[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