IIHS warns that fires are not a safety concern for electric vehicles, but their weight is what matters

Electric vehicle fires tend to attract a lot of attention, but the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) warns that electric vehicles add weight—and the damage it can cause to occupants. other road users—the real safety concern.

Raul Arbelaez, IIHS research center vice president, wrote: “55 EV crash tests and no subsequent fires, I’m still concerned about these batteries, but for a bare reason. more than their ability to ignite”. week in one blog post. My biggest concern is how much they weigh and what all that extra weight means for the safety of road users, especially those in vehicles. lighter as well as pedestrians and cyclists.”

2022 GMC Hummer EV equipped with accessories – SEMA Exhibition 2021

Current electric vehicles are typically heavier than comparable internal combustion vehicles because most vehicles require large batteries to achieve sufficient range. Arbelaez argues that if automakers can’t significantly reduce weight, they should consider redesigning the EV’s crash structure to help compensate for it in collisions with lighter vehicles.

Taking advantage of available space that would otherwise be occupied by the engine, Arbelaez suggests, automakers can add crush space to the front end of their EVs to achieve this.

“While we often think of shrinking areas as important to protect occupants in vehicles, the extra space will also protect passengers in other, lighter vehicles.”

Vision Mercedes-Benz EXX

Extra weight of electric vehicle versus internal combustion engine vehicles is something the IIHS has looked at in the past, but with the increasing proportion of electric vehicles on the highways, this is certainly a growing concern. Many of them are also large trucks, GMC Hummer EV weighs 9,000 lb is one of the best examples of that trend.

In addition to safety concerns, the extra weight can have a negative impact on overall emissions. A recent study confirmed that lighter electric cars are greenest means of overall carbon emissions. Another study shows that larger batteries can increased emissions of particulate matter—including and especially from tires.

Not every automaker is locked into a larger battery. Mercedes-Benz has considered returning to air-cooled batteries and emphasizing aero as part of its efforts to reduce weight, embodying these ideas in Conceptual Vision EQXX.