Australian standards for home charging an Electric Vehicle.

[unharmed]

Came across this Norwegian Website whilst looking for Australian standards for home charging an Electric Vehicle. Alt du trenger å vite om hjemmelading which if I understand the translation correctly is the Norwegian Automobile Association.

Given we share similarities with Norway's electrical system and they are further down the road in implementing EV's into their national road fleet, should we implement similar regulations

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Can I charge with a socket?
From 1 July 2022, you must install a charging box when you create a new charging point at home. The grounded socket for use for regular charging of electric cars has been removed in the new installation standard NEK 400:2022, which applies to low-voltage electrical installations.
This means that you must install a charging box with a type 2 connector if you need a new charging point for electric car charging.
The standard applies to new installations and does not have retroactive effect. It thus does not affect established charging points before 1 July 2022. The change also does not mean that emergency charging using an existing earthed household socket is prohibited.

From <Alt du trenger å vite om hjemmelading>


Charge with a standard socket
From July 2022, there is a requirement for a charging box with a type 2 connector for new installations for permanent electric vehicle charging - the standard does not have retroactive effect and so-called emergency charging is still permitted.
The fact that the standard does not have retroactive effect means that if you have arranged for permanent charging using a socket before July 2022, you can still use this installation for permanent charging. These are the rules that apply to installations made before 1 July 2022:

• You must have your own course for the electric car
• Max 10 A course
• The course must have an earth fault circuit breaker type B
• You must always pull the cable out of the car before removing the plug from the socket when you have finished charging

Install a basket or a hook that can be used to hang the charging box and cable when charging, both to relieve the weight of the charging cable (the connector cannot withstand the weight) and to avoid wear and tear on the charging equipment.
The guidelines for charging only apply where you charge on a daily basis. You can therefore "emergency charge" at your mother-in-law's or at a friend's, even if dedicated electric car charging is not planned. However, it is important to keep an eye on the contact during charging, as overheating may occur.
It is the Directorate for Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness that enforces the regulations for electrical installations.

• Read more about the guidelines for installation here

New standards for installation of charging points
The change in NEK 400:2022, which comes into effect on 1 July 2022, applies to low-voltage electrical installations. It consists in the fact that it is no longer possible to install an earthed household socket for use for daily or regular charging of electric cars.
This means that if charging is the purpose of the installation, you must install a charging box with a Type 2 connector.

The Electric Vehicle Association recommends that you install a home charger where you charge on a daily basis. This is a much safer and faster way to charge your electric car. You can read more about charging at home here!​

From <Lade med vanlig stikkontakt>

 

[paulp]

We already have more than sufficient regulations in australia

 

[unharmed]

Personally, I believe that we need to instigate that the minimum standard should be a dedicated 15-amp circuit with an industrial plug style plug. Something that can be screwed into the socket, with heat resistors in-built. As with the Norwegian idea that 10-amp is for emergency use only.

 

[Chuq]

I can definitely see both sides here. Obviously, someone charging on an old or poor quality 10A outlet does increase risk and any sort of electrical issue that causes damage would be reported as an “EV issue”.

On the other hand, the cost of a dedicated unit + installation is pretty much $1500+. That is a big dent considering many people are making a big stretch to afford an EV in the first place.

An outlet on a dedicated circuit (i.e. a 15 amp power outlet) would be a reasonable minimum. (It was cheap when I had it done many years ago, but the outlet is virtually adjacent to my switchboard so not representative of everyone’s situation.)

There also needs to be some sort of arrangement for rentals. Obviously rentals shouldn’t have to pay to install chargers every time they move. Landlords shouldn’t reasonably be able to refuse installation of EV charging facilities, etc.

 

[sishome]

It’s like electricians have no one else left but EV owners to milk.
EV is nothing more than an electric appliance.

 

[johnchidgey]

I think stipulating 15A mandatory outlets in a garage or even Type 2 connectors is an obvious next step, for NEW BUILDS. The way in which legislation like this is usually handled is it only applies to new builds, not enforcing retrofits. As time passes eventually people will retrofit them, themselves and the incremental cost for a new build is more like $200 or so especially as we Fast-Forward to the point of ubiquity of connector types and hence much cheaper costs. I doubt it would be anything near $1,500 for any new house. Retrofits, YMMV of course depending on the cable run and switchboard capacity and loading.

We don't need more regulations? Well I actually think we do. There are plenty of people buying crappy 10A extension leads via power boards using their UMC and charging every night like it's no big deal. That's a fire hazard waiting to burn their house down. That's why we need regulations...not to be annoying but ultimately to save lives.

 

[paulp]

I think stipulating 15A mandatory outlets in a garage or even Type 2 connectors is an obvious next step, for NEW BUILDS. The way in which legislation like this is usually handled is it only applies to new builds, not enforcing retrofits. As time passes eventually people will retrofit them, themselves and the incremental cost for a new build is more like $200 or so especially as we Fast-Forward to the point of ubiquity of connector types and hence much cheaper costs. I doubt it would be anything near $1,500 for any new house. Retrofits, YMMV of course depending on the cable run and switchboard capacity and loading.

