Retrospective Analysis: Automotive and Road Vehicles Standards in September 2025 (Part 1)

September 2025 marked a period of significant advancement in the Automotive and Road Vehicles standards landscape. This monthly overview looks back at the five pivotal standards released that month, helping professionals across engineering, procurement, quality, and compliance stay informed on critical updates that shape the future of automotive technology. The standards reviewed reflect cross-cutting themes of electrification, interoperability, performance assurance, and quality benchmarking—highlighting the automotive sector's ongoing transformation. Whether enhancing core engine functions or redefining electric vehicle (EV) communication frameworks, these publications offer foundational insights for industry decision-makers. This article delivers an analytical summary of these new documents and discusses their practical implications, providing value to organizations requiring comprehensive compliance, risk management, and innovation alignment.

Monthly Overview: September 2025

Looking back at September 2025, the Automotive and Road Vehicles sector (ICS 43) saw a strong focus on the dual priorities of traditional propulsion technology and the accelerating electrification of mobility systems. The month's standards reflect several key patterns:

• A drive toward interoperability and conformance in EV technologies, as evidenced by new and revised documents addressing communication protocols and roaming for EV charging services.
• Continued refinement of core vehicle components, with an update to test methods for engine air cleaners ensuring continued operational reliability across diverse environments and platforms.
• Alignment with global industry shifts, responding to increased emphasis on decarbonization, system integration, and higher digitalization in vehicle and infrastructure interfaces.

Compared to typical publication cycles in this space, September 2025 stands out for its harmonized release of standards affecting both hardware performance in internal combustion engines and networked systems critical to the EV charging ecosystem. This dual trajectory signals a period where legacy technologies and emergent systems must coexist and be optimized in parallel.

Ultimately, these publications illustrate an industry balancing innovation in electrification with robust quality assurance for incumbent vehicle technologies. Organizations engaged in R&D, product certification, supply chain management, or regulatory compliance will find these documents especially impactful.

Standards Published This Month

ISO 5011:2025 – Inlet Air Cleaning Equipment for Internal Combustion Engines and Compressors – Performance Testing

Full Title: Inlet air cleaning equipment for internal combustion engines and compressors – Performance testing

This fifth edition of ISO 5011:2025 provides a comprehensive set of test procedures and conditions for evaluating air cleaner performance used in internal combustion engines and compressors. The standard updates and unifies laboratory testing methodologies, focusing on key performance metrics—airflow restriction, dust collection efficiency, dust capacity, and oil carry-over in oil bath air cleaners.

The scope encompasses a broad range of engine and compressor configurations utilized in both automotive and industrial settings. Notably, the revision clarifies and standardizes terms, modernizes annexes, updates testing for dust and oil handling, and refines report formats to allow better comparison across products. Organizations utilizing, specifying, or certifying engine air cleaners will benefit from the clarity and rigor this standard introduces.

Key highlights:

• Standardizes lab procedures for airflow restriction, dust capacity, and collection efficiency
• Introduces unified reporting templates and data presentation methods
• Expands detail on precleaner performance, secondary elements, and oil bath operation

Access the full standard:View ISO 5011:2025 on iTeh Standards

EN IEC 63119-1:2025 – Information Exchange for Electric Vehicle Charging Roaming Service – Part 1: General

Full Title: Information exchange for electric vehicle charging roaming service – Part 1: General

EN IEC 63119-1:2025 delivers a foundational overhaul of the information exchange mechanisms underpinning EV charging roaming services across Europe and beyond. This essential standard defines the high-level communication protocols, information model, and security frameworks necessary for interoperability among EV charging service providers (CSPs), charging station operators (CSOs), and clearing houses.

Significantly updated from its 2019 predecessor, this edition introduces clearer definitions for roaming entities, distinctions between “home” and “visited” providers, and adopts TLS 1.3 for enhanced cybersecurity. The specification is instrumental for organizations developing or operating public EV charging infrastructure, ensuring robust and secure interactions for billing, authentication, and reservation management across disparate networks.

