At least some parties are cooperating (don’t get me started), like the IEEE Standards Association (IEEE-SA) and SAE International.
The IEEE-SA/SAE International partnership in vehicular technology related to the Smart Grid, confirmed in February 2011 by a memorandum of understanding (MOU), is designed to accelerate more meaningful standards that drive greater improvements in market access, cost reductions and technological innovation.
As part of the partnership, the two standards-development organizations (SDOs) are sharing their draft standards related to the Smart Grid and vehicle electrification.
In the past, SDOs tended to work chronologically, one after another, almost in a vacuum. If an SDO missed a development in a related industry while working on its own standard for the Smart Grid, that SDO could, in effect, send its stakeholders in the wrong direction, or in the right direction but more slowly than necessary. The two SDOs agree that the Smart Grid demands a new, more coordinated mode.
SAE International worked on a prototype charging coupler that leverages technology standardized by IEEE. SAE J1772, the “Electric Vehicle and Plug In Hybrid Electric Vehicle Conducive Charge Coupler” standard agreed to in 2009 and officially published by SAE International in January 2010 is, according to the SAE, the first industry-consensus standard to provide critical guidelines for safety, charging control and connectors used to charge electric and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (EVs/PHEVs). Automakers including Ford, General Motors, Honda, Nissan and Toyota have adopted SAE J1772.
In the first quarter of next year, SAE International plans to establish a standard, integrated coupler that will allow electric and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (EVs/PHEVs) to be charged from either a conventional, 15-amp AC wall outlet or a DC connector of up to 90 kilowatts.