science

IEC 61851

IEC 61851 is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand IEC 61851 rather than just read about it. In short: IEC 61851 is an international standard for electric vehicle conductive charging systems, parts of which are currently still under development(written 2017). IEC 61851 is one of the International Electrotechnical Commission's group of standards for electric road vehicles and electric industrial trucks and is the responsibility of IEC Technical Committee 69 (TC69).

Key takeaways

IEC 61851 belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect IEC 61851 to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of IEC 61851 from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

IEC 61851 is an international standard for electric vehicle conductive charging systems, parts of which are currently still under development(written 2017). IEC 61851 is one of the International Electrotechnical Commission's group of standards for electric road vehicles and electric industrial trucks and is the responsibility of IEC Technical Committee 69 (TC69).

Standard documents IEC 61851 consists of the following parts, detailed in separate IEC 61851 standard documents:

IEC 61851-1: General requirements IEC 61851-21-1: Electric vehicle on-board charger EMC requirements for conductive connection to AC/DC supply IEC 61851-21-2: Electric vehicle requirements for conductive connection to an AC/DC supply – EMC requirements for off board electric vehicle charging systems IEC 61851-23: DC electric vehicle charging station IEC 61851-24: Digital communication between a DC EV charging station and an electric vehicle for control of DC charging IEC 61851-25: DC EV supply equipment where protection relies on electrical separation

IEC 61851-1 IEC 61851-1 defines four modes of charging:

References

See also ISO 15118 – Standard defining a vehicle to grid (V2G) communication interface for bi-directional charging/discharging of electric vehicles IEC 61850 – Communication protocols for intelligent electronic devices at electrical substations IEC 61851 – Standard for electric vehicle conductive charging systems IEC 62196 – A series of international standards that define requirements and tests for plugs, socket-outlets, vehicle connectors and vehicle inlets IEC 63110 – Protocol for the management of electric vehicles charging and discharging infrastructure OpenEVSE

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with IEC 61851

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what IEC 61851 claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to IEC 61851 before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about IEC 61851 ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of IEC 61851

In research: IEC 61851 appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses IEC 61851 in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: IEC 61851 is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Electric vehicles, IEC standards, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for IEC 61851 outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study IEC 61851 in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what IEC 61851 means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain IEC 61851 out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is IEC 61851 in simple terms?

Why does IEC 61851 matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study IEC 61851?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on IEC 61851.