Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards; FMVSS No. 305a Electric-Powered Vehicles: Electric Powertrain Integrity Global Technical Regulation No. 20, Incorporation by Reference

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION <SUBAGY>National Highway Traffic Safety Administration</SUBAGY> <CFR>49 CFR Part 571</CFR> <DEPDOC>[Docket No. NHTSA-2024-0012]</DEPDOC> <RIN>RIN 2127-AM43</RIN> <SUBJECT>Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards; FMVSS No. 305a Electric-Powered Vehicles: Electric Powertrain Integrity Global Technical Regulation No. 20, Incorporation by Reference</SUBJECT> <HD SOURCE="HED">AGENCY:</HD> National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), Department of Transportation (DOT). <HD SOURCE="HED">ACTION:</HD> Notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM). <SUM> <HD SOURCE="HED">SUMMARY:</HD> Consistent with a Global Technical Regulation on electric vehicle safety, NHTSA proposes to establish Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 305a to replace FMVSS No. 305, “Electric-powered vehicles: Electrolyte spillage and electrical shock protection.” Among other improvements, FMVSS No. 305a would apply to light and heavy vehicles and would have performance and risk mitigation requirements for the propulsion battery. Relating to a National Transportation Safety Board recommendation, FMVSS No. 305a would also require manufacturers to submit standardized emergency response information for inclusion on NHTSA's website that would assist first and second responders handling electric vehicles. </SUM> <EFFDATE> <HD SOURCE="HED">DATES:</HD> Comments should be submitted no later than June 14, 2024. <E T="03">Proposed compliance date:</E> We propose that the compliance date for the proposed requirements be two years after the date of publication of the final rule in the <E T="04">Federal Register</E> . Small-volume manufacturers, final-stage manufacturers, and alterers would be provided an additional year to comply with the rule beyond the date identified above. We propose to permit optional early compliance with the rule. After FMVSS No. 305a is finalized, NHTSA intends to sunset FMVSS No. 305. </EFFDATE> <HD SOURCE="HED">ADDRESSES:</HD> You may submit comments identified by the docket number in the heading of this document or by any of the following methods: • <E T="03">Federal eRulemaking Portal:</E> Go to <E T="03">http://www.regulations.gov.</E> Follow the instructions for submitting comments on the electronic docket site by clicking on “Help” or “FAQ.” • <E T="03">Mail:</E> Docket Management Facility. M-30, U.S. Department of Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, West Building, Ground Floor, Room W12-140, Washington, DC 20590. • <E T="03">Hand Delivery:</E> U.S. Department of Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, West Building, Ground Floor, Room W12-140, Washington, DC 20590 between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Eastern Time, Monday through Friday, except Federal Holidays. • <E T="03">Fax:</E> 202-493-2251. <E T="03">Instructions:</E> All submissions must include the agency name and docket number. Note that all comments received will be posted without change to <E T="03">http://www.regulations.gov,</E> including any personal information provided. Please see the Privacy Act discussion below. We will consider all comments received before the close of business on the comment closing date indicated above. To the extent possible, we will also consider comments filed after the closing date. <E T="03">Docket:</E> For access to the docket to read background documents or comments received, go to <E T="03">www.regulations.gov</E> at any time or to 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, West Building Ground Floor, Room W12-140, Washington, DC 20590, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal Holidays. Telephone: 202-366-9826. <E T="03">Confidential Business Information:</E> If you claim that any of the information in your comment (including any additional documents or attachments) constitutes confidential business information within the meaning of 5 U.S.C. 552(b)(4) or is protected from disclosure pursuant to 18 U.S.C. 1905, please see the detailed instructions given under the Public Participation heading of the <E T="02">SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION</E> section of this document. <E T="03">Privacy Act:</E> In accordance with 5 U.S.C. 553(c), DOT solicits comments from the public to better inform its decision-making process. DOT posts these comments, without edit, including any personal information the commenter provides, to <E T="03">www.regulations.gov,</E> as described in the system of records notice (DOT/ALL-14 FDMS), which can be reviewed at <E T="03">www.transportation.gov/privacy.</E> In order to facilitate comment tracking and response, we encourage commenters to provide their name, or the name of their organization; however, submission of names is completely optional. Whether or not commenters identify themselves, all timely comments will be fully considered. <FURINF> <HD SOURCE="HED">FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:</HD> For technical issues, you may contact Ms. Lina Valivullah, Office of Crashworthiness Standards; Telephone: 202-366-8786; Email: <E T="03">Lina.Valivullah@dot.gov;</E> Facsimile: (202) 493-2739. For legal issues, you may contact Ms. K. Helena Sung, Office of Chief Counsel; Telephone: 202-366-2992; Email: <E T="03">Helena.Sung@dot.gov;</E> Facsimile: (202) 366-3820. The mailing address of these officials is: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20590. </FURINF> <SUPLINF> <HD SOURCE="HED">SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:</HD> <HD SOURCE="HD1">Table of Contents</HD> <EXTRACT> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">I. Executive Summary</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">II. Background</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">a. Overview