Are Highway Guardrails Designed to Withstand Impact by Heavy EVs?

I’m Katelyn Holub, an attorney focusing on personal injury law in northwest Indiana.

Welcome to Personal Injury Primer, where we break down the law into simple terms, provide legal tips, and discuss personal injury law topics.

Today we discuss the issue of how heavy electric vehicles might lead to higher rates of injury if the drivers of such vehicles hit a guardrail.

Electric vehicles weigh more than gasoline-powered cars. Are highway guardrails designed to withstand the extra force that will be applied against them when struck by heavy EVs?

A recent study by the University of Nebraska raises concerns suggesting that most highway guardrail systems in the USA are not built to withstand an impact with a heavy EV.

Gas-powered vehicles typically weigh as much as 50% less than electric-powered vehicles. The batteries in a typical EV can weigh almost as much as a small gas-powered car. The weight distribution is often lower in an EV as well.

Because of these differences, guardrails in most areas are not designed to withstand an impact and will not be able to stop electric vehicles from pushing through such barriers.

The University ran an electric-powered pickup truck into a test guardrail installed on the University’s testing grounds. The guardrail did not do well in the test. The EV pickup weighed nearly 4 tons.  The metal guardrail did little to slow the EV. Only when it hit a concrete barrier beyond the guardrail, did the EV slow down.

Most guardrail systems are not constructed to handle vehicles weighing greater than 5,000 pounds. So an 8,000-pound EV will tear through a steel guardrail like it is not even present.

Interestingly, in a test reportedly sponsored by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, an EV sedan was impacted against a guardrail and it lifted the guardrail posts out of the ground and passed under the guardrail itself.

For now, if you drive a heavy battery-powered vehicle your best bet is to slow down.

A question not yet investigated is how might a lighter gas-powered car fare in a collision with a 4-ton electric-powered vehicle.

We know generally that in impacts between heavy and light vehicles, the light vehicles take the brunt of the damage. The same impact force bending the metal on the lighter vehicle will likely be passed to the occupants of the lighter vehicle and lead to more severe injuries.

On the other hand, perhaps the electric vehicles themselves will offer superior protection to their occupants due to their heavier weight and the lower center of gravity in electric vehicles due to the lower placement of the heavy batteries.

I hope you found this information helpful. If you are a victim of someone’s carelessness, substandard medical care, product defect, work injury, or another personal injury, please call (219) 736-9700 with your questions. You can also learn more about us by visiting our website at DavidHolubLaw.com – while there, make sure you request a copy of our book “Fighting for Truth.”