A new study reveals that EVs can break through guardrails, sparking urgent calls to rethink roadside safety as more electric vehicles hit the road.
A new car safety study has proven that electric vehicles (EVs) are too heavy to be restrained by guardrails that line roads in case of accidents, researchers at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln said. [emphasis, links added]
As the number of EVs such as Teslas and Chevrolet Bolts takes over the roads amid concerns over the environmental impact of gasoline-powered vehicles, one of the lead researchers from the university’s Midwest Roadside Safety Facility (MwRSF) warned that there needs to be “some urgency to address this issue.”
In a study sponsored by the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) and partnered with Auburn University’s Transportation Research Institute, MwRSF conducted a “first-of-its-kind crash test” of an EV pickup truck in October 2023.
The test used a 7,148-pound 2022 Rivian R1T truck that was sent at a barrier at a speed of 60 mph, with footage showing the heavy EV completely blasting through the guardrail and launching over the concrete wall while sending chunks of it flying:
The R1T’s immense weight is largely attributed to its 135-kWh battery pack, which brings the vehicle’s weight to a “ton more than a Ford F-150 SuperCab,” car review site Edmunds states.
“There is some urgency to address this issue,” MwRSF assistant director Cody Stolle told the university’s news publication in January. “As the percentage of EVs on the road increases, the proportion of run-off-road crashes involving EVs will increase as well.”
Even though the impact with the concrete brought the pickup truck to a halt, “several of the 5,000-pound barriers were pushed back 10 feet — 50 percent more than normal,” CBS News reported of the test on Thursday.
The researchers stated that safety barriers and guardrails are typically tested using vehicles weighing between 2,400-5,000 pounds — significantly lighter than EVs, “which typically weigh 20 percent to 50 percent more than gas-powered vehicles.”
“MwRSF research suggests that EVs are involved in run-off-road crashes at about the same rate and about the same speeds as gasoline vehicles,” the university said.
“That would mean an EV crashing into a roadside barrier could have 20 percent to 50 percent more impact energy.”
“It is going to be necessary to reexamine the designs of roadside barriers even beyond the EVs,” said Stolle. “It’s a critical and timely need.”
Another test, conducted on a 2018 Tesla Model 3 in September 2023, resulted in the sedan’s structure being able to lift the guardrail and pass underneath it before stopping behind the barrier.
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