CRITICAL UPDATE! AMENDMENT 3 TO INDIAN TRACTION BATTERY STANDARD

CRITICAL UPDATE! AMENDMENT 3 TO INDIAN TRACTION BATTERY STANDARD

RELEASE DATE：2022-10-18 12:38
Brief:  Earlier on 29th August 2022, Automotive Industry Standards Committee of India (AISC) issued in a sudden the Amendment 2 to AIS-038 (Rev.2), the standard of electric powered vehicles and its rechargeable electrical energy storage system (REESS, traction battery), which was announced by the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways of India (MoRTH) on 1st September, soon to be in force on 1st October. After discussions of relevant parties in a month, the Ministry updated latest notification on 27th September, that one more Amendment 3 was released subjected to Amendment 2, and effective date would be separated to two phases of 1st December 2022 and 31st March 2023. 



APPROVAL REQUIREMENTS OF REESS IN INDIA
.Before 2019, for battery operated vehicles (BOV) defined by Indian Central Motor Vehicle Rules (CMVR), there were AIS-038 (Rev.1) subjected to electric vehicle safety on M/N categories vehicles, and AIS-048 subjected to REESS, respectively. Test items in AIS-048 were mainly mechanical and electrical, especially the Shock Test and Penetration Test were much harsher than other common international test standards, and not quite applicable to those high-capacity, high-performance, high-energy-density REESS in recent market.

Then in 2019, AISC combined the requirements of electric vehicle safety and REESS into AIS-038 (Rev.2), which adopted the international mainstream requirements from United Nations Global Technical Regulation No. 20 (UN GTR 20). To better carry out the Indian environmental protection target (Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles in India Phase-II, FAME II), the AIS-038 (Rev.2) was started testing and approval in 2020, which one year before the standard was officially in force, thus more high-capacity REESS and long-range EVs could come into the market earlier.

AIS-038 (Rev.2), UNECE R100 (Rev.3) and GB 38031:2020 (China) come from the same source, UN GTR 20, by adopting identical or equivalent technical requirements and test items (some are different from original), and Indian standard and Chinese standard have higher requirements then other similar standards. AIS-038 (Rev.2) cancels Penetration Test, and requirements for Protection Tests, Fire Resistance Test, Mechanical Tests are closed to UNECE R100, and also no requirements to Immersion Test, High-Altitude Test, Thermal Humidity Cycle Test compared with China’s GB 38031. However the Thermal Propagation Test in AIS-038 (Rev.2) has found to be more difficult than in other standards.

AIS-038 (REV.2) AMENDMENT 2
On 29th August 2022, AISC issued Amendment 2 to AIS-038 (Rev.2), with below 17 additional requirements:
#
REQUIREMENT
SECTION
REMARKS
0
CoP
Annexure IX-K 0.
No CoP requirement before
1
Marking
Annexure IX-K 1.
2
Cell testing
Annexure IX-K 2.
Shall be performed in Indian accredited laboratory
3
Charge-discharge cycle before shipment
Annexure IX-K 3.
4
Venting and cooling
Annexure IX-K 4.
5
Circuit design
Annexure IX-K 5.
6
Cell arrangements
Annexure IX-K 6.
7
System circuit breaker
Annexure IX-K 7.
8
Immersion test
Annexure IX-K 8.
IP X7 Immersion test shall be performed to REESS at 100% SoC
9
BMS circuit
Annexure IX-K 9.
10
Electromagnetic Compatibility
Annexure IX-K 10.
BMS shall comply to AIS-004 EMC
11
BMS protection programme verification
Annexure IX-K 11.
12
Onboard charging and portable charging
Annexure IX-K 12.
13
Traceability of system and parts 
Annexure IX-K 13.
14
Design for kinetic energy recovery
Annexure IX-K 14.
15
BMS data storage
Annexure IX-K 15.
16
RFID tag to REESS
Annexure IX-K 16.
Battery pack and BMS shall be associated with RFID tags

Regarding to Notification of MoRTH on 1st September, above new requirements would be in force from 1st October, 2022. 

