EV Safety GTR Task Force Group #2 – Low Electric Energy #9 EVS GTR Status Briefing September, 2015

TF #2 Activities Low Electrical Energy TF leader integrated all relevant supporting technical material (Primarily the 2013 revision of the US DOE Electrical Safety Handbook and details from the supporting IEEE technical paper) as well as the revised low energy calculation limit voltages into the latest version of the GTR draft. At the last GTR meeting the US indicated that it was not convinced that the Low Electrical Energy option was equivalent to the other options in terms of safety. Furthermore, they indicated that if a physical barrier option is provided it is not necessary to include the low electrical energy option to accommodate either 48 Volt or fuel cell vehicle technologies. Additional discussion is necessary to identify whether the other contracting parties want to include the low electric energy option as a contracting party option in the GTR.

TF #2 Activities Electrical Barriers Alliance petitioned NHTSA (November 2014) to modify FMVSS 305 to include a physical barrier option. This petition included additional performance criteria to address NHTSA concerns identified in the Battelle study. To date, NHTSA has not issued any public indication of their position regarding the Nov 2014 Alliance petition. Once NHTSA’s position on this topic is revealed, the TF will initiate detailed discussions to reach consensus on this topic.