NB: In addition to the handling characteristics of electric vehicles
(EV) such as higher acceleration than an internal combustion engine
vehicle, a battery with the mass described below must be secured in a
collision. The acceleration can be controlled by a computer so as to
mimic an internal combustion vehicle, but the mass of an EV cannot. The
alternatives using a hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicle would demand a
large hydrogen infrastructure, whereas an alcohol (not fossil fuel)
powered internal combustion engine vehicle would require the ability to
produce alcohol without reducing the food supply. Alcohol combustion
produces carbon dioxide that would that the same amount of carbon
dioxide being produced is used by the plants to produce the biomass.
(Note that hydrogen from water electrolysis also produces oxygen, and
when the hydrogen combusts with oxygen, the same amount of water should
be produced as was used to produce the hydrogen -- a "closed cycle".)
https://news.yahoo.com/us-official-warns-risks-posed-200630606.html
Associated Press
US official warns of risks posed by heavy electric vehicles
FILE - Jennifer Homendy of the National Transportation Safety Board
speaks during a news conference, Oct. 3, 2019, in Windsor Locks, Conn.
On Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2023, Homendy, the chairwoman of the National
Transportation Safety Board, said she is concerned about the risk that
heavy electric vehicles pose if they collide with lighter vehicles. (AP
Photo/Chris Ehrmann, File) (ASSOCIATED PRESS)
TOM KRISHER
Wed, January 11, 2023 at 12:06 PM PST
DETROIT (AP) — The head of the National Transportation Safety Board
expressed concern Wednesday about the safety risks that heavy electric
vehicles pose if they collide with lighter vehicles.
The official, Jennifer Homendy, raised the issue in a speech in
Washington to the Transportation Research Board. She noted, by way of
example, that an electric GMC Hummer weighs about 9,000 pounds (4,000
kilograms), with a battery pack that alone is 2,900 pounds (1,300
kilograms) — roughly the entire weight of a typical Honda Civic.
“I’m concerned about the increased risk of severe injury and death for
all road users from heavier curb weights and increasing size, power, and
performance of vehicles on our roads, including electric vehicles,”
Homendy said in remarks prepared for the group.
The extra weight that EVs typically carry stems from the outsize mass of
their batteries. To achieve 300 or more miles (480 or more kilometers)
of range per charge from an EV, batteries have to weigh thousands of pounds.
Some battery chemistries being developed have the potential to pack more
energy into less mass. But for now, there’s a mismatch in weight between
EVs and smaller internal combustion vehicles. EVs also deliver instant
power to their wheels, making them accelerate faster in most cases than
most gas-powered cars, trucks and SUVs.
Homendy said she was encouraged by the Biden administration’s plans to
phase out carbon emissions from vehicles to deal with the climate
crisis. But she said she still worries about safety risks resulting from
a proliferation of EVs on roads ands highways.
“We have to be careful that we aren’t also creating unintended
consequences: More death on our roads,” she said. “Safety, especially
when it comes to new transportation policies and new technologies,
cannot be overlooked.”
Homendy noted that Ford’s F-150 Lightning EV pickup is 2,000 to 3,000
pounds (900 to 1,350 kilograms) heavier than the same model’s combustion
version. The Mustang Mach E electric SUV and the Volvo XC40 EV, she
said, are roughly 33% heavier than their gasoline counterparts.
“That has a significant impact on safety for all road users,” Homendy added.
The NTSB investigates transportation crashes but has no authority to
make regulations. For vehicles, such authority rests largely with the
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Even apart from EVs, the nation’s roads are crowded with heavy vehicles,
thanks to a decadelong boom in sales of larger cars, trucks and SUVs
that’s led to extreme mismatches in collisions with smaller vehicles.
But electric vehicles are typically much heavier than even the largest
trucks and SUVs that are powered by gasoline or diesel.
Michael Brooks, executive director of the nonprofit Center for Auto
Safety, said he, too, is concerned about the weight of EVs because
buyers seem to be demanding a range of 300 or more miles per charge,
requiring heavy batteries.
Setting up a charging network to accommodate that may be a mistake from
a safety perspective, Brooks said.
“These bigger, heavier batteries are going to cause more damage,” he
said. “It's a simple matter of mass and speed.”
Brooks said he knows of little research done on the safety risks of
increasing vehicle weights. In 2011, the National Bureau of Economic
Research published a paper that said being hit by a vehicle with an
added 1,000 pounds increases by 47% the probability of being killed in a
crash.
He points out that electric vehicles have very high horsepower ratings,
allowing them to accelerate quickly even in crowded urban areas. “People
are not trained to handle that type of acceleration. It's just not
something that drivers are used to doing,” Brooks said.
Also, many newer electric SUVs are tall with limited visibility that
poses risks to pedestrians or drivers of smaller vehicles, he said.
Sales of new electric vehicles in the U.S. rose nearly 65% last year to
807,000 — about 5.8% of all new vehicle sales. The Biden administration
has set a goal of having EVs reach 50% of new vehicle sales by 2030 and
is offering tax credits of up to $7,500 to get there. The consulting
firm LMC Automotive has made a more modest prediction: It expects EVs to
make up one-third of the new-vehicle market by 2030.
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