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Emergency Response Approaches For Electric & Hybrid Vehicles in Türkiye

would be appropriate to wait at least another 5 minutes before starting the
intervention again, since there is a risk of injury caused by malfunctioning of
the air-bag system. During the displacement of high voltage batteries and
components from the vehicle, external insulation measurement and external
grounding must also be performed for protection purposes (VDA 2020).
In the process of responding to accidents involving electric & hybrid vehicles,
teams may require to shear and dismantle certain parts of the vehicle. Thus, to
avoid the increase of possible risks; air-bag system, in particular, orange high
voltage cables and other high voltage components should be considered by
causing minimum damage on the vehicle. If high voltage components come out
due to heavy damage on the vehicle, first responders should take the necessary
measures, lay coating materials on the floor ensuring electrical insulation and
wear suitable personal protective equipment while responding the vehicle.
Finally, electric & hybrid vehicles may also be exposed to an accident
while parked. In such cases, keeping in mind the similar approaches, it
should be taken into account that high voltage systems of vehicle may be
in the active state. In this regard, an electric vehicle with its air conditioning
/ heating actively operated can be taken as a basis, and the mentioned
risks also apply in this case since the high voltage propulsion battery is
active. Air-bags are usually not activated when a stationary electric or
hybrid vehicle is hit; therefore, the protection measures integrated into
the connected systems may not be enabled. In the event of the accidents
involving electric & hybrid vehicles at the stationary position, high voltage
systems of the vehicle must be manually disabled. In addition, in the event
of an accident caused by a crash while plugged in the charging stations
for the charging requirements of electric or plug-in hybrid vehicles (during
charging), it will be appropriate to disconnect the charging cable from the
charging station (if possible) or from the vehicle. Charging station must
be also de-energized. Damaged parts should be electrically isolated after
checking whether there are any visible damages on the charging cable and/
or connector. Finally, if the charging stations are damaged in the event of
an accident, rather than the vehicle (in the event of a crash at the charging
station), the power supply point may pose a danger. In this scope, it is also
recommended to cut off the energy through the transformer to which the
supply point is connected, and to perform detailed checks on it.

Evaluation and Conclusion

This study takes into account the risk of high voltage propulsion batteries
being affected in accidents experienced in emergency situations in electric
& hybrid vehicles and in cases of possible fire risks that may emerge along

Year 2 / Issue 3 / January 2023 209