In a veritable blizzard of acronyms the British Electrotechnical and Allied Manufacturers’ Association (BEAMA for short) started their Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Project (BEVIP for short) last year. Last week BEVIP held a conference at The Institute of Physics in London, and all the presentations at that event have now been made available online.

In particular BEAMA have just published their “Guide to Electric Vehicle Infrastructure“, about which they say:

This guidance document presents the position of industry today for the best practice use and application of the electrical infrastructure for the charging of electric vehicles. This guide is intended for use by organisations providing advice and guidance to consumers on the day-to-day use of electric vehicle infrastructure.

If you are currently one of the fortunate few in the United Kingdom who use an electric vehicle on a daily basis note in particular that BEAMA do not recommend simply plugging your EV into a “non-dedicated socket outlet” because:

Mode 1 charging without cable-incorporated RCD protection should not be used for the charging of an electric vehicle because RCD protection, which is necessary for a safe charging system, cannot be guaranteed at all outlets.

BEAMA also helpfully provide an illustration of the problem, including the relevant British Standards.

BEAMA don't recommend plugging your EV into the wall without an in-cable RCD

You have been warned! You will also be pleased to hear that there are three safe methods of charging your EV, with dedicated AC charging equipment supporting bi-directional communications (Mode 3) being “the preferred solution in the long term”.