Minister Cora van Nieuwenhuizen (I&W) has answered parliamentary questions in response to, among other things, a message that was previously published by Techzle. The claim that electric cars ‘will cause an additional 1,400 serious injuries by 2030’ cannot be substantiated. The minister does not consider it plausible that EVs will cause more road casualties than cars with a combustion engine.
In June of this year, researchers from Trend-Rx and Automotive Insiders met AMweb with a shocking prediction. In 2030, electric cars would cause an additional 1,400 serious injuries in traffic annually. Techzle also paid attention to this striking hypothesis. In short, mainly due to their higher average weight and rapid acceleration, EVs are said to cause more serious injuries in collisions more quickly. Electric cars would also cause 11 percent more damage that year than cars with a combustion engine. The latter was based, among other things, on the already relatively large representation of EVs in claims.
Because of these reports, Minister Van Nieuwenhuizen has been asked by VVD MP Remco Dijkstra for her expectations in this area and has now answered the parliamentary questions. “I only know the expectations of Trend-Rx and Automotive Insiders from the article in Techzle and another article in the Financieel Dagblad. The underlying report has been requested, but has not been made available by the researchers,” said the minister.
Representation of EVs
On the basis of reports from Techzle, among others, the minister wants to comment on the predictions that emerge from the investigation. To start with, she expects a lower number of electric cars in 2030 than the researchers have assumed: “I do not recognize the expected number of electric cars in 2030 of 2.38 million. My ministry assumes about 1.9 million electric passenger cars on the Dutch away in 2030. ” The cited ’11 percent more damage caused by EVs’ is based on the ‘unknown assumptions of the researchers about the future’ to the minister.
According to the minister, the large share of business drivers among EVs paints a somewhat distorted picture, as they drive an above-average number of kilometers and report damage more often than private individuals. “In recent years, they also drove relatively often cars from the higher segment, with higher power and weight, because of the available range,” said Van Nieuwenhuizen.
Electric car changes
Another important nuance, according to the minister, is the expected change in electric cars up to 2030. The fact that EVs are now heavier on average does not have to be the case in 2030: “Any predictions must also reflect developments in the market, technology and safety standards. For example, it is expected that innovation in the field of batteries will make electric vehicles lighter than vehicles with an internal combustion engine. “
Private use is also likely to reduce the average number of kilometers of EVs and with that, the representation of reported claims is also expected: “In the coming years, electric cars will also be driven more and more by private individuals and the range of electric vehicles will be much more diverse in terms of segment. , design, weight and power. Partly for this reason, it is not possible to draw any careful conclusions about damage or traffic accidents involving electric cars in 2030 on the basis of current damage figures alone. ” The conclusion is clear at the bottom of the line. The minister “sees no reason to assume that electric cars will lead to more road casualties. According to her, there is therefore no reason to take additional measures.
You can read the full response from the minister here.