Electric Vehicles—An Overview of Current Issues—Part 2—Infrastructure and Road Safety

Abstract

The electrification of road transport is developing dynamically around the world. Many automotive companies are introducing electric vehicles to the market, and their popularity is constantly growing. The increasing popularity of electric vehicles is caused by individual countries’ governments encouraging people to switch to electric vehicles and their lower operating costs. In 2022, the number of electric vehicles in China will exceed 10 million. Europe and the USA rank second and third in global electric car stock, respectively. The number of available electric vehicle models is constantly growing, remaining approximately 2.5 times smaller than the case of vehicles with an internal combustion engine. Among others, a significant limitation to the popularity of electric cars is users’ fear of range and the density of the charging infrastructure network. This paper presents the objectives regarding public areas and charging stations around the European Union’s comprehensive and core transport network. It is worth noting that the vehicle and charging point’s charging connectors vary depending on the geographical region. Therefore, the currently used charging connectors for different regions are presented. Charging time depends significantly on the charging current, the power of the charging point, and the devices installed in the vehicle. The paper analyzes the limitations of charging power resulting from the onboard charger’s power and the charging point’s power. It presents the charging time of selected electric vehicles. The second aspect that is also the subject of user concerns and discussed in this article is issues related to the safety of electric vehicles. General safety indicators of such vehicles based on Euro-NCAP tests are characterized. Attention was also paid to more detailed problems related to active and passive safety and functional safety analyses. The issue of the fire hazard of electric vehicles was discussed together with modern experiences regarding post-accident procedures in the event of fires.

Keywords

• electric drive
• electric vehicle
• EV safety
• fire safety
• recharging points
• recharging infrastructure