European Union: the release of EN 15194:2017+A1:2023,
EN 15194:2017+A1:2023,

▍What is CE Certification?

The CE mark is a “passport” for products to enter the EU market and the EU Free Trade Association countries market. Any stipulated products (involved in the new method directive), whether manufactured outside the EU or in EU member states, in order to circulate freely in the EU market, they must be in compliance with the requirements of the directive and relevant harmonized standards before being placed on the EU market , and affix the CE mark. This is a mandatory requirement of EU law on related products, which provides a unified minimum technical standard for the trade of products of various countries in the European market and simplifies trade procedures.

▍What is CE directive?

The directive is a legislative document established by the European Community Council and the European Commission under authorization of the European Community Treaty. The applicable directives for batteries are:

2006/66 / EC & 2013/56 / EU: Battery Directive. Batteries that comply with this directive must have a trash can mark;

2014/30 / EU: Electromagnetic Compatibility Directive (EMC Directive). Batteries that comply with this directive must have the CE mark;

2011/65 / EU: ROHS directive. Batteries that comply with this directive must have the CE mark;

Tips: Only when a product complies with all CE directives (the CE mark needs to be pasted), can the CE mark be pasted when all the requirements of the directive are met.

▍The Necessity of Applying for CE Certification

Any product from different countries that wants to enter the EU and the European Free Trade Zone must apply for CE-certified and CE marked on the product. Therefore, CE certification is a passport for products entering EU and the European Free Trade Zone.

▍Benefits of Applying for CE certification

1. EU laws, regulations, and coordinate standards are not only large in quantity, but also complex in content. Therefore, obtaining the CE certification is a very smart choice to save time and effort as well as to reduce the risk;

2. A CE certificate can help earning the trust of consumers and market supervision institution to a maximum extent;

3. It can effectively prevent the irresponsible allegations situation;

4. In the face of litigation, the CE certification will become legally valid technical evidence;

5. Once punished by EU countries, the certification body will jointly bear the risks with the enterprise, thus reducing the risk of the enterprise.

▍Why MCM?

● MCM has a technical team with up to more than 20 professionals engaged in the field of battery CE certification, which provide clients with faster and more accurate and latest CE certification information;

● MCM provides various CE solutions including LVD, EMC, battery directives, etc. for clients;

● MCM has provided more than 4000 battery CE tests worldwide till today.

On August 23, 2023, the European Standards Committee released the EN 15194:2017+A1:2023 standard, replacing EN 15194:2017. The scope of application is electric power-assisted two-wheelers.EN15194:2017 has been a harmonized standard of the EU Machinery Directive (2006/42/EC) since 2019. In the latest list of Machinery Directives, two restrictions have been added after the EN15194:2017 standard.Restriction 1: Harmonised standard EN 15194:2017 does not confer a presumption of conformity with the essential health and safety requirements set out in points 1.5.5, 1.5.6 and 1.5.7 of Annex I to Directive 2006/42/EC, which require machinery to be designed and constructed to take into account the risks associated with extreme temperatures, fire and explosion.
Restriction 2: Harmonised standard EN 15194:2017 does not confer a presumption of conformity with the essential health and safety requirements set out in points 1.5.9 and 3.6.3.1 of Annex I to Directive 2006/42/EC, which require machinery to be designed and constructed to take into account the risks resulting from vibrations, and that machinery must be provided with the measurement of vibrations transmitted by the machinery to the operator of the machinery.
Previously, the Netherlands believed that the harmonized standard EN 15194:2017 was completely inconsistent with the basic health and safety requirements of the Machinery Directive (2006/42/EC). The reason is that in the Netherlands, serious accidents often occur with lithium-ion batteries and/or battery packs used in e-bike products, resulting in fires and/or explosions due to the lithium-ion cells not being used within the limits specified by the manufacturer. In EN 15194:2017, the safety inspection of lithium-ion cells and/or battery pack products usually refers to the standard EN 62133/EN 62133-2. However, EN 62133/EN 62133-2 mainly focuses on the safety of lithium-ion batteries and lacks evaluation/inspection of the correct operation of the battery management system (BMS) of the battery pack.
Nowadays, EN 15194:2017+A1:2023 is released to lift the restrictions on basic safety requirements. The battery safety standard EN 62133 has been deleted in the new version of the standard, and electric vehicle batteries need to undergo safety testing in accordance with EN 50604-1.