Plug In America gets the most interesting calls. Last week we heard from a representative of the Fire Protection Research Foundation (FPRF), which is working with the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) to help devise electric vehicle training materials for the nation s emergency response workforce.
Funded by a three year Department of Energy (DOE) grant, this project is just getting underway. According to the representative, it will ultimately provide consistent, valuable information to emergency responders to help them make an uneventful transition to understanding new plug-in electric vehicle technologies. Fortunately, Plug In America has the tools to help the NFPA researchers understand what types of, and how many vehicles are coming to market. Our online Tracker provides the most comprehensive information available to date on the types of vehicles expected to arrive in the marketplace.
When there is a car accident, there isn t much time to save lives and to get the roads cleared. The nation s 1.1 million plus members of the U.S. fire service emergency responders must be prepared for a whole host of situations. As new types of vehicles are introduced on the road it is important for these people to be prepared for any issues involving explosions, melt downs, toxic fumes, and so forth. In training for accidents involving the internal combustion engine, responders have had to deal with tanks of volatile petroleum. What will be the emergency scenarios when only batteries are on board, such as the Nissan Leaf, or batteries along with smaller ICEs, as in the case of the Chevy Volt? Obviously, the NFPA is in touch with the auto manufacturers themselves to get answers to these questions.
Plug In America’shares the common goal of making sure that emergency events involving new technologies do not produce unusual challenges for emergency responders. We are delighted to play an important role in providing information on plug-in electric vehicles and markets to the NFPA.
~ Jeanne Trombly
Special thanks for Haar Fager for contributing photo above
