Safety Protocols for Electric Vehicles Crash Tests

Abstract

Climate change and air pollution in the recent decade have become an increasingly important issue. This has led to the introduction of transportation policies in many countries to make vehicles more efficient by promoting the development and use of Electric Vehicles (EVs). According to the European Automotive Manufacturers Association, the registration of EVs has shown a substantial increase of 160.5%, prompting stakeholders to assume a realistic market share for new electrically chargeable vehicles to be in the range of two to eight percent by 2020 to 2025, based on today's market. Electric and hybrid vehicles are subject to the same passive and active safety standards as fossil fuel engine vehicles and so they have to pass crash tests defined by homologation regulations or other consumer standards such as Euro NCAP. Electric and hybrid vehicles also have to fulfil a few specific extra requirements added to the official standards; as they pose a potential danger after severe crashes due to the risk of electric shock from the battery. In this paper, the internal safety protocol applied for EV crash tests that is used at Applus IDIADA crash test laboratory is described and related with the principal risks of testing EVs. Moreover, an overview of the principal amendments of passive safety standards regarding EVs is presented.