Key highlights:

• Expands scope with explicit roles for home-CSP and visited-CSO
• Upgrades cybersecurity requirements by shifting to TLS 1.3
• Refines data models (CDR, SDR) and aligns terminology with EU and NA conventions

Access the full standard:View EN IEC 63119-1:2025 on iTeh Standards

ISO 15118-21:2025 / IEC 15118-21:2025 – Road Vehicles – Vehicle to Grid Communication Interface – Part 21: Conformance Test Plan

Full Title: Road vehicles – Vehicle to grid communication interface – Part 21: Common 2nd generation network layer and application layer requirements conformance test plan

This standard was jointly published under both ISO and IEC organizations. The content and requirements are essentially equivalent; implementation decisions may dictate referencing one over the other depending on jurisdiction.

What the Standard Covers

ISO 15118-21:2025 establishes a rigorous abstract test suite (ATS) for verifying the conformance of both electric-vehicle communication controllers (EVCC) and supply-equipment communication controllers (SECC), as implemented per ISO 15118-20. The standard focuses strictly on communication and behavior at the network to application layers (ISO/OSI layers 3–7), ensuring interoperability and protocol compliance without specifying physical layer or application logic implementation nuances.

This conformance test plan is pivotal for any vehicle manufacturers, charging equipment suppliers, and system integrators involved in developing, validating, or certifying charging interfaces for AC, DC, automated connection device (ACD), or wireless power transfer (WPT) modes.

Key Requirements and Specifications

• Defines both capability and behavioral tests against all common requirements in ISO 15118-20
• Details a tabular, architecture-based structure for test case definition (not implementation)
• Refers to testing procedures for external standards (e.g., IETF, W3C) only as relevant to 15118-20 conformance
• Deliberately excludes performance, reliability, or physical implementation testing—focusing only on protocol conformance
• Serves as a baseline for organizations establishing system certification/in-house validation processes

Compliance and Industry Impact

Automotive OEMs, charging infrastructure operators, communication system vendors, and test laboratories are the main stakeholders. Adoption of this standard reduces risk of interoperability failures and strengthens supply chain assurance when procuring or integrating EVSE/vehicle communication modules.

Key highlights:

• Comprehensive network/application layer protocol test plan for ISO 15118-20
• Harmonizes conformance baseline for all EV charging communication types (AC, DC, ACD, WPT)
• Essential foundation for system interoperability in modern EV ecosystems

Access the full standard (ISO):View ISO 15118-21:2025 on iTeh Standards

Access the full standard (IEC):View ISO 15118-21:2025 on iTeh Standards

ISO/PAS 15118-202:2025 – Road Vehicles – Vehicle to Grid Communication Interface – Part 202: Extensible SECC Discovery and Event Notification Protocols

Full Title: Road vehicles – Vehicle to grid communication interface – Part 202: Extensible SECC Discovery Protocol and Event Notification Protocol

ISO/PAS 15118-202:2025 introduces new protocols designed to enhance system robustness and interoperability in the EV charging ecosystem. Focused on the Extensible SECC Discovery Protocol (ESDP) and Event Notification Protocol (ENP), this Publicly Available Specification serves as an add-on to established communication frameworks, notably ISO 15118-2 and 15118-20 and related DIN/SAE documents.

These protocols provide mechanisms for discovery, failure diagnostics, and grid event notification, allowing electric vehicles (EVs) and supply equipment (EVSE) to actively negotiate capabilities and respond to network or grid disturbances. By expanding the communicative capacity at the start and throughout EV charging sessions, the document helps reduce failed connections and clarifies interoperability boundaries—crucial for both end users and operators competing on reliability.

Stakeholders such as charging infrastructure manufacturers, EV OEMs, and energy management platforms will see particular value in early adoption as network integration and grid responsiveness become competitive advantages.

