EVC 回应 新南威尔士州 议会 对 电动 和 混合动力汽车 电池 的 调查

November 2023 With reference to: htps://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/commitees/inquiries/Pages/inquiry-details.aspx?pk=3005 That the Joint Standing Committee on Road Safety inquire into and report on: (a) the risk and management of fires and other issues caused by batteries in electric and hybridvehicles, including light electric vehicles(b) the risk to workers in the automotive industry and emergency services personnel caused bybatteries in electric and hybrid vehicles(c) the adequacy of training and equipment for workers in the automotive industry and emergencyservices personnel regarding potential hazards of batteries in electric and hybrid vehicles(d) any other related matters. Prepared by: Ross De Rango, Electric Vehicle Council With contribution from: Emma Sutcliffe, EV fire safe. Preamble: The percep�on that Electric vehicles create a significant new risk from a fire safety standpoint hassome history, and has been widely covered in the media. The ACCC undertook an inves�ga�on recently into Lithium Ion batery safety, to which the EVCresponded in some detail: htps://electricvehiclecouncil.com.au/submissions/evc-submission-to-accc-lithium-ion-batery-safety-consulta�on/ There are several perspec�ves to this issue worth exploring, which have a bearing on the nature of therisks, and the appropriate responses from government. Summary of EVC recommendations: NSW Government should act by way of the relevant state level building regulator, to make it clearthat the treatment of EV charging installa�ons and EV car parking loca�ons as ‘special hazards’ isnot required at this �me. The EVC suggests that NSW government should increase resourcing to NSW Fair Trading to addressthe rising incidence of unsafe lithium-ion batery containing products such as batery electricscooters, outside of the road-registered vehicle domain. It may be appropriate for NSW government to inves�gate the case for recommenda�ons rela�ng tothe safe storage and charging of electric scooters, especially in environments such as apartmentcomplexes and offices. NSW government should consider suppor�ng EV FireSafe: •To undertake a robust and independent review of global literature on the subject of EV firesafety in the built environment•To undertake work aimed at ensuring safe work prac�ces for second responders such as tow-truck drivers, where there has been insufficient work done. Automotive industry - vehicle maintenance and repair: Road registered vehicles with bateries at voltages high enough to be hazardous have been in theAustralian market since the late 1990s, with the introduc�on of the Toyota hybrids. There are now inexcess of 400,000 road registered vehicles with trac�on bateries on Australian roads, from manymanufacturers. From the point of view of risk to the people undertaking maintenance on these vehicles, it has longbeen understood that higher voltage bateries cons�tute a different type of risk.The relevantAustralian standard in this domain is AS5732, which has recently been updated with input from a broadcross sec�on of industry and government experts at a na�onal level. This standard is called up in the relevant commonwealth training programsand modules, such asAUTETH101. These courses have been offered in Australia for over ten years and are presently offeredby about 185 Registered Training Organisa�ons around the country. In terms of the adequacy of this arrangement, wepoint to the fact that there is no record we’re awareof *globally* where afatalityin the automo�ve maintenance space atributable to the batery in ahybrid or electric vehicle has occurred, and no incident we’re aware of in Australia where an*injury*in the automo�ve maintenance space atributable to the batery in a hybrid or electric vehicle hasoccurred. We’d suggest that this is prima facie evidence that the exis�ng regulatory arrangement islikely adequate–there are tens on millions of these vehicles on the road globally, in addi�onto thehundreds of thousands on the road in Australia. We addressed this mater in our recent submission to the Electrical Safety Office in Queensland, whichcovered similar ground,including considera�on of a requirement for all par�es undertakingmaintenance on Electric Vehicles to be licenced electrical workers: htps://electricvehiclecouncil.com.au/submissions/evc-response-to-final-report-on-queensland-electrical-safety-act-2002/ The Electrical Safety Office, following along consulta�on process, arrived at a guidance posi�onaround this mater, essen�ally recognizing that the exis�ng competency units and OEM trainingop�ons are valid and adequate: Emergency services personnel There has been substan�al interna�onal research in this domain. EV Fire Safe, a company funded bythe Australian Department of Defenceto research electric vehicle batery fires & emergency response,are among the world leaders in this space. The short version is that vehicle OEMs provide data to the ANCAP rescue app,have been proac�ve insuppor�ng t