In 2020, China’s passenger car market sold a total of 1.367 million new energy vehicles, an increase of 10.9% year-on-year and a record high.

On the one hand, consumers’ acceptance of new energy vehicles is increasing. According to the “2021 McKinsey Automotive Consumer Insights”, between 2017 and 2020, the proportion of consumers willing to buy new energy vehicles has risen from 20% to 63%. This phenomenon is more obvious in high-income households, with 90% The above consumers are willing to buy new energy vehicles.

In contrast, the sales of China’s passenger car market have declined for three consecutive years, and new energy vehicles have emerged as a new force, achieving double-digit growth throughout the year.

However, with the increase in the number of new energy vehicles, more and more people drive new energy vehicles, and the possibility of accidents is also increasing.

Increasing sales and increasing accidents, the two intertwined, undoubtedly give consumers a huge doubt: are new energy vehicles really safe?

Electric safety after a collision The difference between new energy and fuel

If the high-pressure drive system is excluded, new energy vehicles are not much different from fuel vehicles.

However, because of the existence of this system, new energy vehicles have put forward higher safety technical requirements on the basis of traditional fuel vehicle safety technologies. In the event of a collision, the high-voltage system is very likely to be damaged, resulting in high-voltage exposure, high-voltage leakage, short circuit, battery fire and other risks, and the occupants are very likely to suffer secondary injuries.

When it comes to the battery safety of new energy vehicles, many people will think of BYD’s blade batteries. After all, the difficulty of the acupuncture test gives great confidence in battery safety, and the fire resistance of the battery and whether the occupants can escape smoothly. Important.

Although battery safety is important, this is only one aspect of it. In order to ensure battery life, the energy density of the battery of new energy vehicles is as large as possible, which particularly tests the rationality of the structure of the vehicle’s high-voltage system.

How to understand the rationality of the layout? We take BYD Han, which recently participated in the C-IASI evaluation, as an example. This model also happens to be equipped with a blade battery. Generally speaking, in order to arrange more batteries, some models will connect the battery to the threshold. The strategy adopted by BYD Han is to form a safe space between the battery pack and the threshold through a large-section high-strength threshold and four beams to protect the battery.

In general, the electrical safety of new energy vehicles is a complex project. It is necessary to fully consider its system characteristics, conduct targeted failure mode analysis, and fully verify product safety.

New energy vehicle safety is born out of fuel vehicle safety technology

After solving the problem of electrical safety, this new energy vehicle becomes a petrol vehicle.

According to the evaluation of C-IASI, BYD Han EV (Configuration|Inquiry) has achieved excellent (G) in the three key indexes of passenger safety index, pedestrian safety index outside the car, and vehicle auxiliary safety index.

In the most difficult 25% offset collision, BYD Han took advantage of its body, the front part of the body fully absorbs energy, and 47 key parts such as A, B, C pillars, door sills, and side members are made of ultra-high-strength steel and hot-formed. The steel material, the amount of which is 97KG, forms sufficient support for each other. On the one hand, the collision deceleration is controlled to reduce the damage to the occupants; on the other hand, the solid body better maintains the integrity of the passenger compartment, and the amount of intrusion can be controlled .

From the perspective of dummy injuries, BYD Han’s restraint system is fully functional. The front airbags and side airbags are effectively deployed, and the coverage is sufficient after deployment. The two cooperate with each other to reduce the force generated by the collision.

It is worth mentioning that the models tested by C-IASI are the lowest equipped, and BYD comes standard with 11 airbags in the lowest equipped, including front and rear side airbags, rear side airbags, and main driver’s knee airbags. These configurations have improved security, we have already seen from the evaluation results.

So are these strategies adopted by BYD Han unique to new energy vehicles?

I think the answer is no. In fact, the safety of new energy vehicles is born out of fuel vehicles. The development and design of electric vehicle collision safety is a very complex systematic project. What new energy vehicles have to do is to carry out new active and passive safety designs on the basis of traditional vehicle collision safety development. Despite the need to solve the new problem of high-voltage system safety, the safety of new energy vehicles is undoubtedly standing on the cornerstone of the development of automotive safety technology for a century.

As a new means of transportation, new energy vehicles should also focus on safety while their acceptance is increasing. To a certain extent, this is also the driving force for their further development.

Are new energy vehicles really inferior to fuel vehicles in terms of safety?

Of course not. The emergence of any new thing has its own development process, and in this development process, we have already seen the outstanding aspects of new energy vehicles.

In the evaluation of C-IASI, the three key indexes of occupant safety index, pedestrian safety index, and vehicle auxiliary safety index all obtained excellent fuel vehicles accounted for 77.8%, and new energy vehicles accounted for 80%.

When the old and new things start to change, there will always be voices of doubt. The same is true for fuel vehicles and new energy vehicles. However, the progress of the entire industry is to continue to prove itself amidst doubts and ultimately convince consumers. Judging from the results released by C-IASI, it can be found that the safety of new energy vehicles is not lower than that of fuel vehicles. The new energy vehicles represented by BYD Han have used their “hard power” to testify for the safety of new energy vehicles.
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