UNUnited Nations Economic Commission for Europe

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UNECE announces the introduction in 41 countries of type approval for electric and hybrid vehicles’ electric safety requirements

Geneva, 10 March 2010 --


The World Forum for Harmonization of Vehicle Regulations, adopted today, at its March 2010 session, a new version of UNECE Regulation No. 100 which introduces type approval requirements for all types of electric and hybrid vehicles’ electric safety requirements .

Type approval refers to the administrative procedure by which the competent authorities in one Contracting Party declare, after carrying out the required verifications and tests, that a vehicle submitted by the manufacturer conforms to the requirements of the given Regulation. Once this approval has been obtained, the vehicle will benefit from the mutual recognition of this approval in all Contracting Parties applying UNECE Regulation No. 100 (currently 41 countries – see list below).

The new version of UNECE Regulation No. 100 will cover all types of electric vehicles: pure electric, hybrid, plug-in, as well as hydrogen fuel cells vehicles as regards electric safety requirements.  The Regulation encompasses the electric safety requirements of all types of road vehicles (passenger and commercial vehicles) which can exceed 25 km/h. One of the key requirements is that vehicles must provide users with an effective protection against electric shocks. 

This change in UNECE Regulation No. 100 reflects the growing interest of both manufacturers and customers for electric and hybrid vehicles, as evidenced at the Geneva motor show this year.

It offers car manufacturers the legal instrument to put into the market passenger and commercial vehicles with greener standards, reducing the costs and delays associated with multiple approvals in various countries.

For further information contact:

Juan Ramos Garcia
Chief, Vehicle Regulations and Transport Innovation Section
UNECE Transport Division
Email: [email protected]

Note to editors
The World Forum is a subsidiary body of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), which develops vehicle regulations aimed at increasing vehicle safety and environmental performance.  More than fifty countries, as well as vehicle manufacturers, consumers and road users, participate in the elaboration of these regulations, which are adopted by representatives of the countries under the so-called “1958 and 1998” Agreements.

UNECE Regulation No. 100 covers “Uniform provisions concerning the approval of battery electric vehicles with regard to specific requirements for the construction and functional safety”. The revised text is available at: http://www.unece.org/trans/doc/2010/wp29/ECE-TRANS-WP29-2010-52e.pdf

Core elements of a type approval process:

  • Compliance of the  vehicle manufacturer to all applicable technical requirements
  • Testing by a certified technical service
  • Approval by the national Approval Authority
  • Conformity of production by the manufacturer in agreement with the Approval Authority
  • Certificate of conformity issued by the manufacturer to the end-user

The list of Contracting Parties that apply UNECE Regulation No. 100 includes the 27 Member States of the European Union, the European Union itself, as well as Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Malaysia, Montenegro, Norway, Russian Federation, Serbia, Switzerland, The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Tunisia and Turkey.  Several Asian countries, including Japan, are expected to apply the new version of Regulation No. 100.

Ref: ECE/TRANS/10/P06