New Harmonised Vehicle Standards
Ever since the directive covering the EMC Requirements of electric sub-assemblies (2004/104/EC) was amended to change the requirements on non-immunity related products, there has been much confusion amongst manufacturers on how to test their products in order to demonstrate compliance to the EU Vehicle Directive.
The change effectively means that is your product was deemed to be 'non-immunity' related then 'e' marking was not an essential requirement. Products could be defined as a 'non-immunity' related if they couldn't interfere with the operation, or a drivers control, of the vehicle.
However, much confusion arose, because many products that fell under this category might still require testing. The manufacturer would still need to 'CE' mark their product in order to sell it in the European Union and test it to harmonised EMC standards covered by the requirements of 2004/108/EC, the EU EMC directive. This could be a standard set like EN 55022 and EN55024, if the product was best defined as an IT product. However, these standards and the corresponding tests are nothing like those that are normally used for testing vehicle-related products.
The standards bodies have recognised this and have produced a brand new standard, EN 50498, to fill the technical gap and try to end the confusion. This standard is better aligned with the testing requirements defined within the vehicle directive. As this standard is harmonised and listed in the Official Journal of the European Union, testing to it will enable the manufacturers of these type of products to declare conformity to EN50498 and confidently 'CE' mark their product.
'CE' marking as opposed to unnecessarily 'e' marking your product (if non-immunity related) will also mean not having to involve the Vehicle Certification Agency (VCA) thus leading to a quicker time to market and a more cost effective route to conformity in through not having to not pay fees to the VCA.
The standard is listed as EN50498:2010 and has a presumption of conformity from the 1st July 2013.
For further information on this standard and other enquiries relation to vehicular products, contact Dave west on 01789 731155 at TÜV SÜD Product Service's Bearley laboratory.
