NHTSA is establishing its Battery Safety Initiative for Electric Vehicles to coordinate research and other activities to address safety risks relating to batteries in electric vehicles.

• Collect and analyze data related to electric vehicle battery safety  
• Examine field incidents: conduct special investigations of electric vehicle crash and non-crash events related to battery safety

• Battery Diagnostics and Prognostics
  Evaluate the health of a battery: early detection (prognostics), diagnostics, and intervention

• Battery Management System (BMS) Cybersecurity
  Explore risks and vehicle-side measures related to wired and wireless charging communications and other vehicle connectivity paths (e.g., telematics) that could access BMS

• High-Voltage Battery Charging Failure Modes and Effects Analysis
  • Extremely fast charging (350 KW – 1 MW) safety
  • Wireless charging safety
  • Advances in battery management systems
  • Test procedures development

Continue to conduct investigations into potential safety-related defects related to electric vehicle batteries. NHTSA’s Office of Defect Investigations has conducted several investigations and overseen multiple recalls associated with vehicle and house fires caused by issues relating to electric vehicle batteries. 

Develop a proposal for Phase 1 of Global Technical Regulation (GTR) No. 20 for Electric Vehicle Safety into the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards.

• NHTSA chaired the development of the GTR for electric vehicle safety, which was established under the United Nations (UN) World Forum for the Harmonization of Vehicle Regulations in 2018. The GTR contains requirements for in-use operational safety, post-crash electrical safety, and battery fire safety. The document can be accessed at https://unece.org/fileadmin/DAM/trans/main/wp29/wp29wgs/wp29gen/wp29registry/ECE-TRANS-180a20e.pdf.

Continue to advance battery safety through NHTSA’s participation in the development of Phase 2 of Global Technical Regulation No. 20 for Electric Vehicle Safety.

• NHTSA continues to advance electric vehicle and battery safety by chairing the development of the second phase of work currently underway at the UN. The activity is considering, among other things, safety issues related to battery thermal runaway, water immersion, and vibration resistance.