USCAR-2, SAE/USCAR-2, LV214, LV 214, connector qualification standards
Neither standard describes how a connector looks. Both are test programmes: sequences of mechanical, electrical, environmental and durability tests that a connector system, meaning housing plus terminal plus seal, has to survive while still meeting its electrical requirement.
SAE/USCAR-2 is the North American connector performance specification, developed jointly by the US vehicle makers. It defines test classes by temperature and by vibration severity, and it covers contact resistance, terminal retention, insertion and extraction forces, durability, thermal shock, thermal ageing, vibration, corrosion, and sealing tests where the connector is sealed.
LV214 is the German counterpart, published in the LV series used by the major German OEM group and covering broadly the same ground with its own test sequences, its own severity classes and its own pass criteria. Related documents in the same family extend it. European harness programmes routinely call out LV214 on the drawing, and the qualification class is called out with it.
The two are not equivalent line for line, and the practical consequence is direct: a connector qualified to USCAR-2 is not automatically acceptable on a programme that specifies LV214, and the reverse is equally true. Manufacturers publish which standards and which classes a family is validated to, and the validation applies to the system, so it holds only when the qualified housing, terminal and seal are used together.
For a buyer under shortage pressure, that turns a functional match into a qualification question. A part can mate, crimp, seal and fit, and still fail the programme's approval because it does not carry the standard the drawing names.
Harness Code names the manufacturer and the family on any alternative it proposes, so the buyer can check the published qualification against their own drawing and take the substitution through their approval route rather than accept a supplier's claim.
Related terms
Mating cycles
Mating cycles are the number of times a connector can be mated and unmated while still meeting its electrical specification. The rating depends mainly on contact plating and contact normal force, and it is usually far lower than buyers assume.
IP rating (ingress protection)
An IP rating is a two-digit code defining how well a connector or enclosure resists solid particles and water. The first digit covers solids and dust, the second covers water, so IP67 means dust-tight and protected against temporary immersion.
Second source
A second source is an approved alternative supplier or manufacturer for a part, qualified in advance so production can switch without a redesign. Single-sourced parts are the ones that stop a line when their single source fails.
Approved Vendor List (AVL) / Bill of Materials (BOM)
A Bill of Materials (BOM) is the complete list of parts and quantities needed to build a product. An Approved Vendor List (AVL) names the manufacturers and suppliers a buyer is permitted to source those parts from. The BOM says what; the AVL says from whom.