Not sure what you mean. What is wrong with their assembly? And how can they sell them legally without type approval?
The issues that immediately come to mind:
- The standards are written such that any combination of the permitted cables is fool-proof: with cars/cables/chargepoints that meet the standard, any combination that you can physically plug together will work safely, automatically reducing the current to whichever has the lower capability of those three elements. The adapters we are talking about here break that arrangement (they chargepoint has no way of knowing the current rating of the adapter). You can use it safely if you have carefully selected the adapter to match the charging capability of your car (and make sure nobody borrows it to use with one of different capability), but you've taken away one of the protections offered by the standards and made it no longer 'foolproof'.
- The standards provide for the connectors to be locked such that you can't pull them out while under load. Furthermore, the standards provide a 'proximity' circuit that's designed to cut off the power quickly if the connectors do start to disengage (it has a shorter pin). These adapters do not lock, and (I believe) do not pass through the proximity circuit. They do pass through the control pilot, so power will eventually be cut off, but this is likely to be slower than the PP.
- These connectors are not designed to be waterproof; instead, they have drain holes so that rainwater etc. can drain out if they are used in the appropriate orientation. These adapters are using the connectors hanging on the end of a piece of cable which is not how they are intended to be used, and at least potentially have an issue with water running down the cable, though I am not sure how serious (if at all) this actually is in practice.
So in summary, the adaptors are not disastrously unsafe, but they certainly offer a lower level of safety than that envisaged by the standards.
As for whether they can be legally sold, IMO this is a slightly grey area. So far as I am aware (without having researched it in detail) there isn't any specific legislation that invokes the IEC standards for EV charging, so products like this are just covered by general product liability law. In these circumstances, it's a good defence under the law when things go wrong if you can show that your product follows national or international standards - you have demonstrated that you took reasonable precautions to make it safe. If it doesn't follow standards, the burden is on you to show that the design is adequately safe.
A similar issue arises if you consider using one of these for workplace charging - under the Electricity at Work regulations, the employer has an obligation to prevent danger to employees and again following standards is the easiest way to demonstrate that you've carried out your obligation.
Personally, I'd be happy to use one of these adapters occasionally under my own close supervision, but I'd be wary of issuing them to staff or allowing them to be used routinely with the risk that they may be 'borrowed' for an inappropriate use.
mad_rich · updated 
merseygrit · updated 