We don't need more regulations? Well I actually think we do. There are plenty of people buying crappy 10A extension leads via power boards using their UMC and charging every night like it's no big deal. That's a fire hazard waiting to burn their house down. That's why we need regulations...not to be annoying but ultimately to save lives.

Regulations for ev charging will never stop people using their existing crappy cords or 10 amp plugs, even in new houses.
Of more importance is every state mandating the retrofit of rentals to have earth leakage protection to all power points. That is going to save lives when the old crappy cord fails.

 

[sishome]

We don't need more regulations? Well I actually think we do. There are plenty of people buying crappy 10A extension leads via power boards using their UMC and charging every night like it's no big deal. That's a fire hazard waiting to burn their house down. That's why we need regulations...not to be annoying but ultimately to save lives.

So what is the problem? EVs? People who buy crappy 10A extension leads? Crappy extension leads? Sorry, but this is just plain stupid. UMC is only an electric appliance and it is _designed_to_be_ only an electric appliance. Nothing else, nothing more. Not different from an iron or a computer, which is continuously plugged in. Why plugging in an iron through a crappy 10A extension lead does not require specific regulations and plugging in an EV through the same crappy 10A extension lead requires specific regulations?
We do not. Australia in this space is already hyper-overregulated to protect the electricians jobs. Otherwise we will need "specific regulations" for irons and computers, kettles, hairdryers (oh the latter is a dangerous device, which should be banned or at least a license should be required to operate it, and the license should be issued by a professional licensed electrician for $500+GST and with an multi-choice exam only! Booking required.) and every other device. And then what if I bring a suicide cord (for those who don't know, it is an appliance with two male plugs at the ends of the cable)? Shouldn't we just ban or "regulate" 10A sockets instead because they - they are a fire hazard waiting to burn house down, taking into account that making a suicide cord would need less than $10 cash and one trip to bunnings?

 

[meloccom]

So what is the problem? EVs? People who buy crappy 10A extension leads? Crappy extension leads? Sorry, but this is just plain stupid. UMC is only an electric appliance and it is _designed_to_be_ only an electric appliance. Nothing else, nothing more. Not different from an iron or a computer, which is continuously plugged in. Why plugging in an iron through a crappy 10A extension lead does not require specific regulations and plugging in an EV through the same crappy 10A extension lead requires specific regulations?
We do not. Australia in this space is already hyper-overregulated to protect the electricians jobs. Otherwise we will need "specific regulations" for irons and computers, kettles, hairdryers (oh the latter is a dangerous device, which should be banned or at least a license should be required to operate it, and the license should be issued by a professional licensed electrician for $500+GST and with an multi-choice exam only! Booking required.) and every other device. And then what if I bring a suicide cord (for those who don't know, it is a device with two male plugs at the ends of the cable)? Shouldn't we just ban or "regulate" 10A sockets instead because they - they are a fire hazard waiting to burn house down, taking into account that making a suicide cord would need less than $10 cash and one trip to bunnings?

The Australian/New Zealand wiring rules are different for temporary versus continuous loads. An Iron, kettle or hair dryer are not operated continuously for multi hour periods like an EV charger.

 

[sishome]

The Australian/New Zealand wiring rules are different for temporary versus continuous loads. An Iron, kettle or hair dryer are not operated continuously for multi hour periods like an EV charger.

Temporary power is any power wiring supplied with the intention of removal in the near future. UMC is built with the intention of removal in the near future, that is why there is that letter M between U and C. Irons and especially computers are routinely operated continuously for multi hour periods.

 

[johnchidgey]

The Australian/New Zealand wiring rules are different for temporary versus continuous loads. An Iron, kettle or hair dryer are not operated continuously for multi hour periods like an EV charger.

I realise most people on the forum aren't Electricians or Electrical Engineers. In future I probably shouldn't weigh in on this stuff like this if I'm going to get responses like the ones above. Appreciate your response that's based on fact.

 

[meloccom]

Temporary power is any power wiring supplied with the intention of removal in the near future. UMC is built with the intention of removal in the near future, that is why there is that letter M between U and C. Irons and especially computers are routinely operated continuously for multi hour periods.

I’m not an electrician and you do what you want with your house. I’m just passing on the information I received from an electrician. Back in 2008 when I built my house, I knew I wanted an EV one day so I had the house wired a 3 phase and installed a 32A 3 phase plug in the garage. When I bought my first wall connector the electrician insisted on removing my expensive wall plug and permanently installing the wall connector and we had a similar conversation.
I would love to give you the section from the ANZ Wiring Rules but unfortunately they are not publicly available, but the take home message is that it’s more complicated and there is concern amongst the authorities about plugable devices that operate on a continuous load basis.
P.S. An iron is not a continuous load as the element cycles on and off to maintain the selected temperature and I don’t know of any computers that draw the maximum capacity of a 10A service continuously.

