21.11.2012 Most UK motorists consider EVs 'safe'

According to a new survey, 84% of UK motorists believe that electric vehicles (EVs) are at least as safe as cars that use conventional fuels.

The web poll, to which 505 UK drivers responded, demonstrated that 45% of UK drivers believe that EVs are as safe as those powered by combustion engines and that 39% actually consider them to be the safer option.

However, though these figures will come as a much needed boost to the electric vehicle market, 16% of respondents remain unconvinced; 10% said they thought EVs were less safe and 6% thought that they weren’t safe at all.

The poll, conducted by TheGreenCarWebsite, serves to reinforce the findings of a report recently published by vehicle inspection company DEKRA, which concludes that 'in the event of a fire, electric and hybrid cars containing lithium-ion batteries are at least as safe as combustion engine vehicles.'

As part of the report, batteries were set alight with petrol in order to investigate the behaviour of battery fires. It was found that although smaller 'flash fires' did begin as a result of 'in-built pressure relief valve', these fires were far less intense than those produced by petrol.

Accident research employee for DEKRA, Markus Egelhaaf said: "The risk of the fire rapidly spreading is lower in battery fires because unlike in vehicles that use conventional fuels such as petrol or diesel, burning liquid cannot flow away and set neighbouring objects alight."

Additionally, evidence provided by safety authorities Euro NCAP and The National Highways Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) shows that new EVs are amongst some of the safest cars available. For instance, both the Nissan LEAF and the Vauxhall Ampera received five star Euro NCAP ratings for crash safety, whilst the Mitsubishi i-MiEV received four.

Newspress, DEKRA