Last year when a number of battery powered vehicles caught fire, the news went viral. For example Tesla's market value dropped drastically over night after reports of the first vehicle fire, despite the fact that in the U.S. alone there are 200.000 gasoline car fires every year. Deutsche Bank analyst Dan Galves, summed up the prevailing sentiment when he stated; “Investors will be concerned because electric cars represent a new technology with a high sensitivity to safety risks.” Find out more here The article "Is There an Overreaction To EV Safety Concerns?" focuses on the relevance of battery safety, for public perception and the growth of the EV/HEV market. Download the article here: http://bit.ly/D_GalvesArticle

1. Is There an Overreaction To EV Safety Concerns?
Author: Peter Els
In October 2013 an electric vehicle (EV) was once again front page news after a Tesla
Model S experienced a fire in one of the lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery modules after
colliding with a metal object on a Washington State highway.
This comes weeks after displaying the Model S at the Frankfurt motor show as part of
the launch into the European market; and barely two months after being awarded a
NHTSA Five-Star rating. With an overall Vehicle Safety Score of 0.42, for frontal, side,
and roll-over crashes the “S” was proclaimed “The safest car in America”.
With all these accolades it‟s little wonder that this single event saw Tesla Motors‟
shares drop ten percent in forty eight hours; shedding $2.4 billion along the way.
Deutsche Bank analyst Dan Galves summed up the prevailing sentiment when he
stated: “Investors will be concerned because electric cars represent a new technology
with a high sensitivity to safety risks.”
In actual fact it’s not surprising that an EV, such as the Tesla, should rate
very highly in many of the crash tests:
The absence of a large and heavy engine in the front compartment (usually)
means that the crumple zone can be better utilised to absorb energy from a
frontal impact.
The positioning of the relatively heavy battery pack, which is fixed to the floor
in the Model S (And several other EV‟s), creates a low Center of Gravity which
reduces the Roll Moment making the vehicle less likely to roll over when
compared to conventional configurations.