Help is at hand with testing of Vehicle Charging Stations

The shift to green energy is constantly in the news and particularly around electric vehicles (EV), with new models coming on the market, which also means there is a need for an expanding infrastructure of charging points and reports^#1 are predicting than by 2020, there should be around 220,000 chargers in Western and Northern Europe.

However installing, commissioning, repairing and periodic testing of these charging stations requires electricians to have a suitable level of expertise and the tools to perform these tests, including a charging adaptor that allows an engineer to perform safety and functional tests on the charging stations whilst simulating the presence of an EV:

The following video shows how the Beha-Amprobe EV-520 adaptor can help:

As the video shows the key features of the EV-520 adaptor are:

• PE pre-test, which tests to ensure the charging station is correctly wired and safe and that the protective earth is functioning properly
• Simulates various charging states
• Check output voltage
• Measure the continuity of the PE connector
• Measure loop impedance, RCD trip time and trip current (need to connect an installation tester to the EV-520)
• Simulate CP and PE errors
• Ability to connect a Fluke ScopeMeter for further analysis

Further information on the need for testing, the relevant standards for electrical systems and the methods of charging are discussed more in-depth in the Beha-Amprobe report “Standards ensure clarity and high standards of quality / Flexible measuring instruments and connection adapters are required”

Country Versions for the Beha-Amprobe Adaptor include:

• EV-520-UK (186-5512)
• EV-520-D (186-4083)
• EV-520-CH (186-4082)

^#1 Report Source Link