EVs tend to weigh more than comparable internal-combustion models, which may require a rethink of highway guardrail designs, according to a new University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) study.
For it, researchers conducted what they claim are the first-ever crash tests specifically looking at EVs and guardrails. The tests showed that guardrails previously tested with internal-combustion cars weighing up to 2,400 pounds and pickup trucks weighing 5,000 pounds might not be adequate for some heavier EVs.
2018 Tesla Model 3
In one test, conducted Oct.12, 2023, a Rivian R1T weighing about 7,000 pounds and moving at 60 mph “tore through the barrier with little reduction in speed,” according to a UNL press release. In another test conducted in September, a 2018 Tesla Model 3 “lifted the guardrail and passed below it,” the release said, “coming to rest behind the barrier.”
While the EVs tested…
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