The world is looking to shift to electric cars

and reduce CO2 emissions in transport.

To feed this new demand,

electric-vehicle battery technology is developing rapidly.

But with many different solutions,

new safety issues arise.

And for regulators, it can be hard

to set the line between innovation and safety.

Could we help them to access harmonised testing data

from different sources

to make better and faster regulatory decisions?

We developed new tests addressing

potential safety issues in modern batteries,

to help shape regulation worldwide.

Our team started by analysing existing laws

and testing procedures across countries

so that we could address gaps in regulation.

Because a vehicle battery catching fire

can be so destructive,

we are developing a new test on thermal propagation,

based on our research on the many ways

such reaction could be triggered.

Once the complete process is validated in experiments,

we can propose that it becomes part of laws

to make vehicles safer.

In 2018, or researchers' work on assessing

the toxicity of battery electrolytes

resulted in a new global legal requirement for electric vehicle safety.

This updated global regulation is expected to include

the new thermal propagation test.

With better-harmonised test procedures and global regulation,

the JRC and its partners are facilitating the development

of safer electric vehicles,

for a sustainable low-carbon world.