NHTSA Hosts Electric Vehicle Safety Symposium 

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration hosted a one-day technical symposium on Electric Vehicle Safety on Friday,  May 18. The symposium brought together key stakeholders to share information on the status of safety activities related to the use of Li-ion batteries in vehicles designed for on-road use.

Among topics that were part of the symposium:

• NHTSA’s ongoing research on Li-ion battery safety
• The Department of Energy's perspective on Li-ion battery safety
• An overview of industry voluntary standards applicable to Li-ion battery-powered vehicles
• Emergency response procedures relevant to Li-ion battery-powered vehicles
• Other safety issues including those related to battery management systems, battery design parameters, and safety testing

There were ten presentations, along with an industry/government panel to discuss current priorities in EV safety.

• Overview of NHTSA EV Safety Testing and Research (May 2012) -- Claude Harris and Phil Gorney
• U.S. DOE Perspective on Lithium-ion Battery Safety -- David Howell
• SAE Standards to Support Electro-Mobility (SAE International) -- Bob Galyen
• Standardization Roadmap for U.S. Electric Vehicle Deployment (ANSI) -- Jim McCabe
• Electric Vehicle Safety Training for Emergency Responders (NFPA) -- Christian Dubay
• EV / HEV Safety (Nissan Motor Co.) -- Robert Yakushi
• EV Vehicle Safety (Ford Motor Co.) -- Manuel Bartolo
• Consideration of Hybrid and Electric Batteries on Commercial Vehicles (Navistar) -- Colin Casey
• Safety Design Parameters for Li-ion Propulsion Batteries and Interaction with Vehicle Manufacturers to Achieve EV Safety (LG Chem Power) -- Mohamed Alamgir
• Li-ion Battery Safety 'System Integration and Gap Assessment' (SAE International) -- Bob Galyen

More details on the symposium can be found in the Federal Register Notice announcing the symposium.