Test Systems for High-Power EV Charging

Keysight Technologies has expanded its electric vehicle charging test portfolio with two solutions designed to support validation of high-power and megawatt-level charging, addressing growing technical and standards-related complexity in EV charging infrastructure.

Increasing demands on EV charging validation
The expansion of electrification across passenger vehicles, heavy-duty transport, and industrial fleets is driving the need for charging infrastructure capable of operating at higher voltages and currents. Fast charging for light-duty vehicles and megawatt-level charging for trucks and buses introduce new challenges related to safety, interoperability, and compliance with regional and global standards.

Manufacturers and test engineers must validate charging systems against specifications such as MCS, CCS, ISO 15118, GB/T, and CHAdeMO. Inconsistent or incomplete testing can result in delayed development cycles, redesign costs, and discrepancies between laboratory results and real-world performance. Comprehensive test coverage is therefore a prerequisite for a reliable and scalable EV charging ecosystem.

Megawatt charging validation for heavy-duty applications
The SL2600A Megawatt Charging Discovery System is designed to support validation of next-generation charging systems for heavy-duty electric vehicles. The system supports voltages up to 1,500 V and currents up to 1,500 A, enabling testing at power levels required for megawatt charging scenarios.

Its modular and upgradable architecture allows the same system to be used for testing both electric vehicles and charging stations. This dual capability reduces the need for separate test platforms and supports flexible test configurations as charging architectures evolve. The system is designed to accommodate emerging standards, including CCS and NACS, supporting long-term usability as charging ecosystems continue to develop.

Scalable high-power testing for global standards
Complementing the megawatt-level solution, the SL1047A Scienlab Charging Discovery System – High-Power Series targets high-power charging validation with a software-scalable approach. The system starts at 400 A and 1,000 V and can be expanded to 800 A and 1,500 V without hardware replacement, enabling staged capacity upgrades aligned with development requirements.

The platform supports global charging standards and includes full compliance with GB/T 2024. This allows manufacturers to perform conformance and interoperability testing for vehicles and charging equipment intended for multiple regional markets within a single test environment.

Charging communication and interoperability testing
In addition to power-level scalability, the SL1047A introduces enhanced charging communication test capabilities. These enhancements address the increasing complexity of EV charging communication, including protocol handling and system interaction under high-power operating conditions.

Such capabilities are critical for verifying interoperability between vehicles and charging stations, particularly as software-defined charging functions and advanced communication protocols become integral to charging system performance and safety.

Application context
The new test solutions are intended for EV manufacturers, charging equipment suppliers, and test laboratories developing and validating high-power charging systems. By combining high-voltage, high-current hardware with software-defined scalability and standards coverage, the platforms support accelerated development while reducing technical and compliance risks.

As EV charging requirements continue to evolve toward higher power levels and broader global harmonization, scalable test infrastructure plays a central role in enabling reliable, standards-compliant charging systems for next-generation electric vehicles.