Volvo susses-out the safety of electric cars
Leave it to the safety gurus at Volvo to be ahead of the curve when it comes to researching – and crashing testing - the electric cars of the future.
The Swedish automaker is already neck-deep in data, working to build electric cars that are as safe as the internal combustion vehicles on the road today. It’s a pretty bold statement, but Volvo says it has, “theoretically identified all the electric-related safety scenarios in the stages before, during and after a collision.”
"A holistic approach and results from real-life traffic conditions are always the starting-point for Volvo's safety work. Based on our massive database, featuring input from actual road accidents, we know where the focus must lie in everyday traffic conditions. The solutions we have developed for our forthcoming electric cars therefore take into account the situations that are unique to this type of car," said Volvo Cars' safety expert, Thomas Broberg.
The testing in Sweden started with finicky details, like the design of individual parts, before going full-scale with virtual and real-life crash tests. Volvo says it’s learned that a battery that is constantly monitored and properly encased, is the safest solution.
Engineers break down a crash into five phases: from normal driving to after the accident has occurred. For the coming electric cars, Volvo’s team is working out how to keep batteries cool during regular driving; how the batteries extra weight effect vehicle handling; how to best house the batteries between the rear wheels, separate from the car's crumple zones; how to keep gas from damaged batteries away from occupants and how to engineer in a security cut-out like a household ground fault circuit.
The automaker’s also been working with emergency services, providing them with instructions on how best to handle Volvo models in an accident.
Not surprisingly, Volvo will migrate its existing safety systems to its electric cars and develop new solutions. "We may well see further down the line that cars powered solely by electricity can be made even safer than cars with combustion engines," said Broberg.
