EVSE Standards and Certifications: A Practical Guide for Manufacturers
Abstract
Every industrial-grade product must pass through a defined compliance and certification process before entering the market. Depending on the geographic regions where a product is manufactured and sold, certifications may be mandatory, recommended, or serve as value-added market differentiators. In recent years, heightened awareness around safety, cybersecurity, and energy accountability has significantly increased the number of required certifications for Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment (EVSE).
As a result, certification pathways have become more complex, fragmented, and costly. Standards and approval processes are not centralized on a single platform, forcing manufacturers to spend considerable time gathering information, coordinating with multiple certification bodies, and repeating evaluations for different markets. Reapplying for the same or overlapping certifications can also place unnecessary strain on project timelines and budgets.
This article consolidates mandatory, recommended, and add-on standards and certifications for EVSE products into a single, practical reference. Drawing from extensive hands-on experience with EVSE certification programs, it is designed to help manufacturers quickly understand what is required, why it matters, and how each certification process typically works.
UL 2594 – Standard for Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment
UL 2594 is one of the most critical EVSE safety standards and is mandatory in most regions. Because EVSE operates at high electrical power levels, this certification focuses on protecting users, vehicles, and surrounding infrastructure.
Scope of Evaluation:
- Electrical safety (grounding, insulation, over-voltage and over-current protection)
- Mechanical safety and enclosure robustness
- Electromagnetic interference (EMI) and radio-frequency (RF) emissions
- Thermal stress, over-temperature, and under-temperature behavior
- Static discharge immunity and cable stress endurance
Certification Process:
After submitting an online application, the manufacturer sends the EVSE unit to a UL-certified laboratory. Electrical safety tests validate grounding integrity, insulation strength, and protection against abnormal voltage and current conditions. Mechanical robustness is verified through controlled impact tests, while cable assemblies are subjected to thousands of insertion and pull cycles.
RF immunity testing is performed in specialized lab environments, where the EVSE is bombarded with radio signals across defined frequency ranges during active charging. The device must continue charging without entering non-recoverable fault states. Emission limits vary between residential and industrial products, and compliance thresholds are enforced accordingly.
Certification laboratories periodically update test methods and requirements. Manufacturers should always refer to the latest UL documentation and lab-specific procedures.
UL 991 – Safety-Related Solid-State Control Evaluation
UL 991 evaluates the effect of environmental and electrical stress on safety-critical control circuits. This standard is mandatory in nearly all regions and complements product-level safety certifications.
Key Test Areas:
- Over-voltage and under-voltage endurance
- Power supply interruption and ramp voltage behavior
- Thermal cycling, humidity exposure, and dust ingress
- Vibration, jarring, and electrostatic discharge
- Electromagnetic susceptibility
During these tests, the EVSE must continue operating within defined limits and remain capable of charging both during and after stress exposure.
UL 2231-1 and UL 2231-2 – Personnel Protection Systems
These standards apply specifically to EVSE control circuits and are designed to protect users from electric shock during operation. Compliance is mandatory in most global markets.
- UL 2231-1 verifies alignment with NEC (ANSI/NFPA 70), Article 625.
- UL 2231-2 validates ground integrity, isolation monitoring, and fault response.
In addition to environmental tests inherited from UL 991, these standards include Charge Circuit Interrupting Device (CCID) validation, leakage current detection, voltage surge immunity, magnetic field susceptibility, and transient response testing.
Leakage currents from 5 mA up to 60 mA are injected to confirm that the EVSE detects faults and opens contactors within defined response times.
UL 1998 – Software in Programmable Components
UL 1998 focuses on software behavior in safety-critical scenarios. While not universally mandatory, many buyers require this certification for EVSE products with advanced control logic.
The evaluation verifies that EVSE firmware reliably detects defined fault conditions—such as welded contactors or CCID failures—and opens power contactors within prescribed time limits.
The process includes document review, source-code assessment, impact analysis for firmware changes, and in some cases, laboratory validation using physical devices.
UL / IEC 60730 – Functional Safety for Embedded Controls
This standard addresses hazards caused by potential hardware or software malfunctions in appliances with embedded control systems. For EVSE, the primary focus is preventing uncontrolled increases in charging current.
Manufacturers must analyze open- and short-circuit behavior across control signals, GPIOs, memory, interrupts, and communication buses. Identified safety risks must be mitigated before certification approval.
NTEP Certification – Legal-for-Trade Energy Measurement
In the United States, EVSE products that measure energy and generate billing data typically require National Type Evaluation Program (NTEP) certification. Many states prohibit the sale of EV chargers without NTEP or CTEP approval.
During evaluation, long-duration charging sessions are conducted, and reported energy data is compared against calibrated reference meters. The EVSE must remain within ±1 percent accuracy to pass.
Energy Star Certification
Energy Star certification has become increasingly important for high-power electrical devices. At present, it is mandatory for AC chargers in the United States and optional for DC chargers.
Products must meet strict energy-efficiency requirements and be third-party certified using approved test procedures and calibrated measurement equipment.
OCPP (OCA) Conformance Certification
Open Charge Alliance (OCA) certification validates compliance with Open Charge Point Protocol (OCPP) features such as core functionality, smart charging, and firmware management.
Manufacturers can pre-validate implementations using OCA tools, significantly reducing the risk of unexpected failures during formal conformance testing.
Additional Certifications and Add-On Differentiators
- UL 9741 – Bidirectional power transfer (V2G/V2H)
- FCC Certification – RF emissions for wireless and IoT-enabled EVSE
- Modbus Conformance – Load management and energy control
- BACnet Conformance – Building management system integration
Conclusion
EVSE certification is no longer a single checkpoint—it is a multi-layered compliance strategy spanning safety, software integrity, energy accuracy, interoperability, and cybersecurity. Manufacturers who address applicable standards early in the product lifecycle significantly reduce certification risk, avoid late-stage blockers, and accelerate time to market.
In addition to electrical and functional standards, manufacturers should also account for cybersecurity testing, penetration assessments, and open-source software license compliance as part of a comprehensive EVSE certification roadmap.
