. These standards are marked as AIS-XXX standards. AIS-138 Part 1 specifies the charging requirements for AC Charging and AIS-138 Part 2 specifies the charging requirements for DC Charging for all electric vehicles (2/3/4) wheelers with the exception of trolley buses, rail vehicles and off-road industrial vehicles. As selection of equipment is critical in setting-up of electric vehicle charging station, mentioned below are the mandates required as per government as well as the AIS-Standard:

GOVERNMENT MANDATES:

• Equipment selection for the charging station must be in line with the government guidelines. For public electric vehicle charging stations, Ministry of Power (MoP) notified its guidelines in October 2019. Key requirements mentioned therein are summarized below:
  • The charging station should have an exclusive transformer with all related substation equipment, including safety appliance
  • The charging station should include 33/11 kV lines/cables and associated equipment, including line termination etc.
  • The charging station must have appropriate cabling and electrical work ensuring safety
  • The charging station must have adequate space for charging and entry/ exit of vehicles
  • The charging station should have any of the chargers shown below:
    
  • The charging station must tie-up with at least one online Network Service Provider (NSP) to enable advance remote/ online booking of charging slots.
  • EVSE (electric vehicle supply equipment) shall be type tested by a third-party lab accredited by National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL)

ARAI standards- AIS 138 Part 1 for EV conductive AC charging system

• This standard applies to charging electric road vehicles at standard a.c. supply voltages (as per IS 12360/IEC 60038) up to 1000 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 (2/3/4 Wheelers), 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 EVSE-AC, only when the electric vehicle is earthed.
• Requirements for specific inlet, connector, plug and socket-outlets for electric vehicles are referred in AIS-038(Rev.1). This standard does not cover all safety aspects related to maintenance. This standard is not applicable to trolley buses, rail vehicles and off-road industrial vehicles

To find more about AIS 138 Part 1, click below.

AIS 138 PART 1 🡪

ARAI standards- AIS 138 Part 2 for EV conductive DC charging system

• This standard gives the requirements for DC electric vehicle (EV) charging stations, also referred to as "DC charger", for conductive connection to the vehicle, with an AC or DC input voltage up to 1000 V AC and up to 1500 V DC (as per IS 12360/IEC 60038).
• This standard includes information on electric vehicle for conductive connection, but limited to the necessary content for describing the power and signaling interface. This part covers DC output voltages up to 1500 V. This standard does not cover all safety aspects related to maintenance.
• This standard provides the general requirements for the control communication between a DC electric vehicle charging station and an electric vehicle. The requirements for digital communication between DC electric vehicle charging station and electric vehicle for control of DC charging are defined in this standard.
• This standard also applies to digital communication between a DC electric vehicle charging station and an electric road vehicle (EV) for control of DC charging, with an AC or DC input voltage up to 1000 V AC and up to 1500 V DC for the conductive charging procedure. The electric vehicle charging mode is external DC.