"Strengthening Response to Electric Vehicle Fires through Discovery and Distribution of Innovative Products"

The government plans to strengthen the discovery and distribution of innovative products such as electric vehicle fire suppression equipment to enhance the fire response capabilities for electric vehicles and others.

On the 23rd, the Public Procurement Service announced that it will prepare and implement safety management measures for "electric vehicles, electric-powered vehicles, and charging devices (hereinafter electric vehicles, etc.)."

Provided by Public Procurement Service

◆ Strengthening fire response for electric vehicles, etc. with innovative products = According to the Public Procurement Service, currently, four innovative electric vehicle fire extinguishing equipment products, which apply innovative technology beyond general fire suppression equipment such as fire extinguishers, are registered (designated as innovative products) in the national procurement system.

The products designated as innovative include one that solves the problem of difficulty in directly spraying extinguishing agents on lithium batteries due to vehicle structure by penetrating the vehicle's underside and battery pack to spray extinguishing agents directly at the internal fire point of the battery.

Also designated as innovative products are an electric fire-type automatic extinguishing system that instantly and automatically releases extinguishing agents when a fire occurs due to overcurrent in electric vehicle chargers or distribution boxes, and fire extinguishers that suppress fires by cooling the battery with a non-conductive reinforced liquid.

These products are significant in that they apply innovative technology to actively respond to fires in electric vehicles and others.

Furthermore, the Public Procurement Service plans to newly establish a fire response field track within the innovative product recruitment fields (previously three major fields and 23 detailed items) to expand the discovery and designation of innovative products for electric vehicle fire prevention and suppression equipment.

In particular, by expanding the designation of innovative products through demand-driven proposals and recommendations by private experts (scouters), customized technology development suited to field conditions can be actively promoted.

The spread of innovative products for fire response to electric vehicles and others will also be pursued simultaneously. The core is to expand the scale, target institutions, and frequency of pilot purchases of electric vehicle fire prevention and suppression equipment by pre-purchasing innovative products with the Public Procurement Service budget for demonstration, enabling rapid supply of these products to the field.

In addition, the Public Procurement Service plans to lead the development and performance improvement of electric vehicle fire response technologies through innovative product research and development (R&D).

Provided by Public Procurement Service

◆ Increasing ‘electric vehicles’ in the public sector, thorough safety management = The government has steadily increased the supply of electric vehicles in the public sector through the eco-friendly vehicle purchase obligation policy. As a result, the annual public market electric vehicle contract scale over the past three years increased to KRW 114.3 billion in 2021, KRW 135.8 billion in 2022, and KRW 170.1 billion in 2023. During the same period, electric vehicle charging devices also increased from KRW 35.9 billion (2021) to KRW 42.6 billion (2023).

As electric vehicle fires have recently become a social issue, the importance of electric vehicle safety management in the public sector has also grown. Accordingly, the Public Procurement Service plans to ensure safety by mandating the disclosure of key battery information of electric vehicles, etc., in product specifications and newly registering smart controlled slow chargers in the national procurement system.

In particular, the Public Procurement Service explained that it will revise existing electric vehicle contracts and promptly organize specifications so that battery information disclosure can be completed by next month. The disclosed information will include additional items such as cell origin, beyond the items included in government measures such as cell manufacturer, type, and main raw materials, to enhance transparency.

The disclosure targets include electric vehicles purchased through public (central) procurement and leased electric vehicles, and even if demand institutions contract independently without going through the Public Procurement Service, guidance will be provided to ensure battery information is disclosed.

When purchasing electric vehicles in the future, the Public Procurement Service will also revise related regulations to allow additional optional contracts for safety equipment such as suffocation fire blankets and fire extinguishers, in addition to the existing standalone contracts for charging devices.

Suffocation fire blankets play a role in covering the vehicle during a fire to cut off oxygen supply, preventing the flames from spreading to the surroundings.

Lim Gi-geun, Administrator of the Public Procurement Service, said, “We will strengthen electric vehicle fire safety management measures starting from the public procurement sector to alleviate public anxiety caused by electric vehicle fires and support the growth of the electric vehicle industry. The Public Procurement Service will also actively pursue the discovery of innovative products to provide innovative solutions that respond to everyday safety and threats beyond electric vehicle fire response.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.