Item — HN Reader

The test seems to be sending the EV into the guardrail at a 45 degree angle, moving straight ahead. Is this common for guardrail collisions?

Granted, it’s ideal if they can withstand that angle of impact, but I’m trying to understand the real world impact to safety this has.

2 comments

Fairly common. A lot of things can happen during accidents, and cars sometimes run into guardrails at angles greater than 45 deg.

I’m just surprised they hold up to non-EV vehicles at a similar angle/speed. At 45 degrees, seems like most ICE cars would fly through them too, except for some of the more compact ones. But especially SUVs and trucks.

To me it seem reasonable middle ground. You get either 0 degree or 90 degree. That is glancing or head-on. 45 being between is not unreasonable option to set as coming at some repeatable angle. As you cannot test all collisions.

Head on crashes have already other methodology. Which covers some ground. After all you can only do limited amount of testing.