Are there any special dangers that emergency services may have to contend with when attending a crash involving an electric car. I’m thinking more along the lines of a fully electric powered car rather than a hybrid (though would a hybrid have it’s own dangers?). Is there any risk of the ‘fuel cells’ causing electrocution or turning the car into a giant conductor or would the car in fact be safer due to their being no petrol to ignite?
It would depend on what the batteries are made of. If they are nickel-metal hydride then they could explode. There could be a shock danger as well, but I think they put in a bunch of circuit breakers which should lessen the danger of shock. There might also be some toxic effects if the batteries are seriously damaged.
All in all, though, I think the dangers would be less (if different) than those in a conventional car crash where the tank ruptures.
Since no one else has answered this (must be a slow night in GQ), I found this article about electric vehicles that addresses some of the questions asked in the OP.