Electric and hybrid-electric cars are making a comeback on American highways. As new electric vehicles become more common, issues about how effectively existing regulations and regulations handle all of the safety problems connected to these new cars, equipment, and the supporting technologies in the built infrastructure arise.
The United States National Electric Car Safety Standards Summit was held in Detroit, Michigan, on the 21st and 22nd of October 2010 to discuss safety-related norms and standards. Vehicles, constructed infrastructure, and emergency responders were among the key sectors where the Summit focused on core regulations and standards.
The Summit’s goal is to provide the groundwork for a plan of action for the safe deployment of electric cars, with safety standards serving as the critical mechanism. The event’s specific goals were to identify relevant fire and product safety codes, standards, and specifications; identify the gaps within those codes, standards, and requirements; address current gaps in research, mentoring, or communications stemming from OEM safety instructions development and implementation; and develop the foundation elements for just a plan of action for necessary standards.
The Summit offered an essential platform for relevant people, companies, and agencies to come together and build a shared understanding to guarantee that fire and electricity safety requirements that affect electric cars do not operate as a roadblock to their adoption. As a result of the information accumulated throughout the Summit, the following key areas warrant more focused attention: charging infrastructure, understanding battery hazards, vehicle features that address emergency responder concerns, permitting and inspection, training and education, and aftermarket vehicles as well as components.
The following three action plan considerations were identified after a review and analysis of all the intelligence groups throughout Summit, including consideration of its critical elements of the six aforementioned key areas: Vehicle Charging Infrastructure, Battery Hazards Identification and Protection, and Training for Emergency Responders and Enforcement Officials.
The networking component of this Summit has fostered useful communication amongst crucial constituent groups on some fundamental problems, which has been a big beneficial outcome.
As a key action item arising from the Summit, this translates to facilitating this discourse at all levels. In addition to sustaining ongoing positive discourse, urgent preparation for a comparable follow-up Summit through the near future should be explored for as next year.
The ICS 43.120 – Electric Road Vehicles is the collection of ISO and IEC standards regarding electric, hybrid, and fuel-cell road cars that will help designers and engineers of electric vehicles and component manufacturers parties in the global supply chain. The collection is a “one-stop-shop” that will serve as a resource for transportation authorities, purchasers, and vehicle fleet administrators.
The goal of these standards is to unify test techniques to improve efficiency as well as safety in the production of power and hydrogen-powered cars. They include specifications for things like:
Safety in terms of functionality
- Methods for testing electrical disturbances in vehicles and components
- Energy storage devices that can be recharged on-board
- Measurements of exhaust, speed, energy, and fuel consumption
The ISO Collection standards for electric, hybrid, and fuel-cell road cars were produced by ISO specialized committee ISO/TC 22 – Commercial vehicles, which has delivered over 750 standards with specialists from 28 nations.