A new Norwegian survey shows that electric cars are not overrepresented. At least not when it comes to traffic accidents.
Electric cars are not overrepresented in the number of traffic accidents with personal injury in Norway. This is shown by a new analysis from Statistics Norway (SSB), which has examined the damage history of electric cars from 2018 to 2023.
The analysis includes data on traffic accidents with personal injury, the number of passenger cars and the total mileage of the passenger cars.
During the period, electric cars' share of passenger cars involved in accidents increased from 7 percent in 2018 to 25 percent in 2023.
However, this increase merely reflects the general increase in electric cars on Norwegian roads. In the same period, the share of electric cars in the total passenger car fleet rose from 7 percent to 24 percent, and the car type's share of total mileage rose from 7 to 28 percent.
SSB has also investigated whether electric cars are more or less involved in accidents with serious consequences. The results show that electric cars were overrepresented in accidents where pedestrians were injured throughout the period. Conversely, electric cars were underrepresented in fatal accidents.
The analysis from SSB gives a neutral picture of electric cars and their involvement in traffic accidents in Norway. It shows that electric cars are not more likely to be involved in accidents in general, but that there is a tendency to be overrepresented in accidents with pedestrians.
However, figures from Norway should not always be taken for granted. As recently as September, the Road Traffic Information Council (OFV) had to retract figures because they did not show that the electric car had surpassed the number of petrol cars in Norway. Read more about it here .
