In early September, Dykema’s Jeff Cox and Dommond Lonnie served as moderators for the DRI’s Strictly Automotive seminar, joining fellow automotive in-house and outside counsel to discuss trending topics in the industry. Jeff’s session, “The Future of Alternative Fuel Vehicles is Already Here,” included a high-level discussion of alternative fuel vehicles, including hybrid, fully electric and hydrogen fuel cell designs, with an update from manufacturers on their short-term and future development, new technology, EV recalls, and a discussion of ways to best defend an EV case at trial. Dommond’s session, “The Future is Electric,” discussed how the Biden Administration’s Infrastructure Plan and other developments in the legal landscape are poised to drive widespread acceptance of EV technology.

Some key takeaways from the seminar include:

• The U.S. state, European and now Chinese data privacy and cybersecurity protection laws permeates almost all aspects of electric vehicle production and operation, such as procurement contract risk allocation, product liability litigation defense strategies, and breach reporting obligations after the vehicle is on the road, among others.
• The importance for counsel and experts to understand the technical differences applicable to electric vehicles when developing product liability defense strategies.
• The Biden Administration’s Infrastructure Plan’s impact on driving the expansion of electric vehicle production, as well as the underlying infrastructure required (battery charging stations).

To view Dommond’s seminar manuscript, click here. To view slides from Jeff’s recent presentation addressing “How Going All Electric May Impact the Future of Fire Litigation,” click here (starting on Slide 21).