Battery instead of combustion engine, high weight: If an electric car has an accident, problems can arise that you are not used to with driving a car. A special crash test examined what these are.
After 2019, electric cars were once again the focus of this year’s crash tests by the insurance company AXA. Using two crash scenarios, the accident researchers showed specific risks posed by battery-electric vehicles: On the one hand, the underbody and, on the other hand, the heavy weight of the electric cars came into focus.
In order to draw attention to the vulnerable underbody with the batteries placed there, the accident researchers simulated an accident that was triggered by the strong acceleration potential of electric cars. In the crash test, the driver loses control of his vehicle when accelerating, runs over a traffic island and rolls over. The passenger compartment remains intact, but the underbody is badly damaged.
Although the drive battery is very well protected by additional stiffening of the bodywork at the front, rear and sides, according to the AXA researchers, such severe damage could pose a fire hazard. They therefore require the underbody to be fitted with a titanium plate or similar high-strength materials. They also suggest that an additional crash test scenario to check stability from below should be introduced at Euro NCAP.
A frontal accident at a speed of 50 between a conventionally powered VW Golf VII and a battery-electric one is intended to draw attention to the different weight classes. The e-Golf weighs around 400 kilograms more than the combustion engine. The lighter vehicle is at a disadvantage in a crash because the energy load is greater than that of the heavier vehicle. However, since both vehicles have modern safety systems, the effects of the mass difference are compensated and the two passenger cells remain intact.
However, it would look different if older models without modern safety equipment were involved in an accident. According to AXA, drivers of heavy vehicles should therefore be particularly careful and considerate when driving.
