IEC 61851-23-3:2026 – Electric vehicle conductive charging system

IEC 61851-23-3:2026 addresses the DC electric vehicle supply equipment used in megawatt charging systems. The following pages summarize the standard's recorded metadata, its scope as stated in the official abstract, and general guidance on how testing and procurement teams typically engage with a document of this type.

Standard Information

IEC 61851-23-3:2026 is a recently published international standard covering DC electric vehicle supply equipment for megawatt charging systems. It forms part of the IEC 61851 series on conductive charging of electric vehicles and was developed by the IEC technical committee responsible for electrical power and energy systems for road vehicles. Readers seeking the authoritative document should obtain it through official IEC channels, as this page offers an interpretive overview only. - Designation: IEC 61851-23-3:2026
- Full title: Electric vehicle conductive charging system - Part 23-3: DC electric vehicle supply equipment - Megawatt charging systems
- Status: Current
- Publication date: 2026-08-21
- ICS classification: 43, 43.120
- Technical committee: TC 69

Scope and Application

The standard applies to EV supply equipment that transfers energy between the supply network and electric vehicles. Rated maximum voltage at side A, the supply network side, reaches up to 1 000 V AC or up to 1 500 V DC. At side B, the EV side, the rated maximum voltage reaches up to 1 250 V DC. Within these limits, the document specifies EV supply equipment of megawatt charging systems (MCS) equipped with a coupler according to IEC TS 63379. Several boundaries of the scope deserve attention. Systems other than MCS that use a coupler specified in IEC TS 63379 remain under consideration, as do requirements for bidirectional power flow. The document specifies systems with protective separation between side A and side B. It also states that it does not cover all safety aspects related to maintenance. Digital communication between the EV supply equipment and the EV for control of energy transfer is defined in ISO 15118-10 and ISO 15118-20 rather than within the document itself. Equipment compliant with this document is not intended to supply a single EV through multiple vehicle connectors of one supply unit or through multiple supply units. Requirements for those use cases remain under consideration. Requirements for EVs mated to such equipment are specified in ISO 5474-3:2024, Annex B.

Products and Materials Covered

The product family in scope is DC EV supply equipment for megawatt charging systems, characterized by the voltage ratings at side A and side B and by the use of a coupler conforming to IEC TS 63379. The ICS classifications 43 and 43.120 place the document in road vehicle engineering, specifically electrically propelled road vehicles, which matches its application to heavy-duty or high-power charging infrastructure. Procurement specialists should note what the document does not address. It is not a specification for the vehicle-side inlet, for maintenance procedures, or for the digital communication protocol, each of which is governed elsewhere or left under consideration. Quality managers evaluating supplier claims should therefore verify that the claimed conformity covers the MCS supply equipment itself, with protective separation between the network side and the vehicle side, and that communication conformity is demonstrated against the referenced ISO 15118 documents.

Testing and Compliance Considerations

For a standard of this type, accredited laboratories typically conduct type testing against the constructional and safety requirements, together with verification of the protective separation between side A and side B. Compliance work generally begins with a documentation review: ratings, schematics, coupler conformity to IEC TS 63379, and the declared communication implementation are compared against the scope clauses before physical testing starts. Acceptance verification at the installation stage usually confirms that the delivered unit matches the type-tested configuration. Records of test conditions, firmware versions, and component substitutions form the audit trail that quality managers rely on during surveillance. Because the scope explicitly excludes certain use cases and leaves bidirectional power transfer under consideration, test reports should state precisely which configurations were assessed; testing performed outside the declared scope cannot be extrapolated to covered configurations. Retest triggers commonly include design changes affecting the power path or separation barriers, changes to the coupler interface, or firmware modifications influencing control of energy transfer. Engineers planning a compliance program should confirm with the laboratory which referenced documents apply to each deliverable, since communication requirements are located in ISO 15118-10 and ISO 15118-20 rather than in this standard.

Related Standards and Series Context

The designation IEC 61851-23-3:2026 conveys several structural facts. The base series number, 61851, identifies the family of standards on conductive charging systems for electric vehicles. The part numbering follows the IEC pattern in which the second group of digits indicates a subseries — here, Part 23 grouping requirements for DC EV supply equipment — and the third group identifies a specific technical area within that subseries, in this case megawatt charging systems. The four-digit year suffix indicates the edition associated with the 2026 publication date. Where a standard is revised, amended, or replaced, the designation and year change accordingly; this record contains no edition-comparison information, so no statement about differences from earlier editions can be made here. Readers requiring the current status of any related document within the series should consult official IEC sources.