Health effects of driving around in an EV

Is anyone aware of any research done on the health effects of driving around in an EV, since we are effectively sitting on a large battery.

I am curious because that came up in a conversation recently where the person said they would never buy an EV because you don't know what harm the battery may be doing to your health.

And yet that person has no problem driving a gas or diesel vehicle which has known, proven health effects if you breath too much of the exhaust for example?

I've never read anything saying it was bad. Now if you were talking about 1,000,000 volts of AC, that may be an issue, as of people living under a high voltage power line but were only talking about hundreds of volts of DC, which is much cleaner than AC. Besides there is a metal chassis between you and the battery, which should stop even AC let alone DC.
I'm not worrying

I can vouch that switching to EV improves mental health. I no longer want to road rage when stuck in traffic. Stop and go in a Leaf is relaxing, compared to constant automatic gear shifting in my old gas car. Never again.

I guess it comes down to who you believe, but the results of this study satisfy me:

https://www.sintef.no/en/latest-news/no-danger-from-magnetic-fields-in-electric-cars/

Batteries are basically inert.
EMF comes from power moving through unshielded wires. Odds are good many ICE vehicles give off more EMF than EVs.
Given that I avoid CO, carcinogenic fumes from gas, and handling volatile gasoline, I'd say the health benefits are huge.

BillHolz said:

And yet that person has no problem driving a gas or diesel vehicle which has known, proven health effects if you breath too much of the exhaust for example?

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Or spending hours with a battery powered transmitter held about an inch from their head???

AntronX said:

I can vouch that switching to EV improves mental health. I no longer want to road rage when stuck in traffic. Stop and go in a Leaf is relaxing, compared to constant automatic gear shifting in my old gas car. Never again.

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Yes driving an EV does have benefits on that side. There is however a road rage downside. We've noticed some people seem to be extra aggressive when they see an EV. That is one reason I'm liking the idea of EV being an option for normal looking cars like the eGolf. I like the idea of getting all of the EV benefits without drawing the anti-EV road rage. More regular cars are getting hybrid options. We need more regular car EV options too.

Great set of feedback. Thanks

DarthPuppy said:

There is however a road rage downside. We've noticed some people seem to be extra aggressive when they see an EV.

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Whoa. I'm sorry! Where do you live???

I haven't noticed this yet. I'd say I get the same amount of impatience directed at me as in my Subaru. I've become really fed up with idiots who think they need to stay on the gas until the last second then stand on the brakes when they are approaching a red light that has several cars waiting at it. Why not take your foot off the gas a block away since you're obviously going to come up and stop behind those cars before they start moving, no matter how fast or slow you are moving? :?

I don't think it's necessarily rage directed against EVs as much as against smaller cars in general by larger SUVs and pickups. Even then as a driver of a small vehicle it may just feel that way as we sit way down while they ride much higher
The older I get the easier it seems to just ignore such drivers and let them race to their death, or at least their quest to seem to want to burn their fuel as fast as they can :roll:

To engage in a little confirmation bias, I notice as much impatient driving by BMW and Jetta owners as trucks/SUVs. Whether it's actually more than other cars or I just label those people...

BuckMkII said:

Whoa. I'm sorry! Where do you live???

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Southern California. We got major road rage issues here.

I suppose it could be perceptual as our Leaf is our smallest car and we could be more sensitive to it when we are in such a small car. Kind of hard to isolate and assess from a statistical perspective, especially since it is our only small car.

jhumroo said:

Is anyone aware of any research done on the health effects of driving around in an EV, since we are effectively sitting on a large battery.

I am curious because that came up in a conversation recently where the person said they would never buy an EV because you don't know what harm the battery may be doing to your health.

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The form of electricity batteries produce upon discharge is DC and does not generate a great deal of EM radiation like radio or microwaves or anything. I'm pretty sure, I'm an electrical engineer by degree.

John Kuthe...

DarthPuppy said:

BuckMkII said:

Whoa. I'm sorry! Where do you live???

Click to expand...

Southern California. We got major road rage issues here.

I suppose it could be perceptual as our Leaf is our smallest car and we could be more sensitive to it when we are in such a small car. Kind of hard to isolate and assess from a statistical perspective, especially since it is our only small car.

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AND the other chronically stressed drivers spending $2 to 3 a GALLON for gasoline who also wish they could be the "only driver on the roasd" (like they show in car ads!) treat out ZERO GASOLINE cars as their enemies!!

