We are seeking feedback on proposed new rules prescribing safety requirements for electric vehicles (EVs) and hydrogen-fuelled cell vehicles (HFCVs) across the majority of road vehicles, such as cars, SUVs, utility vehicles, commercial vehicles and buses but excluding motorcycles and trikes.
Why we want your input
Vehicle safety affects all Australians. We want your input to help develop safety standards for the propulsion systems and components of EVs and HFCVs.How you can voice your opinion
Read the proposed explanatory statements and Australian Design Rules (ADRs) 109/00 and 110/00 below, and provide your submission by 27 March 2023. For detailed feedback please complete and attach the consultation feedback form below.What will be the outcome of this consultation?
Your submission will help inform future standards for electric powertrain safety requirements and hydrogen-fuelled vehicle safety related performance in all new passenger vehicles, light and heavy commercial vehicles and buses.The Issue
The number of zero emission vehicles (ZEVs), such as EVs and HFCVs, in Australia is on the rise. Consumer demand is being driven by the desire to help address climate change and reduce noise pollution in high density areas.
Currently, ZEVs are provided to the market with unregulated high voltage electric powertrain and hydrogen-fuelled propulsion systems.
Establishing national standards for ZEVs and aligning these with international standards will ensure the safest possible vehicles are available for the Australian community and on our roads.
The implementation of a national approach would benefit road users, including vehicle occupants, first responders and the wider community to help protect them from:
- direct contact with high voltage live parts and battery electrolyte leakage in EVs in the event of a vehicle crash
- compressed hydrogen storage systems in the event of a vehicle crash
- specific components for compressed hydrogen systems, including safety protection with automatic shut-off valves for hydrogen-fuelled vehicles.
The proposed new Australian Design Rules (ADRs) address safety issues of high voltage systems and the high-pressure storage systems associated with HFCVs.
We are seeking feedback on the proposed regulations including:
- support for proposed ADRs
- the suitability of adopting these international regulations under the Australian Design Rules. We are interested in any comments on:
- functional and/or performance requirements
- testing requirements
- implementation timing and affected vehicle categories
- any other relevant views or information.
Relevant documentation
Electric Powertrain Safety Requirements
- Australian Design Rule 109/00 – Electric Powertrain Safety Requirements
- Australian Design Rule 109/00 – Electric Powertrain Safety Requirements (Explanatory Statement)
Hydrogen Fuelled Vehicle Safety Related Performance
- Australian Design Rule 110/00 – Hydrogen-Fuelled Vehicle Safety Related Performance
- Australian Design Rule 110/00 – Hydrogen-Fuelled Vehicle Safety Related Performance (Explanatory Statement)
Electric Power Train Safety Requirements and Hydrogen-Fuelled Vehicle Safety Related Performance – feedback form
Participate
31 Jan 2023 00:00 AEDT
27 Mar 2023 23:59 AEDT
Open
days
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We invite you to tell us your views on this topic.
Please include:
- contact name
- organisation name, if applicable
- contact details, including telephone number, postal and email addresses
- confirmation whether or not your submission can be made public—published—or kept confidential.
You can complete and attach the consultation feedback form if you would like to provide detailed feedback.
All submissions to be made public need to meet the Digital Service Standard for accessibility. Any submission that does not meet this standard may be modified before being made public.
If your submission is to be made public, please ensure you do not include any personal information that you don't want to be published.
If your submission is confidential, please ensure each page of the submission is marked as confidential.
Please click on the 'Have your say now' button below to upload your submission.
Alternatively please email your completed template submission to standards@infrastructure.gov.au or send it to:
Director
Vehicle Standards
Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts
GPO Box 2154
Canberra ACT 2601
Australian Privacy Principle 5 Notice
National safety standards for electric and hydrogen-fuelled vehicles
The Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts (the department) is collecting information for the purposes of public consultation on proposed new rules to meet safety requirements for electric vehicles (EVs) and hydrogen-fuelled cell vehicles (HFCVs) in all new passenger vehicles, light and heavy commercial vehicles and buses in accordance with the Privacy Act 1988.
The department will use this information to inform consideration of issues associated with the national safety standards for electric and hydrogen-fuelled vehicles and will store this information securely. It may be used by the department to make further contact with you about the review.
The department will not disclose information to third parties, except in the circumstances outlined below.
Submissions, in part or full, including the name of the author may be published on the department's website unless the submission is confidential. Confidential submissions (including the author's name) will not be published. Private addresses and contact details will not be published or disclosed to any third parties unless required by law.
Submissions will only be treated as confidential if they are expressly stated to be confidential. Automatically generated confidentiality statements or disclaimers appended to an email do not suffice for this purpose. If you wish you make a confidential submission, you should indicate this by ensuring your submission is marked confidential.
Confidential submissions will be kept securely and will only be disclosed in the following circumstances:
- in response to a request by a Commonwealth Minister
- where required by a House or a Committee of the Parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia
- where required by law.
The department may also disclose confidential submissions within the Commonwealth of Australia, including with other Commonwealth agencies, where necessary in the public interest.
Please note that in order to protect the personal privacy of individuals in accordance with the Privacy Act any submissions containing sensitive information, personal information or information which may reasonably be used to identify a person or group of people may not be published, even if not marked as confidential.
The department’s privacy policy contains information regarding complaint handling processes and how to access and/or seek correction of personal information held by the department. The Privacy Officer can be contacted on (02) 6274 6495 or by email: privacy@infrastructure.gov.au