In the US, large-scale research on the fire safety of electric vehicles with lithium-ion batteries, as well as hybrid vehicles using metal-hybrid batteries is starting. It is checked whether there is a real fire in the "home" state of charge as well as in the event of a road accident. The cost of the study is almost $9 million. The research was supported by Volvo and GM, as it is known that the electric model C30 and the hybrid Chevrolet Volt have already been produced on a wide leg. Kevin Vincent, the chief legal officer of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, explaining the reason for the research, noted the risk associated with the use of 400-volt lithium-ion battery in electric vehicles, which is several times higher than the standard lead acid batteries used in petrol vehicles. "We don't want them to burn their houses during the charging of electric vehicles," said Vincent. This was confirmed by Charles Gassenheimer, CEO of Ener1, a manufacturer of Lithium-ion batteries for Volvo and the Norwegian firm Think. According to him, the danger of a fire may arise in the event of excessive battery of electric car battery in residential conditions, but not in motion. As a matter of fact, the fire safety of independent electrical equipment, including food items, has always been high enough. However, American researchers are cited by Dell Computer Corporation, which in 2006 "withdrew" the 4.1 million Sony-ion batteries capable of producing fires under certain conditions. There has not been any such precedent in the case of electric cars. It is clear that their developers have been providing high fire safety for their products at the design stage. However, representatives of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration believe that if there is a risk of fire, it should be kept to a minimum. Other U.S. federal agencies, including representatives of the Energy Ministry, are taking part in the research. The administration of President Obama set a goal to increase the number of electric vehicles and hybrids on the country's roads to 1 million by 2015.