World's First Fuel Cell Vehicle (FCV) Safety and Environmental Standards Established

Japan's Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MLIT) has revised standards laid out in the Road Trucking Vehicle Law and other relevant statues to improve the safety and environmental performance of fuel cell vehicles (FCVs). The new standards came into force on 31 March 2005, and are the world's first FCV criteria. This revision makes it possible to obtain certification for models of compressed hydrogen FCVs.

The revised regulations are based on safety criteria for hydrogen gas and stipulate such technical requirements as:
-- Prevent hydrogen gas leakage. Should a leak occur, detect and isolate immediately, avoiding hydrogen accumulation at all costs.
-- Release hydrogen-containing gases under safe conditions.
-- In the case of a compressed hydrogen FCV crash, secure safety at a level not inferior to that for gasoline vehicles in a similar situation.

In addition, the Ministry has established technical requirements for preventing electric shocks because high-voltage electricity is generated from fuel-cell stacks.

The Ministry plans to promote adoption of these new regulations as Global Technical Regulations (GTR), which are up for review.



Posted: 2005/06/20 06:56:25 AM
Japanese version