Two standards designed to encourage a safe and sustainable UK battery manufacturing supply chain have been published by The British Standards Institution (BSI).
Published as part of the ‘Faraday Battery Challenge Standardization Programme’, the standards are designed to underpin innovation and enable consistent practices in the production and development of batteries.
They focus on health, safety and environmental considerations in battery manufacturing and will guide the UK as it prepares to phase out diesel and petrol vehicles from 2030.
Tony Harper, Faraday Battery Challenge director, said: “Codifying what we know collectively in UK about the safe manufacture of batteries from cells to vehicles will enable the UK to consolidate and grow a sustainable, prosperous and productive cutting-edge industry here.
“These publicly available specifications are testament to the quality of engineers in the UK both professionally and ethically. We will continue to build and collaborate with BSI to ensure the UK has the standards and the knowledge base that we need.”
The new standards were developed by two steering groups made-up of technical experts from organisations in the battery manufacturing and automotive industries, regulatory bodies, representatives of the UK research and development community and consumer interest groups.
The standards are:
- PAS 7060, Electric Vehicles – Safe and environmentally-conscious design and use of batteries. It looks at the use of traction batteries in relation to EV design, including pure EVs, hybrid EV’s, plug-in hybrid EV’s and fuel cell hybrid EVs. It provides design guidance for minimising environmental effects and safety risks from the development, manufacture, customer use and eventual disposal of the vehicle and likely re-use of the battery.
- PAS 7062, Electric vehicle battery cells – Health and safety, environmental and quality management considerations in cell manufacturing and finished cell.It covers the manufacturing of electrodes and cells, specifically with a focus on EV, hybrid, plug-in hybrid and fuel cell hybrid electric vehicles. The new standard is intended to establish a common understanding and approach to EV battery cell manufacture and use. It covers 12 themes including sourcing; chemical management (occupational health, personnel safety); waste handling; and environmental impact.
The latest standards follow last November’s PAS 7061 ‘Batteries for vehicle propulsion electrification – Safe and environmentally-conscious handling of battery packs and modules – Code of practice’, which outlines best practice from sourcing material, through to manufacturing, use and disposal.
