USA: The updated review of the safety of R1234yf by the SAE has so far failed to find any new information which might require a change to the risk assessment of the new refrigerant for car air conditioning systems.
The latest International Cooperative Research Project (CRP) conducted by SAE International, the global association of more than 128,000 engineers and experts in the aerospace, automotive and commercial-vehicle industries, has said that, to date, the majority of the OEMs involved in the new CRP do not believe that any of the new information reviewed will lead to a change in the overall risk assessment.

This is the fourth such research programme conducted by SAE and was prompted by German car manufacturer Daimler's rejection of the new 1234yf refrigerant on the grounds of tests it had carried out which questioned the refrigerant's safety in the event of a head-on collision.

According to the SAE, several OEMs have shared test results regarding their vehicles and, with the exception of Daimler, no OEM in the CRP has provided information that would suggest a concern for the safe use of R1234yf in their vehicles.

Previous studies concluded that R1234yf is a safe and acceptable alternative refrigerant for mobile air conditioning systems.

The new CRP team began by conducting a detailed review of the original Fault Tree Analysis (FTA) and chose to expand the trees to ensure that newly-identified information and testing from each of the OEMs is incorporated. The SAE says that this study has highlighted concerns with relying on one test to be reflective of real world collisions across vehicle applications.

The CRP team continues to hold regular conference calls and face-to-face meetings and says it expects to be able to provide updated progress reports as new information becomes available. The next report is expected by the middle of February. The SAE says that to insure thoroughness, the OEM team is working quickly but diligently to complete the expanded fault trees and several of the OEM members continue to do testing toward that goal. The new risk assessment and publication of the findings is planned for completion in the second quarter of 2013.

The team includes 13 members: Audi, BMW, Chrysler/Fiat, Daimler, Ford, General Motors, Honda, Hyundai, Jaguar Land Rover, Mazda, PSA, Renault and Toyota.