Will EVs present a greater fleet safety risk?

High powered EVs are already involved in 40% more collisions according to insurance group AXA - and their crash tests indicate the higher weight and battery vulnerability might be factors as well. So what does this mean for fleet safety?

EV advocates make the sensible point that collisions are the result of driver behaviour - not the vehicle they are driving. And that's true. However, there are some crucial things that fleets should take into account:

• Instant torque means that drivers must get used to very gentle acceleration
• Vans fires are already an issue on major roads, usually caused by poor maintenance of brakes and tyres. A fire in an electric vehicle is more potentially much more serious than in an ICE if only because batteries are volatile and cannot easily be extinguished
• Batteries (usually positooned between the wheelbases) are vulnerable to rough handling - smacking it on the kerb while parking, sleeping policemen, bad potholes, uneven ground.
• Breakdowns may be more problematic, as towing EVs requires disconnecting the battery first - otheriwse the motor locks the wheels. Plus turning the wheels with the battery on can generate a powerful charge.
• EVs are heavier - and weight is a critical factor in the damage caused by collisions.
• So far most electric vehicles are being run by very good fleet operators - but maintenance standards may not be as high when used electric vehicles are being run by smaller fleets.

It's early days for electric vehicles, and there's no reason to scaremonger about the potential risks. However, it is worth being aware that drivers should be properly trained to drive an electric vehicle because they do handle differently, and 'over-tapping' causes a lot of rear shunts and minor damage. 

The proliferation of EVs into fleets will put the focus more than ever on driver behaviour as opposed to driver performance. Traditional driver training looks at a driver's skills in handling the vehicle - but can do little about underlying attitudes to risk. However, an aggressive driver with an unhealthy attitude to risk is arguably far more likely to cause collisions  in a vehicle that respnds instantly rather than one which takes  several seconds to respond to heavy acceleration.

Food for thought.

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