of FMVSS No. 305</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">b. Overview of GTR No. 20</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">1. The GTR Process</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">2. GTR No. 20</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">III. Proposals Based on GTR No. 20</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">a. Expanding Applicability of FMVSS No. 305a to Heavy Vehicles</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">1. Heavy School Buses</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">2. Heavy Vehicles Other Than School Buses</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">i. Request for Comment; Mechanical Integrity Test</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">ii. Request for Comment; Mechanical Shock Test</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">b. General Specifications Relating To Crash Testing</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">1. Low Energy Option for Capacitors</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">2. Assessing Fire or Explosion in Vehicle Post-Crash Test</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">3. Assessing Post-Crash Voltage Measurements</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">4. Electrolyte Spillage Versus Leakage</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">c. REESS Requirements Applicable to All Vehicles</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">1. Vehicle Controls for Safe REESS Operation</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">i. Overcharge Protection</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">ii. Over-Discharge Protection</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">iii. Overcurrent Protection</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">iv. Over-Temperature Protection</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">v. External Short-Circuit Protection</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">vi. Low-Temperature Protection</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">2. Mitigating Risk of Thermal Propagation Due to Internal Short Within a Single Cell in the REESS</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">i. Safety Need</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">ii. GTR No. 20 Phase 1 Requirements</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">iii. NHTSA Proposal</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">3. Warning Requirements for REESS Operations</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">i. Thermal Event Warning</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">ii. Warning in the Event of Operational Failure of REESS Vehicle Controls</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">4. Protection Against Water Exposure</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">i. NHTSA Proposal</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">A. Vehicle Washing Test</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">B. Driving Through Standing Water Test</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">ii. NHTSA's Consideration of Submersions</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">5. Miscellaneous GTR No. 20 Provisions Not Proposed</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">i. REESS Vibration Requirements</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">ii. REESS Thermal Shock and Cycling</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">iii. REESS Fire Resistance</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">iv. Low State-of-Charge (SOC) Telltale</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">IV. Request for Comment on Applying FMVSS No. 305a to Low-Speed Vehicles</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2"> V. Emergency Response Information To Assist First and Second Responders </FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">VI. Request for Comment on Placing the Emergency Response Information and Documentation Requirements in a Regulation Rather Than in FMVSS No. 305a</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">VII. Proposed Compliance Dates</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">VIII. Rulemaking Analyses and Notices</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">IX. Public Participation</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">X. Appendices to the Preamble</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">Appendix A. Table Comparing GTR No. 20, FMVSS No. 305, and FMVSS No. 305a</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">Appendix B. Request for Comment on Phase 2 GTR No. 20 Approaches Under Consideration by the IWG</FP> </EXTRACT> <HD SOURCE="HD1">I. Executive Summary</HD> NHTSA is issuing this NPRM to achieve two goals. First, NHTSA proposes to establish FMVSS No. 305a, “Electric-powered Vehicles: Electric Powertrain Integrity,” to upgrade and replace existing FMVSS No. 305. Proposed FMVSS No. 305a would have all the requirements of FMVSS No. 305, but the proposed standard would expand its applicability to vehicles with a gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) greater than 4,536 kilograms (kg) (10,000 pounds (lb)) and add requirements and test procedures covering new aspects of electric vehicle safety, such as the performance and risk mitigation requirements for the propulsion battery, referred to as the Rechargeable Electrical Energy Storage System (REESS). NHTSA is also proposing requirements to ensure first and second responders have access to vehicle-specific information about extinguishing REESS fires and mitigating safety risks associated with stranded energy  <SU>1</SU> <FTREF/> when respondin ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Preview showing 10k of 332k characters. Full document text is stored and available for version comparison. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━