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SAE paper 2013-01-0213 [1] described firefighting tests with Li-Ion traction batteries. However, additional knowledge and experience has been gained since then. In 2018 and 2019, DEKRA Accident Research and the Department of Anesthesiology of the University Medical Center Göttingen conducted crash tests far beyond standard with four battery electric vehicles. Three of the vehicles’ batteries were used to test a new method of firefighting. A specially designed lance was used to pierce the battery housing, which enabled water to be directly fed into the housings themselves. The method proved to be very effective, but the tests also showed some limitations. The information gleaned from this series of tests and experience gained from other tests was used as a basis for the formation of a multidisciplinary group of experts.

Secondary safety systems to protect occupants have attained a very high level over the past decades. Further improvements are still possible, but increasingly minor progress is only to be had with a high degree of effort. Today, integrated safety is the key aspect to improve overall safety in manifold accident situations. This is already implemented in the development of new cars. But so far, the testing and assessment of new cars still involves using tests which do not take into account the significant additional potential of integrated safety measures. An example is given with automatic pre-crash braking functions, which are newly available in state-of-the-art cars. Using reliable information on an imminent crash, such measures act already in the pre-crash phase and can result in a significantly high decrease of the accident outcomes. Such preventive measures are the key to a further substantial reduction of the figures of crash victims on our roads.

The number of vehicles equipped with automatic emergency braking systems is rising. Today most high-end auto makers offer pre-crash systems with a sensor-based collision warning feature. These systems warn the driver both audibly and visually when their sensors detect an imminent crash. Depending on system range, the occupants are moved into an optimized position, seat belts are pretensioned and the brakes are prepared for faster or, if necessary, maximum deceleration. A key feature of these systems is their ability to provide autonomous partial to full emergency braking in critical situations, thereby reducing collision speeds. Until now, crash tests have failed to mirror accident situations in which vehicles are braked prior to impact. Thus, it has not been possible to test the effectiveness of pre-crash occupant positioning or to reproducibly analyze the benefits of occupant preconditioning by pre-crash systems.

A changed attitude to environmental concerns together with rising fuel prices has resulted in an increasing demand for alternative forms of fuel for vehicle propulsion. In particular, the registration figures for vehicles powered with compressed natural gas (CNG) and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) show strong growth rates in Europe. Both vehicles originally equipped by the manufacturer and those which are retrofitted are very common. To find out more about the technical- and fire safety of retrofitted cars DEKRA Accident Research carried out a crash test in accordance with FMVSS 301. The results were used to prepare a guide for rescue services.

The progress of passive safety in car-to-car frontal collisions can be seen very clearly from the results of crash tests with old and new car models. The published federal accident statistics show an overall effort in passive safety, which is obvious by decreasing figures of killed and severely injured car occupants per year on German roads. But it is not possible to exclusively focus on car crashes with frontal collisions because the characteristics investigated in official statistics are not detailed enough. Therefore additional in-depth studies are necessary. The paper shows results of car-to-car and car-to-barrier frontal impacts for old and new car models. Some results of evaluations using the federal German statistics show historical trends in a more general view. Interdisciplinary real-life crash studies are focused on car-to-car frontal collisions.