Nissan to brief emergency services on EV safety
The LEAF electric car will have dedicated repairersNissan says it will have strict measures in place to prevent a repeat of the post-crash fire that embroiled the Chevrolet Volt electric car in controversy in North America.
The Volt’s lithium-ion battery pack – the same type of battery chemistry used in the LEAF – caught fire while the car was sitting idle in a yard three weeks after a severe side-impact crash test. Federal investigators and General Motors are still working on a solution.
Meanwhile, however, Nissan says it has had no reports of similar fires despite selling more than 20,000 electric cars – the highest number of any manufacturer. (Last week, Motoring.com.au reported that Mitsubishi was also unaware of any spontaneous fires among its 10,000 or so electric cars).
As with other electric cars the Nissan LEAF has a shock sensor that automatically disconnects the battery on impact.
Immediately after the crash, Nissan says, the vehicle must be taken to a dealer or specially trained repairer to de-power the battery.
Nissan says its LEAF battery pack comprises 192 cells separated by 48 modules, and when they are disconnected it’s transformed from a 400-volt battery pack to a series of 20-volt battery packs, thus making it less volatile.
“We haven’t had the problem that the Volt’s had,” said Nissan Australia managing director and CEO Dan Thompson.
Nissan Australia executive general manager, sales and fleet, Ian Moreillon, added: “We have a responsibility to ensure emergency services are fully informed and trained on electric vehicles and the Nissan LEAF. They can get access to training from Nissan and we will be arranging that. We expect also to have authorized LEAF crash repairers, it doesn’t just go to Billy Blogs' crash repair shop.
“Even if it’s not in an accident, [when] we have to work on the car, the first thing you do before you work on it as a technician, is to check to see if there is any charge active on the vehicle.”
Mitsubishi Japan also recommends depowering batteries after a crash, but it also has adopted a novel approach of flooding it with water.
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