Safety First Introduction

Introduction: Although Electric Vehicles (EVs) have been in existence for more than 100 years, their recent interest and development has occurred faster than the ability to establish industry standards. The purpose of this technical paper is to present the authors' experience in building an EV that can be safely operated and maintained as well as being crashworthy. The authors have extensive experience in building EVs and automotive testing. A good design results only from careful consideration of the specific EV being built. Each component and each modification to an existing vehicle must be considered relative to its impact on the conversion design and the safety of the overall vehicle. Therefore, any EV project should make use of a qualified engineer for critical decisions. The specific recommendations are intended to represent a conservative design for the protection of the driver, vehicle occupants, and the general public. There is no intention to supersede or negate any existing codes, standards, or governmental regulations. Safety is essential in any vehicle. We accept the explosive risk associated with gasoline vehicles because manufacturers have designed the vehicle to minimize the risk and everyone is aware of the risk. Similarly, everyone should be aware of the risk of electrical shock in an EV. If you have questions, comments, or have experienced EV safety problems, please contact: evamerica@aol.com Go to www.evamerica.com to read the entire "Safety First" article, written by Bob Batson of Electric Vehicles of America, Inc. & Michael Beebe of EV Motor Sports