The decision to form the EVSP was reached at the 4 March meeting of an interim steering committee convened by ANSI in response to suggestions that the US standardization community needs a coordinated approach to keep pace with electric vehicles initiatives moving forward in other parts of the world.

With our history of bringing diverse stakeholders together to develop consensus-based solutions for emerging priorities and new technologies, ANSI is well positioned to respond to the need for greater standards coordination in this critical technology area.

The EVSP will provide a mechanism to foster coordination and collaboration among public and private sector stakeholders—including industry, government agencies, utilities, standards and conformity assessment organizations, code officials, and others—to enable the safe, mass deployment of electric vehicles and associated infrastructure in the US with international coordination, adaptability, and engagement.

—ANSI president and CEO S. Joe Bhatia

ANSI previously has convened standards panels in diverse areas such as homeland security, healthcare information technology, and nanotechnology.

Through ANSI’s role as US member of various regional and international standardization bodies, the panel will also provide coherent and coordinated US policy and technical input to relevant regional and international audiences on needed standards and conformity assessment programs related to electric vehicles.

In addition, the EVSP will liase and coordinate as appropriate with other domestic and international electric vehicle initiatives. Many such activities are already underway that will inform the panel’s work, including the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Smart Grid Interoperability Panel (SGIP) vehicle-2-grid activity.

All interested stakeholders are invited to take part in a kick-off call on Tuesday, 17 May 2011, from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. Eastern. Send an email to [email protected] or visit the EVSP web site at www.ansi.org/evsp for an RSVP form and more information.

Participation is open to all interested parties from industry, government agencies, utilities, standards and conformity assessment organizations, code officials, trade associations, academia, and other relevant areas. There are participation fees to cover activity costs.