Homologation

Notes

Because requirements diverge between the EU, US, China and other markets, homologation often forces different hardware and software variants of the same model.

Overview

Homologation, usually called type approval in English, is the process by which a vehicle, or a system or component of it, is certified by an approval authority as meeting the technical regulations of a market before it may be sold there. It covers areas such as safety, emissions, lighting, electromagnetic compatibility and, increasingly, cybersecurity and software updates. Chips are not homologated on their own, but the electronic systems built from them must pass, so chip suppliers are asked for evidence that supports their customers' approvals.

How it works

In Europe and in many other countries, type approval is built on UN Regulations developed by the UNECE World Forum for Harmonization of Vehicle Regulations (WP.29) under the 1958 Agreement. A national approval authority, working with designated technical services that run the tests and audits, grants an approval for a vehicle type or for a system or component type, which other countries applying the same regulation recognise. The maker must then show conformity of production, that the vehicles it builds keep matching the approved type.

The United States and Canada take a different route. Instead of prior approval, the maker self-certifies that the vehicle meets the federal safety standards, and the authorities enforce afterwards through testing and recalls.

Electronics are now central to approval. UN Regulation 10 sets electromagnetic compatibility requirements, and UN Regulations 155 and 156 require the vehicle maker to run a certified cybersecurity management system and software update management system. These are audit based: the authority assesses the maker's processes as well as the vehicle. In the EU, R155 applied to new whole-vehicle type approvals from July 2022 and to existing types from July 2024, so every electronic control unit supplier, and the chip makers behind them, now has to support security and update evidence.

Examples

• A vehicle maker obtaining an R155 certificate for its cybersecurity management system before applying for type approval of a new model.
• A technical service running UN R10 electromagnetic compatibility tests on an electronic control unit for its approval.
• A microcontroller supplier documenting its secure boot, key storage and vulnerability response to support a customer's R155 and R156 evidence.
• A US importer self-certifying that a vehicle meets federal motor vehicle safety standards instead of seeking prior type approval.

Related terms

• GSR
• UN R157
• Gateway
• SOP

Where it appears on the Hub

Used on 6 pages of the Hub. In each group, the pages that mention it most come first.