Documentation for Electric-Powered Vehicles

This information collection request (ICR) is to request approval for two types of new information collections (a total six new information collections) included in the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) rulemaking for 49 CFR Part 561 “Documentation for Electric-Powered Vehicles.” In the final rule, the emergency response information and four documentation requirements are added to the general regulation Part 561 rather than in the proposed FMVSS No. 305a, given that the documentation specifications are more akin to a disclosure requirement than a performance test. Among other requirements in FMVSS 305a “Electric-powered Vehicles: Electric Powertrain Integrity,” NHTSA is requiring five new mandatory information collections that would apply to all electric vehicle (EV) manufacturers. The first type of information collections are reporting requirements for EV manufacturers to submit to NHTSA standardized and vehicle-specific emergency response information in the form of Emergency Response Guides (ERGs) and Rescue Sheets (RSs), which are shorter versions of the ERGs. The submissions to NHTSA would be required upon first sale or lease, for each make and model and NHTSA will make the information available on its website. The purpose of the requirement is to ensure that first and second responders have standardized, readily available and understandable information so they can easily refer to vehicle-specific rescue information enroute to or at the scene of a crash or fire event and respond to the emergency quickly and safely. The second type of information collection is a record retention requirement for EV manufacturers to maintain documentation demonstrating risk mitigation for certain safety hazards and implementation of an audio-visual or visual warning to the vehicle occupant in the event of a safety hazard. The documentation must describe safety risk mitigation associated with charging and discharging during cold temperature, safety risk mitigation associated with an internal short-circuit in a single cell of a Rechargeable Electrical Energy Storage System (REESS), an audio-visual warning to the vehicle occupant for a thermal event in the REESS (this was an addition from the NPRM due to comment and further agency consideration), and a visual warning to the vehicle occupant in the event of a malfunction of the vehicle controls that manage safe operation of the REESS. These documentation requirements are required for submission to NHTSA only upon request. Since NHTSA only anticipates requesting submission of this documentation in the context of an investigation, this ICR only covers the compilation and retention of this information and not its submission to NHTSA upon request. The purpose of this requirement is to ensure that EV manufacturers document how they address known safety risks either prospectively or by mitigating the consequences from the occurrence of certain safety risks associated with EVs. This documentation requirement is needed because there are currently no objective tests available for these identified safety risks The estimated total annual burden to manufacturers for Part 561 emergency response information and documentation requirements is 19,565 hours and $0.

The latest form for Documentation for Electric-Powered Vehicles expires 2028-06-30 and can be found here.

Compiling and Submitting ERGs

Federal Enterprise Architecture: Transportation - Ground Transportation