111. The expert from CLEPA presented GRVA-15-49, informing GRVA on their activities related to drafting provisions for the approval of Electro-Mechanical Brakes (EMB). He mentioned GRVA-15-17, reflecting the current status of their work on the development of an amendment to UN Regulation No. 13.

112. The expert from the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland supported the principle of developing regulatory provisions to bring this technology on the market. He called for more transparency on similar activities for passenger cars and UN Regulation No. 13-H.

113. The expert from CLEPA mentioned OICA’s involvement in these activities. He added that similar activities for passenger cars were indeed in preparation, that exchanges among stakeholders existed to keep definitions aligned. He explained that the systems layout could differ between light and heavy vehicles. He highlighted the complexity of UN Regulation No. 13 compared to UN Regulation No. 13-H.

114. The expert from Germany welcomed the activities and noted the high frequency of meetings on that topic. He suggested that GRVA organize a workshop to review the activities and update the contracting parties not yet involved. The experts from Czech Republic, Denmark, Netherlands and United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland expressed interest for such a workshop. The expert from Japan suggested the workshop to be organized as an informal and hybrid meeting.

115. GRVA noted the activities of the Working Party on Pollution and Energy (GRPE) regarding battery durability. GRVA agreed to host an informal workshop on EMB open to all GRVA stakeholders, including contracting parties to the 1958 and 1998 Agreements.

109. The expert from UK requested to keep ECE/TRANS/WP.29/GRVA/2023/10 and GRVA-16-41 on the agenda until the next session, as they would be further discussed and finalised by SIG on EMB. GRVA agreed to this proposal.

96. The representative of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Chair of the Special Interest Group on Electromechanical Braking, presented the status report of the group (GRVA-17-19). He alerted GRVA on the ambitious schedule proposed by the group as well as on the concept being developed, which might require careful review by the delegations. The representative of CLEPA provided details on how the industry is envisaging such systems. The group invited GRVA to reflect on the fact that these new braking systems may not measure but deduce the level of energy available for braking, may not have an energy reserve strictly dedicated to braking, may use an energy reserve that is available to several vehicle systems as an energy storage device for the braking system.

97. Several delegations offered comments, stating that an indirect deduction might be acceptable if a robust validation is available and asking the group to envisage limitations in case the energy reserved could be used by non-safety critical systems. They also inquired what the group would do to address the case were several safety critical systems e.g. steering an braking would share the same energy reserve. GRVA supported the path taken by the group so far.

98. The representative of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland clarified, upon request, that the consideration their amendment proposal to Annex 18 of UN Regulation No. 13 with the requirements for electronic vehicle control systems (ECE/TRANS/WP.29/GRVA/2023/10) could be postponed until the January 2024 session, while the EMB documents are being developed.

99. The representative of CLEPA clarified that the consideration of the amendment proposal to UN Regulation No. 13 to consider the approval of the so-called e-axles (ECE/TRANS/WP.29/GRVA/2023/3) can be postponed until the January 2024 session of GRVA.

86. The representative of CITA recalled the adoption by GRVA of technical provisions for the approval of Electrical Transmission Braking System (ETBS) in June 2024 and the ongoing discussion on braking performance testing of these systems for heavy vehicles at the time of Periodic Technical Inspection (GRVA-19-14/Rev.1, GRVA-19-16, GRVA-19-17). He recalled the importance of testing brakes at PTI and the existing methods. He presented considerations regarding reference braking forces using vehicle interface compared to using an On-Board Diagnostic (OBD) plug.
87. The representative of OICA inquired why industry should harmonize the communication standards via OBD, which would only serve the purpose of some tooling companies in a limited number of countries. He recalled that some countries did not use reference values for PTI.
88. The representative of Germany supported the CITA proposal to use the OBD plug as a quick fix. The representative of Denmark inquired whether this measurement equipment was required as per the European Union directive 2014/45. The representative of Spain recalled the technical reason explaining the need for reference values and the provisions for the periodic technical inspection of braking systems in UN Regulation No. 13. The representatives of the Netherlands, Sweden, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland supported further discussion of this topic by GRVA without further delay.
89. GRVA agreed to keep GRVA-20-39 and GRVA-19-17 on the next session’s agenda.