I’ve always thought that, at a minimum, the increased mass of BEVs is really inelegant (b/c more range requires more batteries which increases weight which presumably also adversely affects range).
I had never much considered the safety implications, although perhaps that’s b/c EV pickups weren’t a thing until recently. I do think it’s an issue worth looking at.
I am completely confused, however by this
Setting up a charging network to accommodate that may be a mistake from a safety perspective, Brooks said.
Wouldn’t setting up a charging network reduce range anxiety and thus allow for EVs to need “less” battery (and thus reduce weight)?
Of course it’s an issue. Hummer ev weighs 9000 lbs and goes 0-60 in 3 seconds. The ability to rapidly obtain kinetic energy and momentum given that performance to weight ratio is ridiculous. People are going to be running them through buildings and etc.
No, but one assumes that average driver is going to have much more ready access to car weighing significantly more (and having significantly more power) than they are used to, so this is a newish issue.
Many (most?) modern cars have pretty bad visibility and mask “physical” indicators of speed well, so drivers may not realize how fast they’re driving.
Truck drivers are trained to handle their large and heavy cars. Average driver, not so much…
So you are saying all those people who bought huge F-150s or Tundras are trained better than the average EV driver? That’s why I said ‘Not News’. If they said ‘the battery is a huge fire risk’ then , well ok it is, but Weight?
Seconding this, let alone their weights, in a head-on collision any regular ride height vehicle will end up going under the body of a truck, injuring passengers in chest, neck, and head with a much higher risk of fatality. It will be years if not decades until the number of EVs get close to the number of trucks.
The average person can barely handle a 190hp eco-crap box SUV that does 0-60 in 7 seconds and can barely reach 100mph. How will they handle a 6000+lb EV that does 0-60 in 3 seconds and a quarter mile in under 12 seconds?
We need Germany-level driving education and licensing. No one should be able to walk into the DMV and barely pass a theory and driving test on their 16th/18th birthday and walk out with a license.
That is why SUVs are popular now. A car does everything better than an SUV other than cargo room and safety. If everyone else is driving an SUV, your only chance of staying safe in an accident is to be driving another SUV. A survivable SUV crash is a fatal sedan crash.
