NHTSA is creating an initiative to coordinate research, conduct investigations and develop safety standards related to electric vehicle batteries.
As part of the initiative, the agency on Friday said it will collect and analyze data, conduct special investigations of EV crashes and noncrash events, conduct research on battery diagnostics and prognostics and explore risks related to cybersecurity and vehicle connectivity.
The move by U.S. safety regulators to address battery safety comes as EV fires have become a growing concern for the auto industry, with complaints of battery-related fires starting to stack up. Meanwhile, EV options in the U.S. are expected to grow through 2024, as automakers unveil more models.
Several incidents have involved Tesla vehicles bursting into flames after crashes, including a March 2018 accident on a freeway in California when a Model X caught fire twice in one day. Tesla has also been the focus of several investigations by…