[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 148 (Wednesday, August 3, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-18801]
[[Page Unknown]]
[Federal Register: August 3, 1994]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
[Docket No. 94-29; Notice 2]
B.A.T. Incorporated; Grant of Petition for Temporary Exemption
From Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 208
B.A.T. (``Battery Automated Transportation'') Inc. of West Valley
City, Utah, petitioned to be exempted from Federal Motor Vehicle Safety
Standard No. 208 Occupant Crash Protection for Geo Metro sedans that it
converts to electric power. The basis of the petition was that an
exemption will facilitate the development and field evaluation of low-
emission motor vehicles.
Notice of receipt of the petition was published on May 25, 1994,
and an opportunity afforded for comment (59 FR 27100). This notice
grants the petition.
Petitioner has already been excused from compliance with the crash
test provision of Standard No. 208 by NHTSA Temporary Exemption No. 93-
3 which expires August 1, 1995 (see 58 FR 45549). Although that
exemption is not vehicle-specific by its terms, petition had been made
only on behalf of 1993 model Ford Ranger pickup trucks to be converted
to electric power. Thus, rather than providing the petitioner with an
interpretation that the current exemption extends to sedans as well as
pickups, NHTSA concluded that the public should be offered an
opportunity to comment on B.A.T.'s latest request.
As before, the basis of the petition is that a temporary exemption
would facilitate the development and field evaluation of a low-emission
motor vehicle, as provided by 49 CFR 555.6(c). The petitioner will not
manufacture more than 2,500 vehicles during any 12-month period that
the exemption is in effect.
Although the Geo Metro is certified by its original manufacturer as
conforming with all applicable Federal motor vehicle safety standards,
petitioner has determined that the vehicles may not conform, after
their modification, with ``the requirements of crash tests of''
Standard No. 208 Occupant Crash Protection. The petitioner intends to
make arrangements with the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory to do
computer simulated crash testing. Any changes that are shown to be
necessary will be incorporated in all future versions ``and will
voluntarily be retrofitted in earlier units.''
Although the petitioner has not provided specific arguments that an
exemption would not unreasonably degrade the safety of the vehicle, it
believes that electric vehicles are safer because they carry no
flammable substances and do not have ``a very hot catalytic converter
close to the gasoline tank.'' B.A.T. conversions do not ``emit hydrogen
gas from the batteries due to the addition of hydrocaps which catalyze
any hydrogen gas formed when charging or discharging.'' Further, ``BAT
`Ultra Force' catalyst sharply reduces any gassing that might otherwise
occur.''
Finally, the petitioner argued, granting the exemption would be in
the public interest and consistent with the National Traffic and Motor
Vehicle Safety Act because the vehicles ``are non polluting * * * and
therefore can be a major means of improving the quality of the air we
breathe.''
One comment was received on the petition, from William Bohn of
Marysville, Washington. Mr. Bohn is the owner of a 1989 Geo Metro and a
1970 BMW 2002 EV conversion. He questions ``whether the safety of the
vehicle has been compromised by the addition of the battery pack in
regards to braking, steering, and suspension'' as he fears ``that the
added weight of the battery pack is beyond the capacity that the car
was originally tested.'' However, he concedes that the converter ``may
have reduced the total weight load by using 12V batteries in series
vice the more common 6V series pack'', and that the converter may also
``have increased the suspension's capacity, and improved the brakes to
better accommodate the increased weight.''
The agency has reviewed Mr. Bohn's comment. It notes that neither
B.A.T. nor another petitioner who converts Geo Metro vehicles (e.g.,
Solectria) has asked for a temporary exemption from the braking
standard, Standard No. 105. NHTSA interprets this as indicating that
these converters of Geo Metros have assured themselves that the
conversions continue to meet Standard No. 105. As for its effect upon
``steering'', NHTSA is unsure of the exact nature of Mr. Bohn's
concern, whether it goes to the steerability of the vehicle or
something else. Solectria has requested an exemption from Standard No.
204 Steering Control Rearward Displacement whereas B.A.T. appears to
believe that its alterer's certification will cover compliance with
this standard after conversion. The suspension of a vehicle is not the
subject of a safety standard. If the increased weight should result in
a safety related defect, the converter will be subject to the
notification and remedy provisions of the Vehicle Safety Act.
As NHTSA noted in granting B.A.T.'s previous petition:
``* * * it is manifestly in the public interest for small
manufacturers to engage in the converting of internal combustion
engines to electric power, and for this agency to take appropriate
steps to encourage these endeavors, provided that they are
consistent with motor vehicle safety. Exemptions for conversions
allow field evaluations by their purchasers and modifications by the
converters that respond to the evaluations.'' (58 FR at 45550).
Those reasons, of course, still exist, and once again support a
finding by the Administrator that an exemption from S5.1 of Standard
No. 208 will facilitate the development and field evaluation of a low
emission motor vehicle, and that the exemption is in the public
interest and consistent with the objectives of the National Traffic and
Motor Vehicle Safety Act. The exemption provided will allow the
petitioner to broaden its product range from trucks to passenger cans,
and contribute to the development of its expertise in vehicle
conversion.
Petitioner was not specific as to the extent that its conversion
may not conform with Standard No. 208, although NHTSA assumes that the
converted Metro will continue to be equipped with its original
restraints. In this sense, an exemption would not, in the words of the
statute, ``unreasonably degrade'' the safety of the Geo conversion.
B.A.T. did not request a specific time period for its exemption,
and in its absence, NHTSA is providing one that will expire on August
1, 1995. First, this is the termination date of Exemption No. 93-3
granted B.A.T. for its Ford Ranger conversions, and if the company
finds it necessary to petition for renewals of both exemptions, they
may be made under the cover of one petition. Secondly, an exemption for
this time period will allow B.A.T. to schedule and complete its
compliance verification testifying with the Lawrence Livermore
Laboratories. Finally, NHTSA notes that General Motors will introduce a
substantially revised Geo Metro for the 1995 model year, and because of
this, B.A.T. will have to decide whether to terminate its program of
Metro conversions after the 1994 model year, or, if it decides to
continue with the Metro, to reevaluate its conversion compliance
status.
In consideration of the foregoing, B.A.T. Inc. is hereby granted
NHTSA Temporary Exemption No. 94-4, expiring August 1, 1995, from S5.1
of 49 CFR 571.208 Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 208 Occupant Crash
Protection.
Authority: 49 U.S.C. 30113; delegations of authority at 49 CFR
1.50 and 501.8.
Issued on: July 27, 1994.
Christopher A. Hart,
Deputy Administrator.
[FR Doc. 94-18801 Filed 8-2-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-59-M
