Ban on the transport of electric cars on ships: the EU says no Ban on the transport of electric cars on ships: the EU says no

The European Union does not plan to introduce the ban on the transport of electric cars on ships. He confirmed it Adina – Ioana ValeanEuropean Commissioner for Transport, answering the parliamentary question of German MEP Markus Buchheit, who had asked for the ban electric cars on board shipshybrid and hydrogen due to the fires caused by these vehicles. However, Commissioner Valean assured that security measures will be reinforced.

BAN ON THE CARRIAGE OF ELECTRIC CARS ON SHIPS: THE EU PARLIAMENTARY QUESTION

Passing on the parliamentary question to push the European institutions to assess the ban on the transport of electric cars on ships, Hon. Buchheit had cited the famous case of the freighter Felicity Aswrecked in February 2022 with nearly 4,000 cars on board following a fire that lasted excessively because of the lithium batteries of the cars transported (fortunately without causing any deaths or injuries among the crew), plus a series of other episodes with electric vehicle lights. “Since the transport of battery-powered cars on ships is increasingly banned around the world“, he writes in the text of the question, “When will the European Commission be ready to propose such a ban across the EU to ensure the safety of citizens? How many ship disasters and deaths will have to occur before it happens?”

EUROPEAN COMMISSIONER: NO TO BANNING ELECTRIC CARS ON SHIPS, YES TO MORE SAFETY

Two and a half months after the parliamentary question, the answer has finally arrived in recent days from the European Commissioner for Transport, the Romanian Adina-Ioana Valean, who “froze” Buchheit on the possibility of introduce the ban in the EUwhile guaranteeing maximum attention in terms of safety.

“The Commission he has no intention prohibit the transport of alternative fuel vehicles on shipsexplained Commissioner Valean, immediately setting the record straight. “At the same time, the Commission supports the work carried out within the International Maritime Organization, in particular to adapt the SOLAS convention (the international convention for the safety of life at sea, editor’s note) At risks deriving from the transport of electric vehicles or vehicles using other alternative fuels, and will adapt EU legislation to these changes. To this end, the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) has developed a guidance document on the transportability of alternative fuel vehicles in the ro-ro spaces of cargo and passenger ships”.

Adina-Ioana Valean then recalled that under the previous framework program for research and innovation – Horizon 2020, the European Union had funded the Lash Fire research project to respond to risk of fire on ro-ro ships.

ELECTRIC CARS: ALL MEASURES TO MINIMIZE THE RISKS OF FIRE

But that’s not all, because beyond the situation on ships, the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE/ECE) is working to generally increase the electric vehicle safety requirements. In particular, the ongoing revision of the global technical regulation n. 20, scheduled for 2024, which will be taken up later in the revision of the ECE R100 regulation for the approval of the battery pack, could improve the methods for checking the robustness of batteries in electric vehicles. In particular, attention is paid to tests and methods for detecting the triggering of overheating and propagation caused by an internal short-circuit or a malfunction of one of the cells of the battery pack.

These interventions will hopefully allow the industry to design more robust battery architectures and vehicles equipped with mitigation mechanismswhich will help to control, contain or, even better, prevent the spread of fires inside or outside electric vehicles. Without therefore it being necessary to prohibit its transport on ships or, for example, stopping in closed places such as boxes and garages.