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Our many years' experience with production Electric Vehicles, in the UK and across Europe, together with our practical experience producing safe, effective charging solutions, qualifies us to guide the development and evolution of EVs and their recharging.

"Safety Issues concerning Electric Vehicle charging stations using conventional UK socket outlets"

This document, first published in 2007 as "Safety issues concerning Electric Vehicle charging stations in London," has been referenced in the shift away from the use of the normal UK standard socket for recharging Electric Vehicles. We have also been consulted by the electrical safety agencies concerned with introducing EV charging in Ireland and Hong Kong: two territories which also use the same plug-socket system. It has also influenced the choice of charging rate for a leading new EV model to maintain safety and avoid problems highlighted in the document.

Extract: "The adoption of the standard UK plug-socket system for the recharging of EVs may, at first, seem quite reasonable, practical and simple to implement, but encouraging manufacturers and drivers to use charging cables fitted with a standard UK plug will no doubt mean that the same charging cable will be used at other locations, such as at home in the case of private vehicles or at a works base for commercial vehicles. Due to the nature of UK electricity supplies, the choice of the standard plug-socket system poses serious safety issues for charging EVs, particularly outdoors and by 'untrained persons' such as members of the public. These issues relate to the protection from electric shock of the users themselves and third parties in the vicinity of the vehicle being charged, which are often very public areas, by effective 'earthing' and supplementary protection."

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