An Expert Committee constituted by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highway in the background of the growing number of fire incidents involving electric two-wheelers, to recommend additional safety requirements in existing battery safety standards, has proposed additional safety requirements concerning battery cells, BMS, on-board charger, design of battery pack, thermal propagation due to internal cell short circuit leading to fire.
Based on the recommendations of the expert committee, chaired by Tata Narsingh Rao, Director, ARC’, Hyderabad, the Ministry has issued amendments to requirements for motor vehicles with less than four wheels running on an electric powertrain, motor vehicles with at least four wheels used for carrying passengers and for carrying goods.
The Ministry also has issued draft notification GSR 659 (E) dated 25th 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 powertrain vehicles. The proposed regulation will be applicable with effect from 1st October 2022.
The Ministry has solicited comments and suggestions from all stakeholders within thirty days.
