eCall in-vehicle system — type-approval

KEY POINTS

The regulation applies to:

• cars (category M1 — passenger cars with not more than eight seats in addition to the driver’s seat);
• light commercial vehicles (category N1 — vehicles used to transport goods with a maximum mass not exceeding 3.5 tonnes).

Manufacturers’ obligations

All new types of these vehicles must:

• be equipped with a permanently installed 112-based eCall in-vehicle system;
• be built in such a way that:
  • if there is a severe accident detected by the vehicle’s sensors or processors, an eCall to the 112 emergency number is triggered automatically,
  • the eCall facility can also be triggered manually;
• warns the occupants of the vehicle if there is a critical system failure that leaves them unable to use the eCall system;
• ensure that the receivers for eCall system are compatible with the Galileo and EGNOS satellite navigation systems.

Technical requirements and test procedures

By means of a delegated act, the European Commission adopted Delegated Regulation (EU) 2017/79. This regulation supplements and amends Regulation (EU) 2015/758 in setting out detailed technical requirements and test procedures for the EC type-approval of motor vehicles in respect of their 112-based eCall in-vehicle systems, separate technical units and components.

Privacy and data protection

Any personal data processed through the eCall system must comply with EU data protection and privacy rules (see summary). The regulation also sets out a number of specific rules including:

• personal data are only used for dealing with the emergency, kept only as long as is needed to handle the emergency, and are then deleted;
• manufacturers make sure the system is not traceable or subject to constant tracking;
• data in the internal memory of the system is continually and automatically deleted;
• information on the use of personal data is included in the driver’s manual.

Since 31 March 2018, EC type-approval is only granted to vehicles and eCall systems that conform to this regulation.