- A new study shows that current safety barriers aren’t strong enough to stop big, heavy EVs.
You see them everywhere on the road. They're there to stop vehicles in the event of an accident. But a study finds they're not as effective as they used to be, due to the increasing weight of new vehicles on the market.
The University of Nebraska conducted a new study that included catapulting a Rivian electric pickup truck against a steel guardrail at 97 km/h to see if it could stop the vehicle’s progress.
It didn’t. What’s more, the EV went on to practically destroy concrete barriers behind the first barrier, hopping over one of them before finally come to a stop on the other side.
The study’s goal was to demonstrate that the heavier weight of big new vehicles is becoming a safety issue. That includes EVs with their big battery packs but it also includes many other large SUVs and pickup trucks, which are getting ever bigger and heavier.
In the case of electric vehicles, it's clear that they are heavier on average. However, the way in which the weight is distributed, often in the floor where the batteries are installed, represents a particular challenge for those charged with ensuring safety on the road network. This kind of configuration does improve road grip, but during a crash it can be more than current guardrails can handle. The video shared by the University of Nebraska says it all.
The university also tested a Tesla Model 3, and the barrier proved inadequate in that case as well. In this instance, the Model 3 lifted the guardrail and passed underneath.
Further crash tests are planned with this type of guardrail. Known as the Midwest Guardrail System, it’s designed to restrain vehicle weighing up to 5000 lb. However, many electric vehicles and large SUVs exceed this limit. A Rivian R1T weighs just over 7000 lb, while the Ford F-150 Lightning tips the scales at 6,000 pounds. The Hummer EV is the worst offender, weighing in at 9,000 lb; quie simply, that truck is a dangerous weapon on the road.
Even smaller electric vehicles are heavier than 5000 lb, for example the EQE sedan and EQE SUV from Mercesdes-Benz.
Big non-electric SUVs are also tipping the scales past the limit. The base version of the Land Rover Range Rover weighs in at 5090 lb, while the Autobiography variant comes in at over 6000 lb. A Chevrolet Suburban weighs in at 5700 lb, slightly less than a Toyota Sequoia, at 6150 lb.
The U.S. Army's Engineering Research and Development Center is sponsoring the university's research effort. Not only are the tests being used to improve road safety infrastructure, the military is also evaluating how best to protect military installations and other high-risk government sites from ill-intentioned folks who might use a heavy electric vehicle to break through security barriers.
Every year, some 100,000 vehicles are taken off the road in the United States and presumably replaced with newer ones. With more and more large models and electric vehicles on the market, safety infrastructure problems are bound to multiply.
The tests conducted by the university will help inform authorities on how best to protect everyone in a vulnerable position, especially those in smaller, lighter vehicles.
