What EN 1175 Means for Connector Design in Electrified Material-Handling Equipment

As material-handling fleets rapidly electrify, equipment designers are being asked to support higher power demands, new battery chemistries, and more frequent charging while maintaining operator safety, equipment reliability, and uptime.

With that shift comes a new design standard that many equipment designers still don’t fully understand: EN 1175, a European safety framework for the electrical and electronic systems used in industrial trucks, including forklifts. The standard touches everything from battery-management systems and charging to control system safety functions.

I spoke with Josh Haney, Engineering Manager at Anderson Power, about what the latest edition of EN 1175 means for OEMs and designers, how it changes the way engineers should evaluate connectors, and why compliance should be treated as a starting point rather than the end goal for next-generation designs.

What is EN 1175 and why has it become increasingly important as fleets electrify?

At the highest level, EN 1175 is a safety standard for electrically powered industrial trucks that establishes performance and safety requirements for equipment electrical systems and subsystems.

Within the European Union, EN 1175 is particularly significant because it’s a harmonized standard that supports conformity with the region’s machinery safety requirements. Meeting the standard is not necessarily the only possible route to conformity, but it’s one of the most established and practical ways for a manufacturer to demonstrate that its equipment has been designed and tested against recognized safety expectations.

Because OEMs typically aren’t designing equipment for only one isolated market, manufacturers globally are also paying attention to this standard. Designing around EN 1175 can put them in a stronger position to sell in Europe while also creating a rigorous safety and performance foundation for products sold elsewhere.

The shift from lead-acid batteries toward lithium-ion technology is also contributing to its relevance. Lithium-ion systems generally incorporate a battery-management system (BMS) and introduce different considerations around charging, controls, and system integration. As manufacturers adopt those technologies, they’re looking for a clear framework to help them determine what safe performance should look like across the complete truck.

While compliance isn’t mandatory, the demanding testing requirements of EN 1175 give engineers greater confidence that a component has been evaluated against a substantial set of safety and performance requirements and therefore is an indicator of a well-tested design.

Where do connectors fit within the EN 1175 safety framework?

EN 1175 applies to the complete electrical system, but it also includes requirements for specific subsystems. Connectors are addressed in Annex A, which covers connections for energy sources.

That annex includes performance requirements as well as a rigorous test plan intended to represent the wear, damage, and environmental exposure a connector may experience in the field. Where a datasheet rating shows how a connector performs when it’s new and in a controlled lab environment, EN 1175 testing requires that a connector continues to perform safely after being exposed to mechanical stress, chemical conditioning, and other forms of foreseeable use and abuse.

Testing may involve chemical exposure, mechanical damage, and drop testing, followed by additional safety checks to verify that the connector still protects operators and technicians from electrical hazards.

How does EN 1175 change the way engineers evaluate connectors?

Historically, engineers may have started primarily with voltage, current rating, and physical fit. Those are still necessary considerations, but they’re not sufficient on their own.

Engineers need to understand the conditions behind a published rating. EN 1175 establishes specific performance thresholds, including the allowable temperature rise associated with a current rating. Keep in mind that a rating only applies within the conditions under which it was established. If an application pushes beyond those boundaries, the engineer cannot assume the same performance or safety conclusions still apply.

Material selection is another major consideration. Connector insulation has always needed to protect against electrical shock and mechanical damage. But EN 1175 raises the bar by exposing the product to substances such as acids and oils before requiring it to complete additional performance and safety testing. A conventional engineering plastic that has worked in an existing product for years may be unsuitable for an EN 1175 design if it cannot withstand that conditioning.

Engineers should therefore ask suppliers for compliance documentation, test information, and an explanation of the conditions under which the product’s ratings apply. They should also discuss the actual operating environment, mating frequency, charging strategy, maintenance procedures, and potential misuse.

At the same time, compliance should not be the only selection criterion. EN 1175 establishes an important baseline, but it doesn’t prescribe every feature that could improve the end user’s experience or the equipment’s reliability.

• A latching system, for example, can help ensure that the connection remains secure and may reduce certain forms of misuse. 
• Temperature-sensing capability can provide information that supports monitoring and preventive action. 
• Auxiliary contacts or signals can also be implemented in different ways depending on the needs of the equipment.

Two products may both meet EN 1175 and still offer meaningfully different functionality, so engineers should ask manufacturers what else the design can do to support their specific application. That approach has guided recent work at Anderson Power, including development of the Industrial Battery Connector (Fig. 1).