IEC 61851-1:2017 applies to EV supply equipment for charging electric road vehicles, with a rated supply voltage up to 1 000 V AC or up to 1 500 V DC and a rated output voltage up to 1 000 V AC or up to 1 500 V DC. Electric road vehicles (EV) cover all road vehicles, including plug-in hybrid road vehicles (PHEV), that derive all or part of their energy from on-board rechargeable energy storage systems (RESS). The aspects covered in this standard include:
-  the characteristics and operating conditions of the EV supply equipment;
-  the specification of the connection between the EV supply equipment and the EV;
-  the requirements for electrical safety for the EV supply equipment.
This third edition cancels and replaces the second edition published in 2010. It constitutes a technical revision.
This edition includes the following significant technical changes with respect to the previous edition:
a) The contents of IEC 61851-1:2010 have been re-ordered. Numbering of clauses has changed as new clauses were introduced and some contents moved for easy reading. The following lines give an insight to the new ordering in addition to the main technical changes.
b) All requirements from IEC 61851-22 have been moved to this standard, as work on IEC 61851-22 has ceased.
c) Any requirements that concern EMC have been removed from the text and are expected to be part of the future version of 61851-21-2.
d) Clause 4 contains the original text from IEC 61851-1:2010 and all general requirements from Clause 6 of IEC 61851-1:2010.
e) Clause 5 has been introduced to provide classifications for EV supply equipment.
f)  Previous general requirements of Clause 6 have been integrated into Clause 4. Clause 6 contains all Mode descriptions and control requirements. Specific requirements for the combined use of AC and DC on the same contacts are included.
g) Clause 9 is derived from previous Clause 8. Adaptation of the description of DC accessories to allow for the DC charging modes that have only recently been proposed by industry and based on the standards IEC 61851-23, IEC 61851-24 as well as IEC 62196-1, IEC 62196-2 and IEC 62196-3. Information and tables contained in the IEC 62196 series standards have been removed from this standard.
h) Clause 10 specifically concerns the requirements for adaptors, initially in Clause 6.
i)  Clause 11 includes new requirements for the protection of the cable.
j)  Specific requirements for equipment that is not covered in the IEC 62752 remain in the present document.
k) Previous Clause 11 is now treated in Clauses 12 to 13. The requirements in 61851-1 cover the EV supply equipment of both mode 2 and mode 3 types, with the exception in-cable control and protection devices for mode 2 charging of electric road vehicles (IC-CPD) which are covered by IEC 62752.
l)  Clause 14 gives requirements on automatic reclosing of protection equipment.
m) Clause 16 gives requirements for the marking of equipment and the contents of the installation and user manual. This makes specific mention of the need to maintain coherence with the standards for the fixed installation. It also contains an important text on the markings for temperature ratings.
n)  Annex A has been reviewed to introduce complete sequences and tests and to make the exact cycles explicit. Annex A in this edition supersedes IEC TS 62763 (Edition 1).
o)  Annex B is normative and has requirements for proximity circuits with and without current coding.
p)  Previous Annex C has been removed and informative descriptions of pilot function and proximity function implementations initially in Annex B are moved to Annex C.
q)  New informative Annex D describing an alternative pilot function system has been introduced.
r)   Dimensional requirements for free space to be left around socket-outlets used for EV energy supply are given in the informative Annex E.
s)  The inclusion of protection devices within the EV supply equipment could, in some cases, contribute to the protection against electric shock as required by the installation. This is covered by the information required for the installation of EV supply equipment in Clause 16 (Marking).