The main objective of EVERSAFE is to facilitate integration of electrical vehicles (EVs) into European vehicle traffic. Customer acceptance increases when EV safety is guaranteed for normal operation or an accident. The EVERSAFE project had three main areas of research to ensure a robust market for EVs:

1. The perceptions of electric vehicles from a user point of view
2. Investigations of vehicle safety encompassing both active and passive vehicle safety implications that are part of the vehicle’s design
3. Developing guidelines and recommendations for post-crash handling of electric vehicles that are not addressed in the practice for conventional (internal combustion) drivelines

The research plan was developed to identify the most high risk scenarios, investigate their potential consequences, and identify any corrective actions in terms of further research, industry standards, or government regulations.

The project used focus groups of consumers to identify perceived issues as well as expert judgement to identify specific research cases.

The main findings of the active safety investigations suggested that the potential failures for regenerative braking and wheel hub motors could be compensated by the drivers.

Passive safety investigations used component tests of battery cells, full scale crash tests, and numerical simulations to study the risks during a crash.

The safe handling of electric vehicles after a crash requires updates to the conventional rescue operations.

The results of the EVERSAFE project indicate that the general level of EV safety is quite high and that no critical safety issues have been identified.