Michael Olechiw, from the US EPA, Chair of the informal working group, introduced the leadership team:
Chair: Michael Olechiw, United States
Co-Chairs: Chen Chunmei, China and Kazuyuki Narusawa, Japan
Secretary: Stéphane Couroux, Canada

The agenda of the meeting is document EVE-01-01e.

The second meeting of the EVE is planned for September 13 2012, in Baltimore, Maryland, USA immediately following the EFV conference.

EVE-01-01 | Agenda for the 1st EVE session Proposed agenda for the first meeting of the informal group working on environmental requirements for electric vehicles.

The Chair reviewed document EVE-01-02e covering agenda items 2 and 3 below.

In terms of the mandate of the EVE informal working group, reference was made to document ECE/TRANS/WP.29/2012/36 (proposal for establishing two informal working groups addressing the safety and environmental requirements for electric vehicles to enhance regulatory cooperation).

The comment was made that in the case of the EVE (as opposed to the EVS), it should be clear in documents and in the terms of reference that the objective of the EVE is not to develop a GTR but to provide a forum for sharing information. Should the informal working group recommend that a GTR be considered, a mandate to do so should be sought from WP.29 prior to proceeding.

The importance of coordinating with other informal working groups also involved in electric vehicles was brought up by many participants, as was the comment that the EVE informal working group should be cautious not to hinder the progress of these other groups (HDH, WLTP, EVS and VPSD).

EVE-01-02 | Electric Vehicles and the Environment (EVE): Initial Informal Group Meeting Orientation presentation reviewing the informal group structure, key contacts, explanation of the WP.29 mandate, and review of the terms of reference for the scope, objectives, and procedures of the group.

The Chair explained that the goal of this first meeting is to review and discuss the Terms of Reference and that it is suggested that we work to have these adopted at the 2nd meeting to be held in September 2012.

A number of comments are made to the Chair from participants on the draft Terms of Reference.

Highlights include:

• Ensuring that it be clear that the Electric Vehicle and Safety (EVS) group reports to GRSP;
• Clearly indicating that the scope of vehicles to be considered by the informal working group includes range extended vehicles, as well as heavy-duty vehicles and motorcycles
• Suggestion that infrastructure standardization issues be considered.

The Chair mentioned that comments received will be incorporated into revisions of the Terms of Reference and that these will be shared with the group for further comment.

Action: Based n a comment from the European Commission, the Chair recommended to the expert from the European Commission that he submit a list of items relating to standardization that could be considered by the informal working group.

Mr. Narusawa of Japan presented the report of the 1rst EVS meeting held April 23-25, 2012 in Washington DC, USA (see documents GRSP-51-20 and EVS-01-07).

There were approximately 50 people in attendance at the first meeting where over a dozen presentations from Contracting Parties and industry were made.

The group also discussed draft Terms of Reference.

EVS-01-07 | REESS requirements under UNECE 1958 agreement German Federal Ministry of Transport, Building and Urban Development review of the work undertaken on 'rechargeable energy storage systems' (REESS) towards enhancing UN Regulation 100 on battery electric vehicles.

GRSP-01-20 | Draft report of the 1st EVS meeting Draft minutes from the first Electric Vehicle Safety informal working group session as submitted to the 51st session of the Working Party on Passive Safety (GRSP)

GRSP-51-20/Rev.1 | Draft report of the 1st EVS meeting: revised Corrected draft minutes from the first Electric Vehicle Safety informal working group session as submitted to the 51st session of the Working Party on Passive Safety (GRSP).

The Chair reviewed document EVE-01-03e.

The objective of the 2nd session is proposed to include drafting a priority list and establishing work priorities for the informal working group.

EVE-01-03 | Proposed agenda for the 2nd EVE informal group meeting Draft agenda for the second session of the informal working group on the environmental performance of electric vehicles (EVE), scheduled for 13 September in Baltimore (USA), as proposed during the first EVE session.

Consider meeting between September 2012 and January 2013 to prepare for the next session of GRPE.

A meeting of the EVE is also expected to be held concurrent to the January 2013 GRPE, and tentatively scheduled for the Monday (TBC).