Automotive Engineering - September 2024 - 7

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EV Accelerators
EV Accelerator Interview with CSA Group's Dana Parmenter
CSA Group is a testing, inspection, and certification provider working to assure safe and accessible operation and charging of
electric vehicles for consumers. In this edition of EV Accelerator sponsored by Keysight, CSA's vice president of Industrial, Dana
Parmenter, talks about how his company tests EVs and electric vehicle charging equipment.
EV Accelerator: What is CSA Group's relationship
to electric vehicle technology?
Dana Parmenter: We are a testing, inspection
and certification (TIC) provider and a standards
development organization (SDO). The TIC portion
of our group operates labs around the
world that test and certify EV technology, including
batteries, charging infrastructure and
components. Much of our testing focuses on
batteries and includes electrical and mechanical
stress tests for events such as overcharge, over
discharge and thermal or fire events, and how
these relate to the battery, its functionality and
safety. We also test charging infrastructure, and
EV components such as electric motors, wiring
and other electrical and mechanical parts for
potential environmental and safety impacts. As an SDO, CSA facilitates
the creation of important consensus-based safety and
performance standards to address the needs of emerging technology
while also working with other SDO's such as the International
Standard Organization (ISO) and International Electrotechnical
Commission (IEC) to create and develop new standards.
EV Accelerator: As a TIC provider, how can CSA contribute to
better consumer acceptance of EVs?
Parmenter: We test and certify EVs to meet predefined safety
protocol. This alone introduces an inherent level of safety supporting
consumer confidence. Additionally, we utilize performancerelated
standards to consider reliability and output performance
for EV chargers. We constantly create and update test methods
and adopt the latest standards to assure they are state-of-the-art.
We consider best practices to make sure EV products keep consumers
safe as they operate at maximum output and uptime.
EV Accelerator: How does CSA address charging anxiety and
charger reliability?
Parmenter: We address hardware failures with tests that place
stress on electrical, mechanical and environmental components.
We simulate such conditions as cable abuse and extreme
temperatures to help manufacturers mitigate real world
issues and allow them to build more robust and reliable products.
We test for communication and interoperability to ensure
various chargers are compatible with a vehicle or a
broader network. When EVs and EV chargers use the same
communication protocol, there's less risk of incompatibility.
Our Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment (EVSE) tests use the
latest, most adopted communication standards to make sure
a charger can operate with the greatest number of EVs.
EV Accelerator: Most major EV manufacturers are switching
to Tesla's NACS (SAE J3400) configuration. What part does
AUTOMOTIVE ENGINEERING
Dana Parmenter, CSA's vice
president for industrial operations.
CSA play to assure reliability and safety in
this standard?
Parmenter: As an SDO, we help create consensus-based
standards. Additonally, participating
with the likes of SAE, IEC or ISO, we adapt and
address new capabilities, including J3400. Our
standards set minimum performance requirements
and consider compatibility requirements.
Are they communicating properly? Are
they operating properly? The heart of our business
is to stay current with the latest technologies
and assure our labs are equipped to evaluate,
test and certify them regardless of the
protocol. The greater adoption and standardization
of any protocol, the greater the impact
on reducing charge anxiety with consumers
worrying less about the inability to successfully recharge.
EV Accelerator: How does CSA contribute to the reduction or
elimination of fire risks?
Parmenter: We test for flammability and thermal runaway, in
which we force a battery into an internal fire condition. We
also test for how the battery reacts to an external fire. We
work with manufacturers on how to mitigate those dangers
and reduce catastrophic events and how to safely handle a
battery if one of these rare events occurs.
EV Accelerator: What about vehicle-to-grid (V2G) technology?
What requirements must an EV meet to supply power
back into the grid?
Parmenter: We test an EV and its charging equipment for how it
supports vehicle-to-grid functions. The EV must be capable of
bi-directional power flow and needs to be approved to interface
with the grid. This means designing onboard inverters that meet
appropriate standards for bi-directional function for the applications
they're using, including SAE standards. We also evaluate
the power exported and the correct communication protocol.
On the charging side, manufacturers need to design their products
to support V2G from the beginning. These products need
to be tested and certified for grid connection and support of the
intercommunication requirements for the grid to ensure the
right voltage is passed at the right frequency and power factor.
Failure to address those can cause damage to grid infrastructure
or other attached equipment. As V2G becomes more prominent,
testing requirements and complexity likely will increase.
For more on CSA's EV testing, go to www.csagroup.org.
Watch the full interview with Dana.
September 2024 7
CSA

http://www.csagroup.org

Automotive Engineering - September 2024

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