It is impossible to generalize a single reason for why these cars have been catching on fire or potentially causing accidents, but here's what we know: EV car wrecks Comparing electric cars' safety to traditional cars' safety is a bit nuanced.
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety claims EVs have proven to be "As safe as or safer than gasoline- and diesel-powered cars," per its president, David Harkey.
Adding more of these cars to the road "Doesn't require any compromises in terms of safety," it said following IIHS crash-test results.
Regarding Tesla, while its basic autopilot features match those of many other new cars on the market today, they have two upgrade options they call "Highly advanced" for its EVs called "Enhanced Autopilot" and "Full Self-Driving Capability," which allow for things like automatic lane changing, automatic stopping at red lights, stop signs, and more.
The company specifically warns potential buyers that these features "Require active driver supervision and do not make the vehicle autonomous" and adds that "The future use of these features without supervision is dependent on achieving reliability far in excess of human drivers" and are "Dependent upon regulatory approval." Tesla boasts on its website that its Model 3 car earned "The lowest probability of injury of any vehicle ever tested by NHTSA" in 2018.
Tesla is not the only car builder to have fire safety issues with their EV's.
Researchers from Auto Insurance EZ compiled data from the NTSB and the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, and found that the proportion of cars sold to cars catching fire was the smallest among EVs.
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