John Kuthe...

jhumroo said:

Is anyone aware of any research done on the health effects of driving around in an EV, since we are effectively sitting on a large battery.

I am curious because that came up in a conversation recently where the person said they would never buy an EV because you don't know what harm the battery may be doing to your health.

Click to expand...

Whats the battery got to do with anything? If you are worried about riding on a Vehicle that has its own electromagnetic field then worry about Planet Earth and how we are treating her. FYI; her magnetic field is much larger and unshielded. It is a weaker field but its actual effects upon yourself are much greater than the fields coming from your LEAF.

Some people are more sensitive and the effects are manifest is physical reactions that can be seen. All vehicles and our homes, and places of work bath many of us is vast amounts of EMF, radio, and other "environmental" forms of pollution that really isn't good for any of us.

So if the question "Does the Leaf present more health risks to us than our conventional car?" That is a good question. And I can say the only way to really know that would be to get an EMF meter, and possibly an air sampling unit to see how much radiation and toxic stuff is emitted by the Leaf.

Most cars when new off gas higher levels of "stuff" in the air that is probably at a health effecting level and I am sure there have been studies on this. I recall reading something some time back. It is sort of like the levels of offgasing that happens when putting in new carpet in a home. So there is that concern. Those offgasing levels fall over time, but there is still a certain amount of this chemical soup in our air.

On the EMF and other effects honestly I think it wouldn't hurt to do some testing just to satisfy your own curiosity. Nothing wrong with asking these questions, and at the same time put the same level a scrutiny on our ICE cars as well. It would seem pretty reasonable that the levels of exposure will be pretty similar between the ICE and EV, but we wouldn't know unless we tested it. The levels of shielding, design, and location will affect the amount of exposure.

Many of these "published" tests remind me of the "industry" funded tests with cell phones. Go ahead and put your cell phone up to your head for hours at a time if you want to believe the published tests telling you how safe it is. I certainly don't and won't since it appears that every other day I hear about someone else with brain cancer... Everyone seems to think that is "normal" now too. Sad what we can get used to.

I suspect the comparisons between an ICE and EV in regards to EMF and other things is similar, but without independent tests we certainly won't know. I would ask if you are concerned about these things in a car are you also giving your home and office space the same level of scrutiny? Target fixation is a real thing so use this same level of curiosity in all avenues of life. There are probable opportunities to reduce exposure in many places and ways.

If anyone on here decides to have some fun and run some tests please do share. I think many people would be curious to see what you find.

At a presentation by the American Lung Association I was told the cancer that kills more Americans was Lung Cancer. It is a very difficult to stop. And the particles in the air from diesel and gasoline exhaust that are less than 2.5 microns can go right through the blood vessel walls in the Lung and into our blood stream, then go on to affect the heart, kidneys and other organs and tissues and cells.

Electromagnetic fields are actually stronger coming off of gasoline powered vehicles than from electric vehicles. The ignition system for firing the sparkplugs requires an extremely high voltage at an extremely high frequency. We're talking tens of thousands of volts compared to just a few hundred in an electric vehicle. I haven't read anything on modern diesel EMF radiation but newer diesels use high voltage piezoelectric injectors. However, the voltage isn't as high as the ignition system in gasoline engines. Batteries at rest don't produce any EMF. It's mainly the motor and inverter that produce more EMF on an electric car, but still not near as much as on a gasoline powered car.

The batteries on our Leafs are sealed. In the first EV1's the batteries were Lead Acid. I'm not sure if they were sealed or not, but lead acid batteries can emit hydrogen and oxygen gas. However, all vehicles, even our Leafs, come standard with a hydrogen emitting lead acid 12V battery.

All internal combustion engines produce a variety of air emissions. The power plants that make the electricity for our Leafs also may produce emissions. But it is easier to regulate those emissions. Around here, lots of people commonly saw off their catalytic converters on their gasoline or diesel powered vehicles. Electricity can come from solar, wind or water power. You can turn on your Leaf in your garage and run the heater or air conditioner as long as you want. Have you ever tried that in a gasoline or diesel powered vehicle?

My family owns a Leaf, Volt, and a Chevy Colorado pickup. I always try to be a good truck driving ambassador to help break the stereotype

On that note, I've been pretty impressed with my Colorado's efficiency @ 22mpg for a 4x4 pickup. Paying for gas doesn't hurt that much when you drive EVs during the week.