Electric vehicles raise concerns about whether safety infrastructure can handle their weight in a crash

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.