Safety of Lithium Nickel Cobalt Aluminum Oxide Battery Packs in Transit Bus Applications

The future of mass transportation is clearly moving toward the increased efficiency and greenhouse gas reduction of hybrid and electric vehicles. With the introduction of high-power/high-energy storage devices such as lithium ion battery systems serving as a key element in the system, valid safety and security concerns emerge. This is especially true when the attractive high-specific-energy and power-chemistry lithium nickel cobalt aluminum oxide (NCA) is used. This chemistry provides great performance but presents a safety and security risk when used in large quantities, such as for a large passenger bus. If triggered, the cell can completely fuel its own fire, and this triggering event occurs more easily than one may think. To assist engineers and technicians in this transfer from the use of primarily fossil fuels to battery energy storage on passenger buses, the Battery Application Technology Testing and Energy Research Laboratory (BATTERY) of the Thomas D. Larson Pennsylvania Transportation Institute (LTI) in the College of Engineering at The Pennsylvania State University partnered with advanced chemistry battery and material manufacturers to study the safety concerns of an NCA battery chemistry for use in transit buses. The research team ran various experiments on cells and modules, studying rarely considered thermal events or venting events. Special considerations were made to gather supporting information to help better understand what happens, and most importantly how to best mitigate these events and/or manage them when they occur on a passenger bus. The research team found that the greatest safety concern when using such a high-energy chemistry is ensuring passenger safety when a cell’s electrolyte boils and causes the ventilation of high-temperature toxic material. A cell-venting event can be triggered by a variety of scenarios with differing levels of likelihood. Also, though the duration of a venting event is relatively short, on the order of just a few seconds, the temperature of the venting material and cell is extremely high. During a venting event, the high-pressure, burning gases tend to burn holes in nearby packaging materials. Most interestingly, the team discovered that following a venting event the large-format cells tested immediately reached and remained at extremely high external skin temperatures for very long periods, on the order of hours. The majority of this report covers the testing designed to better understand how high-energy cells of this chemistry fail and what materials can be used to manage these failures in a way that increases passenger survivability

National Regulatory Framework for Autonomous Vehicles: Why the United States Must Look Abroad to Find Answers

Automation is in every aspect of our lives. Autonomous cars, or ‘self- driving cars,’ dominate today’s headlines. There is just one problem: the United States’ legislative infrastructure is not suited for these autonomous cars to become commonplace on the roads. The United States’ fractured system results in a maze of state laws that make it difficult for manufacturers to comply. Other countries, like Germany and Singapore, have enacted systems to make the testing and implementation of autonomous cars more efficient. This Note argues that the United States should follow Germany and Singapore’s models by modifying the definition of “driver” and implementing “regulatory sandboxes” to make the eventual introduction of autonomous cars safer

When Software Meets the Road: Responsibility for Defective Smart Cars in the MVP Era

This Article reveals and analyzes the rising dominance of the Minimal Viable Product (MVP) dynamic in the car industry and its legal and policy implications, especially given the growing automation trends in the driving experience. The MVP concept refers to releasing products as soon as possible and gathering feedback from early adopters to improve the product on the fly, based on users’ inputs. Many software-related products we use today were introduced at such an unripe stage and were developed into their current versions, given business trends originating from Silicon Valley. As the use of software in cars has grown, the MVP concept has migrated into the vehicle industry. The experimental nature of software development may require a different legal approach when dealing with vehicles, given the substantial negative impact of traffic accidents. While banning unripe products from the roads seems to be a trivial reaction, different reasons deem this to be an unpractical response. The domination of AI-based technologies prevents a thorough examination of user-computer responses until they hit the road. The shortage of current legal remedies to adequately solve the challenges of the MVP concept requires an immediate rethinking of the regulatory environment to address vehicles with various forms of automation while accounting for both deontological and utilitarian challenges. The Article starts by describing the software industry’s “Agile” methods and introduces the MVP concept, while providing examples of its success and failure. Next, it demonstrates and provides examples as to how this concept migrated into the car industry. Thereafter, it turns to address the deontological challenges involved with applying the MVP method and argues that not only does the use of technologies in such an early stage require meaningful consent, but also approval of an ethics board in an Institutional Review Board (IRB)-like process. Next, the Article focuses on a utilitarian analysis, after first establishing that the current measures to limit risky vehicles on the road are insufficient. To do so it addresses reliance on recalls, ex-ante supervision, and regulation of software distribution. It points to the complexities of the driving experience which might only be properly addressed through substantial usage and thus ex post regulation. It further indicates that resolving the noted regulatory tensions by relying on stricter ex post measures premised on the law as it stands today might fail to achieve an optimal outcome. This is due to information asymmetries which might substantially hinder effective litigation by plaintiffs. The Article concludes by providing some initial proposals to mitigate these latter concerns and enable ex post measures. At the end of the day, because MVP products are likely to stay, the Article concludes that some reforms to liability doctrines might be of the essence. These should include mandating manufacturers to record and report their cars’ behavior and rethinking evidentiary burdens

Naturally Occurring Asbestos in Alaska and Experiences and Policy of Other States Regarding its Use

INE/AUTC 09.0

Building Data Visualization Applications to Facilitate Vehicular Networking Research

A web app was developed which allows any internet-connected device to remotely monitor a roadway intersection’s state over HTTP. A mapping simulation was enhanced to allow researchers to retroactively track the location and the ad-hoc connectivity of vehicle clusters. A performance analysis was conducted on the utilized network partitioning algorithm. This work was completed under and for the utility of ETSU’s Vehicular Networking Lab. It can serve as a basis for further development in the field of wireless automobile connectivity

Inside magazine, December 2013-January 2014

Iowa Department of Transportation Newsletter. INSIDE Magazine is developed to help keep all Iowa DOT employees informed about critical issues affecting them, recognize DOT employees for their excellent service and share interesting aspects in the lives of our co-workers