www.megger.com 3CAR CHARGERS FOR ELECTRIC VEHICLES:A STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE TO AUTOMATED TESTING3WWW.MEGGER.COM ■Mode 4 car chargers are DC chargers. Because they convert AC to DC internally, they incorporate more complex circuit protection than other types of chargers and use power line control (PLC) to manage the charging process. Specialised equipment is needed to test Mode 4 car chargers, and as a result, they are outside the scope of this document. ■Because, for all types of car charger except Mode 4, the charging system is actually in the vehicle, the equipment referred to as a car charger is, in reality, just a special-purpose electrical supply point. It differs from other supply points only because it includes control facilities and, in many cases, additional earth fault protection. ■Like other high power devices, such as electric showers and cookers, car chargers must be fed from a separate circuit that is not shared with any other load. ■Up to the point where the car charger itself is connected, the circuit feeding the charger is the same as any other circuit in an electrical installation. Therefore, this circuit should be installed and tested in accordance with the international standard IEC 60364 or local regulations in force for electrical installations in buildings – for example, BS 7671 in the UK – before the car charger is connected. ■This guide assumes that testing will be carried out using a Megger MFT-X1 multifunction installation tester in conjunction with a Megger EVX charge point test adaptor. If other types of test equipment are to be used, see the step-by-step guide to manual testing, which can be found at [link]. ■The design and functionality of car chargers are similar in almost all countries, but there are differences in terminology. This guide is intended to be international in scope, and where these differences occur, they are mentioned and explained in the text.
