A study found that most of the causes of electric vehicle battery damage incidents were accidents occurring from contact or collision with protrusions on the road.
Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance Traffic Safety Culture Institute announced on the 2nd that it investigated 405 cases of electric vehicle battery damage incidents reported to Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance from 2022 to last year, finding that 91.4% (370 cases) were single-vehicle accidents, while the remaining 8.6% (35 cases) were vehicle-to-vehicle collisions.
Among the single-vehicle accidents, contact or collision with other objects accounted for 91%. The types of objects involved in the collisions included protrusions or falling objects at 42%, speed bumps, curbs, or boundary stones at 24%, and manhole or drainage covers at 11%. In particular, among the protrusions or falling objects on the road, stones were the most common.
Although there were no abnormalities in the battery at the time of the accident, the rate at which battery damage was discovered more than a week later was 23.7%. This occurs when the vehicle suddenly fails to start or when the battery warning light illuminates, indicating damage.
The vehicle type with the highest number of reported accidents was trucks, accounting for more than half (59.5%) of all accident vehicles. Trucks have batteries exposed to the exterior of the vehicle. Given that trucks make up only 21.2% of the total number of registered electric vehicles, the likelihood of accidents occurring is analyzed to be high. When limited to passenger cars, it was found that the number of accident reports for sedan-type electric vehicles, which have a smaller number of registrations, was greater than that for SUV-type electric vehicles.
Additionally, more accidents were reported in rural areas than in metropolitan areas and large cities, with the proportion of single-vehicle accidents in summer accounting for about 30%, which is the highest. This is assumed to be due to the increase in rainfall and humidity during the summer, along with temperature differences between indoors and outdoors.
Park Won-pil, chief researcher at Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance Traffic Safety Culture Institute, noted, "Electric vehicle drivers should have their vehicles checked as soon as possible if they sense a significant shock to the battery area while driving, especially in preparation for the peak summer season."