Edinburgh Napier University

  Whether you are an individual buying your first car or replacing an existing vehicle, or if you are a fleet manager making vehicle purchase decisions on behalf of a company, the acquisition of a car is usually a highly significant purchase. Increasingly, consumers are choosing to switch from traditional, internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles to electric vehicles (EVs). Becoming accustomed to any new vehicle brings safety challenges as one learns the performance, handling and user interface aspects of the vehicle. Switching powertrain brings additional safety concerns as the user becomes familiar with the features and characteristics of electric propulsion. This extends beyond the driving experience to the day-to-day use of the vehicle.
This chapter explores some of the everyday safety issues that might be encountered by users of EVs.
It should be noted that we are not implying that EVs are necessarily riskier than ICE vehicles – indeed the switch to a modern EV is also likely to mean that the vehicle will be equipped with advanced driver
assistance systems (ADAS) and score highly in Euro NCAP occupant protection crash tests. We are simply noting that these safety concerns are present and different to those of ICEs and are therefore worthy of discussion.