Experts warn that the weight of electric vehicle batteries can pose a risk to other drivers.

Traffic Safety Advocates Warn of Increased Danger from Electric Vehicle Weight

Traffic safety advocates have raised concerns about the potential dangers posed by the increased weight of batteries in electric vehicles. Recent crash tests conducted by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) have shed light on the impact of this weight difference in automobile collisions, revealing that while EVs may fare well, lighter gasoline-powered vehicles often suffer.

Weight Disparity and its Consequences

According to CBS, electric batteries can weigh hundreds to thousands of pounds more than internal combustion engines, providing better protection to EV occupants. However, this weight disparity puts those in conventional vehicles at a disadvantage.

“It’s simple laws of physics,” explains Raul Arbelaez, vice president of IIHS’s Vehicle Research Center. “The crash for the other vehicle, when you are heavier, is going to be more severe.”

For instance, the Audi Q4 e-tron luxury SUV weighs approximately 5,600 pounds, nearly 1,500 pounds heavier than the Audi Q5. Arbelaez highlights the consequences of such a weight difference, stating, “You take a very large vehicle, say a 10,000-pound vehicle, against that mid-size SUV. You have now converted that from a 40 mph crash for that smaller vehicle all the way to about a 58 mph crash. And what crash research tells us is that once you go above, say, the standard 40 mph crash severity, to 55 [mph] and higher, safety for those occupants in those vehicles goes down dramatically. The occupant compartment starts to collapse in ways that we aren’t designing for.”

National Transportation Safety Board chairwoman Jennifer Homendy also acknowledges the significant safety challenges posed by the weight gap between EVs and conventional vehicles. She warns that this disparity could potentially lead to more fatalities resulting from car collisions, particularly with pedestrians, cyclists, and motorcyclists.

“If you think about an impact in a crash with a lighter vehicle with a pedestrian or a cyclist or motorcyclist, it’s going to have a much different outcome than we’ve seen in the past,” she explains. “Terribly tragic.”

Click here to read more from The Washington Examiner.

Lawmakers and Safety Concerns

Lawmakers have also taken notice of the safety concerns surrounding electric vehicles. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) recently addressed these issues in a letter to U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission chairman Gary Gensler. Rubio expressed concerns about the strain on the power grid and the potential wear and tear on the nation’s transportation infrastructure, such as roads and bridges, due to the substantial weight of EVs.

These safety concerns highlight the need for further research and measures to address the potential risks associated with the weight disparity between electric and gasoline-powered vehicles.

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