With a focus on automotive applications, China has developed a regulations, codes and standards (RCS) framework for hydrogen and FCVs since the early 2000s. So far, the country has issued 108 national standards for hydrogen, fuel cells and FCVs.
Over the course of China’s H2 and FCV development, IHFCA and China SAE (CSAE) have played an important role in advancing China’s RCS. Since 2018, a number of standards developed by IHFCA and CSAE have been listed each year on the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology’s “Annual 100 Applied Group Standards”.
As a leading standard development organization, IHFCA has established direct communication mechanism and reporting lines with China’s most important RCS authorities: the Standardization Administration of China (SAC). To enhance global standard collaboration, SAC have requested IHFCA to play an increasing role in developing and harmonizing international standards for hydrogen, fuel cells, and FCVs.
II. Joint Standard Development
China encourages social organizations to formulate Public Available Standards, which can not only increase the effective supply of standards, but also meet the needs of the market and innovation, and thus Improve the standard system.
Keeping this in mind, IHFCA and CSAE are currently partnering with over 100 companies and organizations, such as China Automotive Technology and Research Center (CATARC), in developing six fuel cell and FCV standards – including one for GDL used in PEM fuel cells and five for FCV testing methods in the aspects of bench reliability, performance, electromagnetic compatibility, hydrogen leakage and emission in confined space and cold start performances.
These standards issued jointly by IHFCA and CSAE are double-numbered. For instance, in partnership with CATARC and nine companies and university, in 2019 CSAE and IHFCA released two technical standards: T/IHFCA 0301-2019，T/CSAE 122-2019 (Test methods for cold start performances of fuel cell electric vehicles under sub-zero temperature) and T/IHFCA 0302-2019，T/CSAE 123-2019 (Fuel cell electric vehicles - test methods and safety requirements for hydrogen leakage and emission in confined space).