The EV Safety Advantage

/ The EV Safety Advantage JULY 2018 1 / The EV Safety Advantage Introduction Electric cars are now known for being quick. They records. Everything we found confirmed its leadership are known for being clean. They are known for being in vehicle safety. For example, Tesla Model S is 61% quiet and smooth to drive. However, one of their better than average large luxury cars in terms of biggest benefits is something seldom discussed or personal injury claims, and is a clear step better than even acknowledged. Electric cars are safer. the #2 Volvo XC70 station wagon. For this report, our team dove deeper into electric However, a key conclusion is that Tesla vehicles vehicle safety in order to explore this topic and aren’t the only ones exceeding on safety. Other fully confirm that it is indeed one of the advantages electric electric cars score highly in independent safety tests. cars have over gasoline or diesel cars. That included a The Chevrolet Volt has the lowest personal injury review of government safety ratings in the US, Europe, claims of small, four-door cars, and is 29% better than Australia, and Japan; a review of insurance data we the average car in that category. The Nissan LEAF is were luckily able to obtain; and a review of vehicle fire 17% better than the class average. Electric cars also data. perform exceptionally well in frontal crash tests and in terms of rollover risk. Tesla, as you might expect, is leading the pack on vehicle safety — across the board, not just in We hope you will enjoy this report and share the the electric car realm. It has broken various safety helpful news about EV safety with others. Sincerely, Zachary Shahan Director, CleanTechnica 2 / The EV Safety Advantage Table of contents Executive Summary 04. A. EV SAFETY 05. A1.1 Major independent government agencies rate EVs as the safest cars to drive 06. A1.2 Electric/hybrid vehicles have overall better IIHS ratings than ICE vehicles 07. A2.1 Driving a hybrid vehicle reduces the injury odds in a collision, according to IIHS 08. A2.2 Among large luxury cars, TeslaModel S is 61% better than average large luxury cars in terms of personal injury claims 09. A2.3 Among small 4-door cars, Chevrolet Volt is 29% better than average small 4-door cars in terms of personal injury claims, and Nissan LEAF is 17% better 10. B. EV BENEFIT 11. B1. For frontal crash ratings, EVs perform at least as well as luxury ICE vehicles 12. B2.1 Rollovers have a higher fatality rate than any other kind of crashes 14. B2.2 EVs are less likely than ICE vehicles — including luxury and most popular cars — to roll over due to better stability 14. B2.3 Among SUVs, Tesla Model X is the safest car ever tested 15. C. EV RISKS? 16. C1.1 ICE cars are fundamentally more exposed to fatal fire risks than their electric counterparts 17. C1.2 Even in case of collision, ICE vehicles are more likely to catch fire than hybrid vehicles 18. APPENDIX 19. SOURCES 37. 3 / The EV Safety Advantage Executive summary A. EV SAFETY B. EV BENEFIT C. EV RISKS? A1. RATINGS B1. OPTIMAL CRUMPLE ZONE C1. FIRE AND ELECTRIC SHOCK RISK Major independent govern- The absence of an engine in ment agencies rate Electric Ve- the front of the vehicle improves Highly mediatized accidents hicles (EVs) as the safest cars the crumple zone of EVs. involving fire especially three to drive. Tesla Model S accidents. The centered location of bat- NHTSA has given the Tesla tery packs vastly reduces the However ICE cars are funda- Model X a perfect five-star safe- torque forces in a car accident. mentally more exposed to fatal ty rating, the first SUV ever to fire risks than their electric coun- get the top score. In terms of frontal crash tests, terparts, as the deadliest fires are EVs are comparable to high-end mostly due to flammable liquids A2. INJURY INSURANSECLAIMS ICE vehicles. located in the engine area. B2. REDUCE ROLLOVER RISK Electric/ hybrid vehicles have C2. DANGER FOR PEDESTRIANS overall better IIHS ratings than ICE vehicles. 2% of crashes involve a rollover, Hybrids and electric vehicles but they cause 35% of deaths. are so quiet that pedestrians Driving a hybrid vehicle reduc- can’t always hear them coming. es the injury odds in a collision, Large battery on the base low- NHTSA last year finalized a rule according to IIHS. ers the center of gravity and re- requiring the vehicles to make duces the rollover risk for EVs. noise but has since delayed the In terms of personal injury effective date. claims, Tesla Model S is 57% bet- Tesla Model S achieves a record ter than average luxury cars and low 5.7% rollover likelihood in Nissan Leaf is 17% better than a single-vehicle crash, and Tesla average small four-door cars. Model X achieves the best rating among comparable SUVs. B3. BETTER MANUEUVERABIL- ITY AND CONTROL Electric vehicles benefit from better dynamic stability due to a centered battery pack and electronic control of power and braking. 