GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — New research released this week comes with a word of caution for electric vehicle owners — that they may have a safety concern their gas equivalents don't.
The study comes from the University of Nebraska and shows that guardrails, how they are currently designed, are unable to withstand heavier electric vehicles — largely thanks to the batteries inside.
In a crash test video from the study, you can see an electric truck slam easily through the guardrails and into the barriers behind them.
James Morin, the EV consultant at the Michigan International Auto Show, said batteries inside those EVs add on a significant amount of weight.
"I have a relatively small hatchback that I drive and it's probably five to 700 pounds heavier than a gas equivalent," Morin said.
Those weight differences can be significant, too, with Kelley Blue Book stating the battery alone inside GMC's Electric Hummer weighs just shy of 3,000 pounds.
That extra weight is too much for guardrails across the country as they are today, according to that study.
However, Morin said it isn't the first time guardrails haven't held up. In the 90s when SUVs began to take off, a change was made.
"At that point, the guardrails weren't meant to handle cars that were that tall," Morin said. "So they had to be adjusted up."
Morin said he expects with the rise in EV popularity as the years go on, improvements will likely come again.
"Good change can facilitate lots of other changes along the way," Morin said.
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