Personal Light Electric Vehicle (PLEV) Battery Safety Project

The Office for Product Safety & Standards (OPSS) is part of the Department for Business Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS).

It was created in January 2018 to deliver consumer protection and to support business confidence, productivity and growth.

We regulate a wide range of products with a focus on their safety and integrity.

We work with local, national and international regulators, with consumer representatives and with businesses to deliver effective protections and to support compliance.

Our mission is to be a trusted product regulator for the UK.

This means protecting people and places, enabling business to thrive and empowering consumers to make good choices.

We will be a leader of good regulatory practice and a champion of local regulation.

Personal Light Electric Vehicle (PLEV) battery fire incidents are increasing each year.

The aim of this research project is to strengthen our evidence on the safety of batteries used in PLEVs, including risks and hazards in addition to mitigating measures such as best practice and standards.

The research should also consider whether batteries used for PLEVs present additional risks.

It is currently proposed the successful contractor will conduct desk-based research including a literature review, standards analysis and review of incident data in addition to consulting experts and testing batteries based on research findings.

In summary, the project will cover this in two parts: Part 1: Scoping and method development • Understand hazards and risks of batteries in PLEVs, including particular attention to foreseeable misuse (e.g. use of incorrect charger) • Review of mitigation methods such as standards, best practice and literature on this topic. • Develop an approach/method to assess/test the safety of PLEV batteries considering the risks, hazards and mitigating measures identified above.

This should include a critical analysis of existing test methods.

Part 2: Testing • Assess the fitness for purpose of the methodology developed in part 1 by testing a number of PLEV batteries/chargers. • Use the methodology developed to assess the safety of the PLEV batteries/chargers tested.

We will be seeking a supplier or suppliers (either a consortium or a contractor/subcontractor relationship) to undertake this project in order to maximise the aspects covered from the battery technology perspective and its operation through to standards and testing.