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How are electric vehicles crash tested?

Have you ever wondered how electric vehicles are crash tested? We examined whether these tests are different from the classic vehicle tests…

Electric vehicles can have many different features. Okay, but have you ever thought about how crash tests are done?

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, the most recognized evaluator of vehicle safety in the USA, recently renovated its facility where it aims to conduct crash tests of vehicles weighing up to 4 tons. This may seem well above the average new vehicle load of 1,800 kilograms. But the 4-tonne scale will only be enough to test an electric Hummer or possibly the heavier electric Hummer SUV, which will arrive in spring 2023.

Even the relatively light Volvo EX90 can reach a payload of 2,800kg, the Mercedes EQS 2,700kg and the Tesla Model S sedan 2,200kg.

If all that load is surrounding you during a crash, it might be enough improvement. Heavier vehicles tend to push lighter vehicles, and less power is transferred to the occupants of the heavier vehicle. And because EVs’ additional scales are lower, they provide a low center of scale that makes them harder to tip over.

The best-selling electric cars enjoy an impressive early-period record in IIHS safety ratings: Vehicles such as the Tesla Model 3 and Model Y, Hyundai Ioniq5 and Kia EV6 have the Best Safety Choice + rating.The Ford Mustang Mach-E, on the other hand, receives a standard Best Safety Choice rating, in part because of its mediocre standard headlights.

How are crash tests performed on electric vehicles?

As you can see in the image above, IIHS subjects electric vehicles to one-on-one crash tests with conventional vehicles. That is, head-on collisions, various top-ups, roof integrity tests are performed, all priced at how well a car protects occupants in each scenario. As with all the vehicles it has tested, The maximum crash speed for a HOUSING is finite at 65kmph.

IIHS says the incidence of injury to drivers and passengers in electric vehicles is over 40% lower than that seen in classic vehicle occupants from 2011 to 2019. This shows a precedent trend for HLDI information on hybrid vehicles. In addition to greater payloads, electric vehicles often tend to have the latest crash prevention and survival technologies, as they are often more modern and high-tech.

The organization says that after crash-testing, a new generation EV has never caught fire or experienced thermal runaway. His research on vehicle fires in fatal automobile crashes from 2009 to 2014 found a similar ratio between conventional and electric vehicles.