 

[sishome]

I’m not an electrician and you do what you want with your house. I’m just passing on the information I received from an electrician. Back in 2008 when I built my house, I knew I wanted an EV one day so I had the house wired a 3 phase and installed a 32A 3 phase plug in the garage. When I bought my first wall connector the electrician insisted on removing my expensive wall plug and permanently installing the wall connector and we had a similar conversation.
I would love to give you the section from the ANZ Wiring Rules but unfortunately they are not publicly available, but the take home message is that it’s more complicated and there is concern amongst the authorities about plugable devices that operate on a continuous load basis.
P.S. An iron is not a continuous load as the element cycles on and off to maintain the selected temperature and I don’t know of any computers that draw the maximum capacity of a 10A service continuously.

So essentially you have a word of your electrician (who is financially interested) and concern amongst the authorities against me looking at AS/NZS 3000:2018 Section 3 and AS/NZS 3008.1.1:2017 and struggling to find any mention of differentiation between wiring rules for temporary and continuous loads. You would love to, of course, but there is no such section, and it would be quite interesting to have such section. It should also demand marking outlets as "for permanent loads" and "for temporary loads only". And wiring as well, smaller cross-sections will be allowed for temporary loads, but both cables would be marked for the same current. Should be fun. And RCDs ))

I have a workstation at home with two GPUs 450W each and dual xeon platinum CPUs 250W each and some other stuff like a pack of HDDs on 2.4kW power supply. This fairly often runs a heavy machine learning problem continuously for a few days in a row and utilises both GPUs and CPUs, makes it 2.2kW continuous load for a few days. I would guess this can be classified as "continuous load device" per your definition... An EV which is charged for 3 hours a day is not that continuous then.

Note: extension leads are for temporary use only. The difference, however, between temporary and permanent is not in the current. What is meant is - if a permanently installed cable/socket make sense here, they must be installed.

 

[Max Spaghetti]

Personally, I believe that we need to instigate that the minimum standard should be a dedicated 15-amp circuit with an industrial plug style plug. Something that can be screwed into the socket, with heat resistors in-built.

What would be the point of that?

The 15A UMC pig tail does not have an industrial screw type plug.

And why does the circuit have to be dedicated? Does it really matter if I'm running my Christmas Fairy lights off the same circuit as my 15A power point? This is my current set up at home and I don't feel unsafe. My 15A point is a high quality outdoor rated Clipsal one.

 

[paulp]

I’m not an electrician and you do what you want with your house. I’m just passing on the information I received from an electrician. Back in 2008 when I built my house, I knew I wanted an EV one day so I had the house wired a 3 phase and installed a 32A 3 phase plug in the garage. When I bought my first wall connector the electrician insisted on removing my expensive wall plug and permanently installing the wall connector and we had a similar conversation.
I would love to give you the section from the ANZ Wiring Rules but unfortunately they are not publicly available, but the take home message is that it’s more complicated and there is concern amongst the authorities about plugable devices that operate on a continuous load basis.
P.S. An iron is not a continuous load as the element cycles on and off to maintain the selected temperature and I don’t know of any computers that draw the maximum capacity of a 10A service continuously.

But isnt the issue that people will just use whatever gpo is convenient. Education rather than regulation is probably going to achieve more, and that education could be mandated for the time of ev pickup. Doesn’t help the 2nd hand sales though

 

[sishome]

15A circuits are always

What would be the point of that?

The 15A UMC pig tail does not have an industrial screw type plug.

And why does the circuit have to be dedicated? Does it really matter if I'm running my Christmas Fairy lights off the same circuit as my 15A power point? This is my current set up at home and I don't feel unsafe. My 15A point is a high quality outdoor rated Clipsal one.

It is very logically recommended in the standard that 15A power outlet has a dedicated circuit.

 

[sishome]

But isnt the issue that people will just use whatever gpo is convenient. Education rather than regulation is probably going to achieve more, and that education could be mandated for the time of ev pickup. Doesn’t help the 2nd hand sales though

Education is not profitable especially in this case, this is why.

 

[meloccom]

Kinda why we have fires in winter. TV, video, set top box on the power board, then someone gets cold and plugs in the 2400w fan heater and .

 

[sishome]

Kinda why we have fires in winter. TV, video, set top box on the power board, then someone gets cold and plugs in the 2400w fan heater and .

Which tells something about the quality of electrical installation and not about the end user or lack of regulations.

 

[Max Spaghetti]

It is very logically recommended in the standard that 15A power outlet has a dedicated circuit.

I believe that has changed. From memory you can have 1x15A + 8x10A or 2x15A + 4x10A on one circuit. It is up to the user not to draw more than 20A total if it is on a 20A circuit breaker with appropriate wiring (which it normally would be).

I can charge my car and run some lights perfectly safely and legally. If I want to plug in a 10A appliance, I just make sure I'm not charging my car. Since I set my car to start charging at midnight every night, it is normally not charging if I want to plug in a power tool or something.

And if I don't - I trip the 20A breaker. That is how it is supposed to work. We have actually finally improved on the archaic regulations that arbitrarily limited the number of outlets per circuit without any consideration as to what those outlets might actually be used for in practice.

Look, if I was building from new, of course I would put the 15A GPO on a dedicated circuit. Because then I wouldn't be restricted in what I plug into my 10A GPO's. But for me to retrofit that now is expensive - I can't run a new cable easily and my breaker panel is full. So please don't over-regulate me. What I have now works and is safe.