Analysing the Willowbank Dragstrip Electric Vehicle (EV) ban

To much publicity, Willowbank Raceway dragstrip has banned road registered Fully Electric Vehicles from racing or testing. The statement includes this text:

Note the emphasis on road registered. This is strange, given that the reasons would apply to non-road-registered EVs as well. And by “Full Electric” I think they mean BEV, or Battery Electric Vehicle.

Anyway, on to the risks which they say have led to the ban:

This is true, but any vehicle going up in flames will release toxic and flammable gases…EVs have different gases, but still toxic so you’re going to need to manage that regardless. And it’s not after a collision, it’s if it catches fire, not the same thing.

It’s more electrocution than being off or on. This is what EV FireSafe has to say:

So that is a risk, but one which can be managed.

Then this:

That is not specific to EVs.

Meaning the drivetrain may lock the wheels. This is a risk with any vehicle in a crash, the transmisson may be locked in drive, or…it may be missing its wheels, have the steering arms broken, or otherwise need to be dragged. I find it hard to believe that a raceway would not have equipment to skull-drag an immobilised vehicle, having seen many cars be so dragged at motorsport events.

Yes they do, and there are systems which simply pick the car up, and dunk it in a huge bath until it goes out. Or, leave it to burn, or move it to somewhere where it can burn. This is a valid point, but again one which can be managed.

It is odd that hybrids are permitted, as these vehicles have the same battery tech and large enough batteries to cause concern if “full electric” batteries are also a concern. There are hybrids with batteries over 30kWh, and small BEVs with not much more.

There are definite risks with electric vehicle fires, which is why organisations such as EV FireSafe are conducting research. However, most of reasons listed by Willowbank do not really stack up to scrutiny, and the ones that do can be managed.

Electric motorsport is a reality in many parts of the world. In fact, the dragstrip at The Bend in South Australia allows EVs to run, so it’s not impossible.

Maybe Willowbank has analysed the cost of changes to manage the risk vs the potential revenue, and decided it’s not worth it for electric vehicles at this point, which is entirely fair, there’s a commercial decision to be made. However, that logic is not what their press release lays out.

Here is Australia’s first-ever EV-only motorsport event: