Electric car safety

Safety on roads is always an important factor for drivers to consider...

Car safety

Electric cars are subject to the same vehicle approval test as diesel and petrol cars. Usually the batteries in the ecar are placed under the floor and so lowers the centre of gravity which gives the car better handling characteristics making it easier and safer to drive.
Find out more about how electric cars work

Road collisions

Electric cars are subject to the same crash testing as petrol and diesel cars. In most electric cars the impact sensors that deploy airbags will also cut off supply of electricity from the battery. So for drivers and those responding to accidents, there should be no additional safety risk.

Silent driving

One of the environmental benefits of electric cars is that they are very quiet. However this can present a risk in areas of high pedestrian density as people do not hear any sound from the electric car. As a result some car manufacturers are fitting artificial sounds for speeds up to 30km/hr to make people more aware of its presence.

Charging at home

The safest way to charge an electric car at home is to use dedicated electrical vehicle supply equipment (EVSE). This consists of an outdoor socket properly protected against rain, a means of isolation and a residual current device type that is designed to handle DC pulses as well as AC current. A separate circuit from the distribution board should be used to supply the EVSE. Extension leads should not be used as even uncoiled they are not intended to carry full rated current for lengthy periods.

Charging at public charge points

The public charge points are designed with all the electrical safety features to protect the public and the ecar driver. To reduce wear and tear on any plug it is always better to have the electricity disconnected before removing it from a socket. This is why many domestic sockets have a switch. The ecar charging lead should always be plugged into the car before connecting the cable to the charging point. Similarly the cable should be disconnected first from the charging point before being disconnected from the car.

Fast charge points

At the moment ecars can only be fast charged using off-board DC equipment. This is because the on-board system in the cars cannot yet cope with higher AC power while keeping the weight and cost acceptably low. This is the subject of considerable research by car companies and should be available in the near future. Fast charging (50kW) involves transferring a lot of energy in a short period of time. The safety systems ensure the protection of the public and the ecar driver.

Because of the high currents involved a larger cable than that used for the normal public charging is required. This cable is fitted within all fast chargers. This means the driver only connects one end of the cable into the car.