Electric Vehicles – New Risks to be Managed?

The UK Government recently announced that the ban on new petrol and diesel cars has been brought forward to 2030, while also publicising a new £20 million fund to promote electric vehicle (EV) innovations through a research and development competition. This, together with a boost to the number of electric chargepoints[i], further underpins the Government strategy to accelerate our path to net zero.[ii]

The use of electric cars is expected to increase as their cost gradually declines; their driving range increases; and new models come to market. Against this backdrop, transport operators will increasingly invest in low-emission vehicles and their fleet mix will see a shift away from petrol and diesel. The transition to an electric future will lead to a change in risk profiles for manufacturers, suppliers, transport operators, and insurers. Here we delve into what this transition means for transport operators and how to identify and manage this new risk.

New risk considerations

Whilst transitioning to an increasing electric vehicle fleet may support a reduction in risks, such as unintentional fuel leaks, and improve ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) credentials, it also introduces new risks for consideration.

Infrastructure changes: Electric vehicles will require a suitable amount of charging points. This presents challenges for large commercial fleet operators who may need to significantly amend home site facilities to charge large numbers of vehicles overnight to ensure sufficient charging capacity.
Fire compartmentation and separations: If charging arrangements mean having larger numbers of vehicles on site and in close proximity, risks such as fire may have a greater impact due to the large concentration of vehicles being housed together. Charging stations themselves can pose an ignition risk (for example, as a source of direct ignition energy or hazards due to thermal runaway, which is a cycle in which excessive heat keeps creating more heat). Charging stations should be kept in good repair and free from housekeeping hazards that may contribute to a fire risk. It should be noted that battery fires are often very intense and difficult to control and can be very dangerous to fire fighters, plus exposure to additional hazardous materials and toxic fumes.
Organisational resilience: Organisations should amend or update business continuity plans to account for unavailability of vehicles should charging operations fail due to an unforeseen interruption of the power supply.
Repairs and maintenance: Electric vehicle repairs and maintenance may take longer due to the processes involved around making the battery safe and as such may prove more costly due to the time and materials involved. The industry is also currently experiencing shortages of sufficiently skilled technicians.[iii]
Accident management: Vehicles that have been involved in incidents will need to be sent to specialised organisations for repair. These may be further from home base locations than the previous repair garages, adding a vehicle and driver recovery challenge.[iv] Post incident procedures should include robust checks for damage to sensitive electrical components, such as battery packs. Damaged battery packs can lead to serious component failure.[v]
Journey Planning: Robust journey planning to account for factors such as delays and diversions that may affect battery consumption. In addition, will local charging infrastructure provide a facility for emergency charging “in the field”? New driver procedures will need to be drawn up and rolled out so each driver knows what to do in the event of charge running low or unexpected power failures.
Vehicle performance: The way EV’s deliver their power is quite different from petrol or diesel vehicles. Power is linear, full power is available from a standing start and in most cases that means the average EV is much quicker ‘off the line’. Petrol and diesel cars do ‘catch up’ later in their power band, and often have a higher top speed, but the relative initial performance can expose the inexperience of drivers while they adjust to a new type of vehicle. Any transition to EVs will require additional training and monitoring.
Cyber security: As modern vehicles offer increased connectivity to networks, we may also see a heightened cyber risk, particularly where the vehicles are viewed as high value or carry high value cargo.

By transitioning to electric vehicles it will help Fleet operators reach their targets in relation to environmental impact. It will also mean savings on fuel costs, and potentially less input in terms of reactive maintenance as EV’s have a lower risk of mechanical failure. However, operators will need to carefully consider the new risks presented and decide what control measures they can and should implement.

[i] Government powers up electric vehicle revolution with £20 million chargepoints boost - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

[ii] https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-ten-point-plan-for-a-green-industrial-revolution

[iii] https://www.fleetnews.co.uk/news/fleet-industry-news/2020/03/17/lack-of-ev-trained-repairers-may-pose-a-problem-for-fleets-uptime

[iv] https://www.theaa.com/driving-advice/electric-vehicles/electric-car-maintenance

[v] https://airqualitynews.com/2020/10/09/electric-vehicle-fires-should-we-be-concerned/

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