New Delhi: After several fire incidents in electric two-wheelers across the country, the road transport ministry on Thursday laid down guidelines for stringent testing, checking of EV batteries. From October, electric vehicles (EVs) will need to comply with additional safety requirements related to battery cells and thermal propagation due to internal cell short circuit.
The amendments have been carried out in the automotive industry standards (AIS) for motor vehicles with less than four wheels and with an electric power train, according to an official statement. Further, amendments have also been made to the AIS for electric power train of motor vehicles with four vehicles.
Electric two-, three- and four-wheelers, passenger as well as goods vehicles will be covered under the new norms.
Road transport ministry’s amendments
The amendments include additional safety requirements related to battery cells, battery management system (BMS), on-board charger, design of battery pack, thermal propagation due to internal cell short circuit leading to fire, among others.
For the safety of the EV, the new norms mandate the manufacturers to give “safety fuse” in the system so that the battery gets immediately disconnected as and when there is excessive heat generation or high current flow.
The guidelines also put forth the idea to have four mandatory sensors for quick detection of anything going wrong in the entire battery system. This would be automatically reflected in the console of the vehicle and thereby alerting the driver to act.
Other changes include having a sufficient cell-to-cell spacing distance for effective heat transfer from the cell and isolating the cells in case of thermal runaway in the Rechargeable Energy Storage System (REESS). The revised AIS norms add that the REESS shall have audio visual warning for early detection of thermal events or gases in case of thermal runaway of cells.
Moreover, the BMS system must have features for over-voltage, overcharge, over-discharge, over-temperature, over-current and short circuit protection for two-wheelers.
These norms will take effect from October 1. The transport ministry has also released a draft notification for mandating conformity of production (CoP) for traction batteries used in electric power train vehicles. This is aimed at making sure that EV and battery manufacturers make vehicles approved by testing agencies.
