US Highways Authority £8.75 m study on EV fire risk

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has started its $8.75 million study of whether lithium-ion batteries in electric cars post a potential fire hazard. Kevin Vincent, the chief counsel of the NHTSA, said that the agency is looking at whether the high-voltage batteries can cause fire while being charged or when the vehicle is involved in an accident.√جª¬ø

EMG Car Tech today announced that the NHTSA has started an $8.75 m study on whether lithium-ion batteries in eletric cars present a potential fire hazard. This follows reports of high voltage batteries causing fires whilst being charged or when the vehicle is involved in an accident.

Although the agency said that there were no specific fires that prompted the investigation, there have been a number of reports on the internet of various fires that are thought to have been caused when charging electric vehicles at home. The latest example has been strenously denied by the manufacture, who believe that the cause was work done by the owner of the house who had rigged up a battery charging experiment in his garage.

Other information concerning this subject is proving difficult to obtain, so please contact me if you have any relevant and accurate material.

Originally posted 2011-06-17 00:00:00.