NHTSA's Four-Year Plan for Hydrogen, Fuel Cell and Alternative Fuel Vehicle Safety Research

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA’s) program for hydrogen, fuel cell, and alternative fuel vehicles is focused on providing critical safety information on hydrogen-powered fuel cell and internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles. Safety information is vital to support the launch of the FreedomCAR Program, a cooperative automotive research partnership between the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the U.S. Council for Automotive Research (USCAR), whose members include Ford Motor Company, General Motors Corporation, and DaimlerChrysler Corporation. FreedomCAR was announced in January 2002 by Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham, and is designed to advance the development of fuel cell vehicles and hydrogen fuel infrastructure. The program was initiated as part of the President’s goal to reduce U.S. dependence on foreign oil, improve vehicle efficiency, and reduce vehicle emissions. The President’s Hydrogen Fuel Initiative, announced in 2003, expands on the FreedomCAR Program to make fuel cell vehicles a practical and cost-effective choice for large numbers of Americans by 2020. The President’s proposed federal budget for fiscal year 2006 includes tax incentives for the purchase of fuel cell vehicles. NHTSA’s safety initiative will complement these efforts by conducting risk assessment studies of hydrogen fueled vehicles, and developing test and evaluation procedures for safety assessment using suitable performance criteria. The risk assessment studies will quantify potential failures that could indicate unsafe conditions. Corollary efforts by NHTSA address fuel economy and international harmonization of global technical regulations (GTR) for hydrogen vehicles. The agency will assess gasoline equivalency for fuel cell vehicles, and analyze potential increases to fleet fuel economy. NHTSA will also work with its international counterparts to determine the content of regulations pertaining to fuel cell and ICE hydrogen vehicles. This paper describes the safety issues that have been identified as unique to hydrogen-powered vehicles and the approach and timeline that NHTSA will pursue to address these issues.