New safety norms for EV batteries to take effect on 1 Oct

The Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) has mandated that additional requirements for electric vehicle battery safety would come into effect from October 1, 2022. Following EV fire incidents across the country, the ministry had constituted an expert committee chaired by Tata Narsingh Rao, Director, ARCI, Hyderabad, to recommend additional safety requirements in the existing battery safety standards notified under CMV Rules. Based on the recommendations of the expert committee, the ministry last week issued amendment to requirements for motor vehicles with less than four wheels running on electric power train, and amendments to specific requirements for four-wheeler EVs carrying passengers and goods. These amendments include additional safety requirements related to battery cells, battery management system, on-board charger, design of battery pack, thermal propagation due to internal cell short circuit leading to fire, etc. “The notification to mandate amended AIS 156 and AIS 038 Rev.2 standards for the respective categories of electric vehicles with effect from 1 October 2022 is in progress, the statement said. The ninistry also has issued draft notification GSR 659 (E) dated 25 August 2022, to amend Sub-rule 4 of Rule 124 of Central Motor Vehicles Rule (CMVR) 1989, for mandating Conformity of Production (COP) for traction batteries used in electric power train vehicles. The proposed regulation will also be applicable with effect from 1 October, 2022. The ministry has sought comments and suggestions from all stakeholders within a period of thirty days. Following the EV fire incidents, the road ministry formed two committees, one to look at the testing criteria and standards and the other to probe the reasons for fires. The investigation found that many batteries had cells connected in an unsafe manner and that several of them did not have a venting mechanism to disperse heat in case of overheating. In April, road transport minister Nitin Gadkari said the government would issue quality-centric guidelines for EVs. See also: Chandigarh MC plans to use an all-weather vehicle to fix the roads Reconstruction of 145-year-old Bailey bridge begins