Based on a quick Google Search, the percentage of electric vehicles in the United States is less than 1% of the total number of vehicles on United States’ highways. At the same time, about 6-8% of new car sales are electric vehicles. Given the expanding market for electric vehicles, the percentage of electric vehicles on our highways likely will increase over time. Plaintiff and defense attorneys should recognize the potential areas of liability associated with electric vehicles, as these vehicles have key differences from gas-powered vehicles.
The large lithium-ion batteries that power electric vehicles make them heavier than comparable-sized gas-powered vehicles. For example, a 2023 GMC Hummer EV weighs over 9,000 pounds. A gas-powered 2023 GMC Sierra Pickup (a full-size pickup) weighs less than 6,000 pounds. A 2024 Ford F150 Pickup EV weighs about 6,500 pounds, whereas a gas-powered 2024 Ford F-150 Pickup weighs about 4,800 pounds. Smaller vehicles also show weight differentials. A 2024 Tesla Model Y weighs about 4,200 pounds and a gas-powered 2024 Ford Escape weighs about 3,600 pounds.
If electric vehicles become a much higher percentage of vehicles on the highways, there may be a need to upgrade roadside safety features. The increased weights of electric vehicles may necessitate significant reengineering and potentially reconstruction of guardrails, crash cushions, and median barriers to ensure that these roadside design features will function properly. The standard guardrail designed to stop and redirect a 5,000-pound pickup will no longer function properly when struck by the 6,500-pound electric pickup, even though the two vehicles are the same size. Heavier electric vehicles generate more kinetic energy than lighter gas-powered cars, making impacts between similar-sized vehicles more severe when collisions occur.
Areas of Potential Liability
Essentially, there are five primary areas of potential liability. First, run-off-road crashes that involve impacts to guardrails, concrete barriers, and crash cushions may result in more severe damages and injuries because these roadside features may not stop or redirect the electric vehicle. Current design criteria for these roadside features are for lighter vehicles and they may not function properly when struck by electric vehicles. Courts may hold state departments of transportation, local agencies, and transportation engineers liable for failing to design or provide roadside features that function properly for electric passenger cars and pickup trucks.
Second, because electric vehicles are heavier than similar-sized gas-powered vehicles, impacts involving electric vehicles will be more severe simply because electric vehicles produce more kinetic energy than lighter contemporary gas-powered vehicles. More severe impacts typically result in more severe injuries. Drivers and their insurance companies may be liable for failing to operate the heavier vehicles properly, thus causing more severe injuries.
The drawing below illustrates the relationship between potential liability and heavier electric vehicles:
As the comparable weights between electric vehicles and gas-powered vehicles increase, the potential liability increases as well. Simple applied physics will prove that a 6,000-pound electric vehicle will have 50% more kinetic energy than a 4,000-pound gas-powered vehicle if both vehicles are operating at the same speed. In comparison, an 8,000-pound electric pickup truck will have twice the kinetic energy of a 4,000 gas-powered pickup truck operating at the same speed. As the weight differential increases, the potential liability will increase as well.
Experts can reconstruct these more severe crashes to illustrate the difference between impacts involving similar-weighted gas-powered vehicles and those between electric vehicles and lighter, similar-sized gas-powered vehicles. These reconstructions can demonstrate how damages or injuries would have been less severe without the involvement of an electric vehicle. Drivers and their insurance companies must defend against accusations when scientific proof shows the different levels of injury associated with electric vehicles.
Fourth, because electric vehicles are heavier than similar-sized gas-powered vehicles, tires on electric vehicles will wear more quickly, thus reducing tire tread depths more quickly. Wet-weather crashes often involve “balder” tires. The electric vehicle driver may fail to maintain tires with sufficient tread depth, even if their mileage has not reached the expected lifespan, and be held accountable for it. Drivers who have routinely used gas-powered, lighter vehicles may be surprised by quicker wear rates, as they have general expectations of the life of new tires. Failure to remain aware of tire conditions may create a liability issue for drivers and their insurance companies.
Lastly, if flooding conditions expose an electric vehicle’s battery to a significant amount of water, the water will interact with the chemicals in the battery, potentially causing an explosion and fire. The results of the explosion or fire could result in personal injuries. Drivers and their insurance companies may be liable for injuries associated with explosions and fires from electric vehicles if they fail to exercise appropriate caution or take appropriate action when operating or storing electric vehicles in severe weather conditions.
In summary, if the percentage of electric vehicle using our highways increase substantially, attorneys representing state departments of transportation and local agencies may be facing claims for improperly designed roadside design features that fail to work when struck by electric vehicles. Highway design manuals will likely require modification to address new roadside design issues created by a higher percentage of electric vehicles using public highways. In some cases, authorities hold drivers of heavier vehicles (trucks and buses) accountable for their actions simply because they operate larger, heavier vehicles compared to the entire vehicle fleet. Logically, authorities will hold drivers of heavier electric vehicles more accountable for operating these vehicles, as electric vehicle impacts will result in more severe injuries. Therefore, attorneys representing insurance companies may address unique types of claims involving electric vehicles in the future.