GM Accelerates EV Training for First Responders

Before you know it, electric vehicles (EVs) will be everywhere. EV training for first responders will soon be offered by all auto manufacturers in the sector.  First responders called to incidents will require special training in dealing with EVs. As we at Napleton News have learned, you don’t just throw water on a grease fire! General Motors realizes the same and offers training for first responders who will likely encounter EVs soon.

EV Training for First Responders is about time

The initiative is now underway in the U.S. and Canada. It will instruct fire, police and public safety officials on best practices in dealing with EV emergencies. GM makes sure in their press release to plug their fine EV models. They quickly name the Chevy Bolt EV and Bolt EUV, Cadillac Lyriq, Hummer EV and Silverado EV.

GM is quick to point out that the EV-driving general public can learn a bit from the General. (Sorry, we couldn’t resist.) General Motors started EV safety education more than ten years ago, coinciding with the introduction of the Chevrolet Volt. If you think of it simply as a matter of scale, GM plans to have more than 1 million electric vehicles on the road by 2025. With those numbers in mind, it’s easy to see why training must begin today.

Safety First

“This training offers unique material and hands-on experiences that can help increase responder’s awareness of procedures to help maintain safety while interacting with EVs during the performance of their duties,” said Joe McLaine, GM global product safety and systems engineer. McClaine also happens to be the leader of the training effort. “Our primary goal is to provide key information directly to first and second responders,” he said.

Gas and diesel-powered vehicles share many components with EVs, but GM’s “clean-sheet” approach has allowed the company to design from the ground up. Using “skateboard chassis” will provide a lower center of gravity to help prevent rollovers. Design engineers have also made the vehicle with less exposure of high-voltage components to the vehicle’s occupants.

Training with a purpose

This GM program aims to educate emergency responders with vital information to effectively fight the dangers that may occur after an accident. Much of the same information carries over to hybrid-electric vehicles as well. They also discuss and even dispel many misconceptions that exist in the field.  It may be evident to some, but opening a hood to anything orange indicates a high-voltage component. Another misconception: Many people believe water is dangerous around an EV battery when a large volume of water is the recommended method to suppress a lithium-ion battery fire.

It’s training whose time has come. GM will start in Michigan and take its act on the road. Indiana, Texas, Illinois are next with more to be announced at a future date.

“The fire service has had more than 100 years to gain the knowledge needed to respond to internal combustion engine fires, said The National Fire Protection Association’s Andrew Klock. It is critical that they are now educated on EV safety,” he said.