Key highlights:

• Specifies the Extensible SECC Discovery Protocol (ESDP) for robust initial system handshake
• Introduces the Event Notification Protocol (ENP) for real-time notification of charging, grid, and fault events
• Ensures seamless augmentation to existing ISO/DIN/SAE vehicle-to-grid communication frameworks

Access the full standard:View ISO/PAS 15118-202:2025 on iTeh Standards

Common Themes and Industry Trends

Examining the standards published in September 2025 reveals several overarching themes guiding the automotive and road vehicle sector:

Electrification, Interoperability, and Digitalization

• Electrification remains a primary driver: As shown by standards like EN IEC 63119-1:2025 and the ISO 15118-21 suite, the sector continues its pivot toward supporting large-scale EV deployment and associated infrastructure.
• Interoperability as an industry imperative: New test plans and augmented protocols ensure new products can seamlessly function with a multitude of networks, hardware, and software systems.
• Digital transformation and security: Uptake of new security layers (e.g., TLS 1.3), enhanced communication, and robust discovery mechanisms points to rising digital complexity in vehicle systems.

Quality Assurance in Traditional and New Tech

• Continued revision of core standards like ISO 5011:2025 highlights the ongoing need for quality benchmarking and performance assurance—not just in new domains, but also for established combustion technologies.

Infrastructure and Grid Responsiveness

• Protocol extensions (ISO/PAS 15118-202:2025) reflect a growing integration between vehicles, infrastructure, and grid operators, with developments aimed at improving system resilience and incident response.

Compliance and Implementation Considerations

For organizations impacted by these September 2025 automotive standards, strategic compliance and operationalization are priorities. Key recommendations include:

• Gap analysis: Review all relevant systems and platforms against the new or revised requirements, especially for protocol and security upgrades (EN IEC 63119-1, ISO 15118-21, ISO/PAS 15118-202).
• Prioritize interoperability: For OEMs and system integrators, early conformance validation via the test suites will reduce project risk and customer support burdens downstream.
• Update procurement specifications: Suppliers of air cleaning equipment, communication controllers, or charging solutions should align tender and contract language with updated test and reporting requirements.
• Plan for cybersecurity enhancements: Implement necessary updates for cryptographic protocols (e.g., switch to TLS 1.3 in EV roaming systems).
• Allocate resources for pilot validation: Pilot projects or testbeds should be used to validate real-world system behavior against these standards before mass deployment.
• Monitor transition deadlines: For standards with superseding versions (i.e., EN IEC 63119-1:2025), ensure local and regional withdrawal/transition deadlines are built into regulatory compliance calendars.

Resources for getting started: Access to the full standards via iTeh Standards ensures access to the latest content, guidance documents, and expert commentary for implementation.

Conclusion: Key Takeaways from September 2025

September 2025’s lineup of Automotive and Road Vehicles standards marks a pivotal point for organizations balancing legacy manufacturing, new product development, and the transition to digital and electric mobility ecosystems. More than just updates, these documents create a framework for enhanced interoperability, system reliability, and security across both combustion and electrified platforms.

Professionals in engineering, compliance, R&D, or procurement should prioritize reviewing and integrating:

1. The rigorous, harmonized test and reporting protocols for engine air cleaning (ISO 5011:2025)
2. Enhanced digital communication and security requirements for EV charging information exchange (EN IEC 63119-1:2025)
3. Robust interoperability testing in both ISO and IEC contexts (ISO/IEC 15118-21:2025)
4. Advanced discovery and notification protocols for vehicle-to-grid integration (ISO/PAS 15118-202:2025)

By staying up to date with these critical standards, organizations not only ensure compliance and reduce operational risk, but also position themselves to lead in a fast-evolving automotive industry landscape. We recommend all professionals visit iTeh Standards to explore the full texts, supplemental materials, and future updates.