Battery fires under Renault road safety microscope

ADDRESSING serious concerns relating to EV fire safety in a collision, and other motor accident safety issues, Renault has announced what it calls the ‘Human First’ program, a collaboration with firefighters across the globe including Australian fire and rescue organisations.

A major thrust of the program is to extinguish EV battery fires in 10 minutes.

Renault’s Australian distributor, Ateco Automotive, says it is fully behind the Human First initiative in the run-up to the Australian launch of its new Renault Megane E-Tech BEV.

Ateco says the Human First program demonstrates Renault’s commitment to protecting all road users by focusing on three key safety-related issues: Preventing accidents by developing advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAs) and safety equipment, managing road accidents more effectively by establishing a unique partnership with firefighters from across the globe and reducing the number of accidents by making substantial investments in R&D.

In relation to these commitments, Renault already uses more than 36 ADAS technologies and 60 specific pieces of safety equipment across its range, the features helping prevent and reduce the severity of collisions.

The French automaker further allocates R&D funds to ensure new on-board technologies such as Safety Score and Safety Coach, along with connected services, further assist in the reduction of crashes.

In crash management, Renault says the Human First safety program aims to develop a range of innovations, systems, and processes to maximise the first 60 minutes after a crash, a timescale critical to improving the likelihood of survival.

The HF program actively takes advice and input from peak fire and rescue bodies in France and other countries around the world, including Australia – where local representatives of the World Rescue Organisation (WRO) have had direct involvement due to Renault’s long-standing partnership with the WRO.

“As well as gaining a coveted five-star EuroNCAP safety rating in Europe, the upcoming all-new Megane E-Tech is the first beneficiary of this unique ‘Human First’ safety program,” said Renault Australia general manager, Glen Sealey.

“This program is a collaboration of over 600 engineers, safety experts and fire and rescue services from across the world including Australia and allows Renault to partner directly with those on the ground to develop innovations to make the roads a safer place.”

Renault has for the past 13 years trained firefighters around the world to help them save time when responding to a serious crash, as well as reducing the number of victims on the road. The project is led by the Renault Group’s lieutenant-colonel Christophe Lenglos, and tertiary safety expert, Claire Petit Boulanger.

Several innovations have been spawned from this training that have been carried through into Renault vehicles.

For firefighters, a special access point in every Renault electric vehicle lets water into the centre of the traction battery (for electric and plug-in hybrids) with the aim of extinguishing the fire in less than 10 minutes, compared to the usual three hours.

A QR code, to be standard on all electric Renault vehicles from 2023 (and rolled out across all future models), provides immediate access to the vehicle's technical information (engine, battery location, etc). The QR code is positioned strategically and validated by fire departments and is said to save up to 15 during an intervention.

An (isolator) switch is provided to disconnect the battery from the high-voltage electrical network and is located in an accessible place without the need for specific tools and without having to remove the driver or passengers from the vehicle.

Renault says all these innovations enable firefighters to save precious time during the ‘golden hour’, the first 60 minutes after impact, which is critical to improving the likelihood of survival.

Other innovations under development (and potential patent) include easy access rear seats which Renault says would allow firefighters to easily fold for a quick and safe extraction of road accident victims.