4 / The EV Safety Advantage A. EV SAFETY A. Executive summary A1. RATINGS A2. INJURY INSURANSECLAIMS Major independent govern- Electric/ hybrid vehicles have ment agencies rate Electric Ve- overall better IIHS ratings than ICE hicles (EVs) as the safest cars vehicles. to drive. Driving a hybrid vehicle reduces NHTSA has given the Tesla the injury odds in a collision, ac- Model X a perfect five-star safe- cording to IIHS. ty rating, the first SUV ever to In terms of personal injury get the top score. claims, Tesla Model S is 57% better than average luxury cars and Nissan Leaf is 17% better than average small four-door cars. 5 A. EV SAFETY / The EV Safety Advantage A1.1 Major independent government agencies rate EVs as the safest cars to drive TESLA MODEL S NHTSA EURO NCAP ANCAP JAPAN NCAP — TESLA MODEL X — — NISSAN LEAF HYUNDAI IONIQ — — BMW I3 — — CHEVROLET VOLT — — RENAULT ZOE — — — 6 A. EV SAFETY / The EV Safety Advantage A1.2 Electric/hybrid vehicles have overall better IIHS ratings than ICE vehicles IIHS moderate overlap test ratings. IIHS small overlap test ratings. 64 km/h, 40% overlap on driver side, 64 km/h, 25% overlap on driver side, into into deformable barrier. rigid barrier with radius on the right edge. moderate overlap – All moderate overlap – PEV/HEV moderate overlap – All moderate overlap – PEV/HEV Good Marginal Acceptable Poor IIHS side impact test ratings. IIHS roof crush test ratings. 50 km/h, deformable mobile barrier Quasi-static loading on either driver onto driver side. or passenger sede of vehicle. side impact – All side impact – PEV/HEV roof crush – All roof crush – PEV/HEV Good Marginal Acceptable Poor 7 A. EV SAFETY / The EV Safety Advantage The IIHS and Australian NCAP have crash tested 42 Three IIHS small overlap crash tests of elec- hybrid and/or electric vehicles in various test sce- tric/hybrid vehicles resulted in poor structural narios. Ratings of good, acceptable, marginal or poor ratings, and six IIHS side impact tests resulted in are awarded to the vehicle in each test mode by IIHS. acceptable structural ratings. However, the area surrounding the vehicles’ high-voltage battery The electric/hybrid vehicles have a higher pro- (RESS) was intact in all cases, with no electrical portion of good IIHS ratings in the moderate over- safety issues. Moreover, of the 12 HEV/ PEV mod- lap front test, side impact test, and roof strength els tested since IIHS incorporated a 2-week post- test than conventionally powered vehicles from test observation period, none have caught fire. the same vehicle classes and model years. A2.1 Driving a hybrid vehicle reduces the injury odds in a collision, according to IIHS Estimated injury odds on a collision and Estimated injury odds on a collision and PIP coverage MedPay coverage 0,20 0,20 0,15 0,15 0,10 0,10 0,05 0,05 Hybrid Conventional counterpart Analyses included 25+ hybrid-conventional pairs, A study by the Highway Loss Data Institute all 2003-20011 models with at least one collision estimated the odds that a crash would result in claim and at least one related injury claim filed injuries if people were riding in a hybrid vs their under personal injury protection (PIP) or medical conventional counterpart. payment (MedPay) coverage in 2002-2010. The results of the study indicate that injury Due to the extra weight of RESS, hybrids are odds are lower in electric vehicles than in 10% heavier than their conventional counter- their conventional counterparts. parts. This extra mass provides a slight safety advantage in some types of crashes, such as those involving other vehicles. 8 A. EV SAFETY / The EV Safety Advantage A2.2 Among large luxury cars, Tesla Model S is 61% better than average large luxury cars in terms of personal injury claims Large Luxury Cars 2014–2016 Personal Injury claims in relative terms IIHS ranking TESLA MODEL S 4DR ELECTRIC 2WD 39 VOLVO XC70 STATION WAGON 4WD 45 AUDI A7 4DR 4WD 50 AUDI A6 4DR 4WD 53 Substantially better MERCEDES CLS CLASS 4DR 2WD 62 MERCEDES E CLASS 2DR 2WD 68 MERCEDES E CLASS CONVERTIBLE 68 BMW 5 SERIES 4DR 2WD 73 CADILLAC CTS 4DR 2WD 73 CADILLAC CTS 4DR 4WD 75 Better than average BMW 5 SERIES 4DR 4WD 79 MERCEDES E CLASS 4DR 4WD 79 LEXUS GS 350 4DR 2WD 81 ACURA RLX 4DR 82 MERCEDES E CLASS 4DR 2WD 82 MERCEDES CLS CLASS 4DR 4WD 83 HYUNDAI GENESIS 4DR 85 Average LEXUS GS 350 4DR 4WD 91 MERCEDES E CLASS 2DR 4WD 91 JAGUAR XF 4DR 2WD 98 INFINITI Q70/M SERIES 4WD 100 EV ICE Note: 100 represents the average for all vehicles under a given coverage type.

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