Comparative analysis of Hydroplaning in Electric and ICE Vehicles

Hydroplaning is a dangerous phenomenon that could happen to a driver after hitting a puddle of water during wet weather, which can lead to severe and fatal accidents. Hydroplaning is the loss of contact between tire and road surface due to the increase of hydrodynamic lift force. Moreover, around 20% of wet weather accidents occur due to hydroplaning. Furthermore, the change of the world to electric vehicles is fact that will happen in the next few years. However, one of the main differences between an internal combustion and electric vehicles is the mass which is around 200-450 kg greater in electric vehicles due to batteries. The increase in weight can be useful to decrease the chance of hydroplaning on wet roads. This was analyzed using ABAQUS Coupled Eulerian Lagrangian (CEL) fluid structure interaction (FSI) capabilities. The results showed that the increase in weight due to batteries can decrease the chance of hydroplaning by 54.4%. This can result in decreasing the percentage of wet weather accidents that occur due to hydroplaning from 20% to 10%, if all the vehicles on the road changed to electric vehicles.