As the number of electric vehicles on U.S. roads continues to rise, concern has emerged about the ability of existing safety infrastructure to handle their increased weight. Guardrails and other roadside safety barriers, typically tested against vehicles weighing around 5,000 pounds, are now being challenged by EVs that often exceed that weight.
In January, a 2021 Tesla crashed into a guardrail on the 405 Freeway in Irvine, California. The vehicle appears to have smashed through the barrier and careened off the roadway, ultimately killing the driver.
Researchers at the University of Nebraska are testing how U.S. infrastructure matches up to EVs. They crashed a 7,000-pound electric pickup — weighing 2,000 pounds more than a gas-powered pickup — at 62 mph into concrete barriers commonly used as freeway medians. The barriers contained the collision, but chunks of concrete were sent flying, and several of the 5,000-pound barriers were pushed back 10 feet — 50% more than normal.
"Unfortunately, these guardrail systems, which have performed very well with gasoline vehicles historically, do not appear to be containing electric vehicles when impacting the similar types of conditions," said Cody Stolle, a University of Nebraska associate professor who has been studying the issue.
Nebraska Republican Sen. Deb Fischer said there has to be a greater awareness regarding the current standards for guardrails and barriers to encourage further research.
"It was eye-opening. There was a lot of damage. And again, if there would've been vehicles on the other side of that barrier, we would've seen a severe accident," said Fischer.
A guardrail is supposed to work by containing a vehicle and redirecting it back toward the road. But in a recent test by the Texas Transportation Institute, a standard guardrail failed when an electric sedan hit it, raising further concerns about the ability of existing infrastructure to handle the heavier weight of EVs.
More than 19,000 people died in crashes where their vehicle left the roadway last year, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. This makes up nearly half of all traffic deaths. Guardrails and similar roadway barriers are designed to reduce the number and severity of these crashes.
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety and National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy are concerned about the additional weight from EVs causing more severe crashes.
"Our guardrails and crash attenuators, they are rated up to 5,000 pounds. Many of these [electric] vehicles go up to 10,000 pounds, so that has an impact on safety," Homendy said during a Senate hearing in March.
The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that half of all new car sales will be EVs by 2032, leaving limited time to address these concerns and upgrade roadside safety barriers.
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