Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance Traffic Safety Culture Research Institute Report
Nine out of ten electric vehicle battery damage incidents are single-vehicle accidents, such as collisions with objects on the road. As battery failures are more frequent during the humid summer season, extra caution is advised.
The Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance Traffic Safety Culture Research Institute released these findings in its "Analysis of Electric Vehicle High-Voltage Battery Damage Accidents" report on July 2.
An analysis of 405 electric vehicle battery damage cases reported over the past three years showed that 91.4% were single-vehicle accidents. Only 8.6% involved collisions with other vehicles.
The most common cause was collisions with protruding objects or debris on the road, such as stones, accounting for 42.3%. Collisions with speed bumps or curbs made up 24.3%, and manhole covers accounted for 10.9%.
By vehicle type, trucks accounted for the largest share at 59.5%, followed by passenger cars at 40.3%, and vans at 0.3%.
By season, summer saw the highest proportion of incidents at 30%. This was followed by autumn (28.9%), winter (22.7%), and spring (18.4%).
It is believed that increased rainfall and humidity during summer, as well as greater temperature differences between indoors and outdoors, contribute to a higher likelihood of battery failures.
More incidents were reported in non-metropolitan areas (57.3%) than in the Seoul metropolitan area or major cities (42.7%), due to poorer road conditions outside metropolitan regions.
The research institute explained that in one out of four cases (23.7%), battery damage was discovered more than a week after the accident, even though no issues were detected at the time of the incident. They advised that vehicles should be inspected promptly if the battery experiences an impact.
Park Wonpil, a senior researcher at the institute, said, "Utilizing free inspection services offered by car manufacturers can help reduce costs," and added, "Manufacturers should expand their free inspection services for electric vehicles."
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