B.A.T. Incorporated; Grant of Petition for Temporary Exemption From Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 208

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]

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