AIS-038 (REV.2) AMENDMENT 3
On 27th September, MoRTH issued Amendment 3 to AIS-038 (Rev.2) Amendment 2, with below changes:
#
ON AMD2
SECTION
CHANGE ON AMD3
0
CoP
Annexure IX-K 0.
1
Marking
Annexure IX-K 1.
Detailed
2
Cell testing
Annexure IX-K 2.
Detailed
3
Charge-discharge cycle before shipment
Annexure IX-K 3.
4
Venting and cooling
Annexure IX-K 4.
5
Circuit design
Annexure IX-K 5.
6
Cell arrangements
Annexure IX-K 6.
7
System circuit breaker
Annexure IX-K 7.
8
Immersion test
Annexure IX-K 8.
Detailed
9
BMS circuit
Annexure IX-K 9.
10
Electromagnetic Compatibility
Annexure IX-K 10.
11
BMS protection programme verification
Annexure IX-K 11.
Over-voltage protection will no be mandatory
12
Onboard charging and portable charging
Annexure IX-K 12.
Soft-start function will no be mandatory
13
Traceability of system and parts 
Annexure IX-K 13.
14
Design for kinetic energy recovery
Annexure IX-K 14.
15
BMS data storage
Annexure IX-K 15.
Latest data for at least one month shall be maintained 
16
RFID tag to REESS
Annexure IX-K 16.
Not mandatory

IMPLEMENTATION PLAN
Regarding to latest Notification of MoRTH, above requirements will be in force by two stages:
From 1st December 2022:
#
ON AMD2
SECTION
CHANGE ON AMD3
3
Charge-discharge cycle before shipment
Annexure IX-K 3.
4
Venting and cooling
Annexure IX-K 4.
6
Cell arrangements
Annexure IX-K 6.
7
System circuit breaker
Annexure IX-K 7.
9
BMS circuit
Annexure IX-K 9.
11
BMS protection programme verification
Annexure IX-K 11.
Over-voltage protection will no be mandatory
12
Onboard charging and portable charging
Annexure IX-K 12.
Soft-start function will no be mandatory
13
Traceability of system and parts 
Annexure IX-K 13.
14
Design for kinetic energy recovery
Annexure IX-K 14.
15
BMS data storage
Annexure IX-K 15.
Latest data for at least one month shall be maintained 

From 31st March 2023:
#
ON AMD2
SECTION
CHANGE ON AMD3
1
Marking
Annexure IX-K 1.
Detailed
2
Cell testing
Annexure IX-K 2.
Detailed
5
Circuit design
Annexure IX-K 5.
8
Immersion test
Annexure IX-K 8.
Detailed
10
Electromagnetic Compatibility
Annexure IX-K 10.

EFFECTS
1. Indian officials are not accepting approval and testing application to old version of standard (AIS-038 Rev.2 AMD1 and previous);
2. Reports regarding to old version of standard will expire on 30th November 2022;
3. Due to updates to technical requirements, test data of old version standard reports may not be accepted or recognized;
4. BOVs and HEVs that have not obtained CMVR vehicle approval before 30th November 2022, shall apply test to their REESS regarding new version of standard;
5. OEMs and REESS suppliers shall review the design and production of current REESS exporting to India;
6. Complete test procedures of new standard will be in force from 31st March 2023.

ATIC INDIAN BOV AND REESS TESTING AND HOMOLOGATION
.As the first technical service in China performing AIS-038 testing and homologation, ATIC has obtained CMVR certificates for several OEMs and Tier 1 REESS suppliers worldwide. ATIC co-operates with designated authorities and national laboratories, providing technical services in safety certification, environmental protection certification, fuel-consumption label testing, subsidy evaluation testing, BIS certification, ICT certifications.

 REGULATORY SUBSCRIPTION PLEASE CONTACT 
Xinny
Xinny Chan
PLM, Asia Homologation / BDM, East China & Overseas
Acting Product Line Manager of Asia Homologation and Business Development Manager of East China & Overseas, Signing Officer of EU/UNECE Homologation. Graduated in University of Brighton, UK, in Automotive Engineering. He is rich experienced in whole-vehicle & component compliance and homologation to new markets of Asia.
Phone: +86 13902251264
Mail: xinny.chan@atic-cn.com