Training on an electric vehicle. (Illinois Fire Institute photo)

Firefighters and other emergency personnel from several Iowa cities are in the Chicago area this week attending an intensive training course in how to deal with electric vehicles in any emergency.

EVs are not more dangerous than gas-powered vehicles after a crash, but there are key differences, according to Joe McLaine, global product safety and systems engineer with General Motors, and the leader of the training effort.

“The training we’re giving is for first and second responders. First responders are broadly categorized as police, public safety, law enforcement, fire service, emergency personnel,” McLaine says, “as well as second responders, folks in the towing communities, salvage yards, battery recyclers, folks that deal with vehicles after a crash.”

Attendees are getting hands-on training in how to approach an EV after an incident, including how to stabilize and disconnect high voltage lines. He says one of the first things responders will learn is how to identify if they’re dealing with an EV.
“You may look for badges or emblems,” McLaine says. “You might look for no exhaust pipe, a charge port as opposed to a fuel filler door, a clean front facia or front grille as there’s no need to have ram air or passive air for the cooling system.” In nature, certain types of creatures that are orange might be dangerous, including venomous snakes, sea creatures, and poisonous plants. G-M is following that cue by using the color orange inside EVs.

“The auto industry has adopted a standard to make orange all those cables and high voltage components that could be potentially hazardous if you were to try to cut them or pull on them or something like that,” McLaine says. “That’s why we clad them in the color orange, again, high visibility so people don’t try to pry or cut.” About 80 people from the region are taking the two-day course, free through GM, which is partnering with the University of Illinois Fire Service Institute in Wheeling.