KERI Wins $5.6 Billion Electric Vehicle Charging Project in California, USA

First Korean-Style Test and Certification System Established in North America
Creating a Hub for Verifying EV and Charger Interoperability

The Korea Electrotechnology Research Institute (KERI) has established a Korean-style electric vehicle charging test and certification system in California, USA, laying the groundwork for entry into the North American electric vehicle charging infrastructure market.

On February 2, KERI announced that it had been selected as the final implementing organization for the "Charge Yard" project, a $4 million (approximately 5.6 billion KRW) initiative led by the California Energy Commission (CEC).

KERI is testing interoperability by cross-testing electric vehicles and chargers with industry stakeholders. Provided by KERI

This project is a large-scale test and certification infrastructure initiative designed to preemptively verify interoperability errors between electric vehicles and chargers. As the adoption of electric vehicles expands, issues such as charging stoppages or malfunctions at specific chargers have become increasingly frequent. In response, the CEC has launched the establishment of a permanent verification center as a policy solution.

KERI formed a consortium with Cal EPIC, a U.S. nonprofit organization established to foster an eco-friendly mobility ecosystem, and CharIN, an international electric vehicle charging standards association, to win this project. Cal EPIC will be responsible for building the local testing site and supplying power, while CharIN will handle global standards integration.

The key factor behind this successful bid is KERI's operational experience with the Global Interoperability Test Center (GiOTEC), which was established at its Ansan branch in September last year as the world's first such center. In fact, former CEC Mobility Commissioner Patty Monahan personally visited KERI, reviewed the establishment and operation of GiOTEC, and highly praised KERI's testing and certification capabilities. The fact that both KERI and Cal EPIC are nonprofit organizations also contributed positively to ensuring the fairness and reliability of the test results.

Charge Yard Project Overview. Provided by KERI

After about a year of preparation, the consortium will establish a second interoperability test center in the Sacramento area of California. This center will operate based on the GiOTEC system from KERI's Ansan branch, and will be designed so that electric vehicle and charger manufacturers who meet certain standards can continuously deploy their products for compatibility testing with various manufacturers. Through this, the aim is to reduce charging errors and secure empirical data to lead international standards.

In particular, this project is expected to significantly lower the barriers for Korean electric vehicle and charger companies to enter the North American market. As the testing environments in Korea and the United States become identical, companies will be able to conduct pre-verification in Korea according to U.S. standards.

Suh Woohyun, Director of the Intelligent Energy Testing Laboratory at KERI, stated, "'Charge Yard' will operate as a core infrastructure supporting the policies of the California Energy Commission (CEC), and will also play a crucial role in ensuring interoperability for next-generation charging technologies such as V2G (vehicle-to-grid)."

Kim Namgyun, President of KERI, said, "As electric vehicle charging technology becomes more advanced, compatibility issues arising from differences in standards interpretation among manufacturers are growing. This contract not only proves that KERI's testing and evaluation capabilities are world-class, but also provides a solid foundation to support Korean companies' entry into the global market."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.