Press Release: Car safety: European Commission welcomes international agreement on electric and hybrid cars

The European Commission welcomed the adoption on 10 March 2010 at the United Nations in Geneva of the first international regulation on safety of both fully electric and hybrid cars.

This landmark decision will facilitate the early introduction of safe and clean electric cars onto our roads. The technical regulation, adopted at the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), ensures that cars with a high voltage electric power train, such as hybrid and fully electric vehicles, are as safe as conventional cars. Hybrid and electric cars are increasingly available on the market and are very promising in terms of making road transport clean and energy-efficient.