A car company say they have carried out the world’s first public crash test involving two fully electric vehicles.
Motoring giant Mercedes-Benz smashed two cars into each other at almost 35mph.
The impact test was designed to show how the electric cars surpassed minimum safety requirements, especially when weighty battery packs can make EVs heavier than petrol or diesel-fueled motors.
The crash test, at the Group’s Technology Centre for Vehicle Safety in Sindelfingen, saw EQA and EQS SUV models collide head-on with a 50 percent overlap in a real-life accident scenario, each travelling at 56 km/h (34.8 mph).
This scenario was designed to replicate an accident common on rural roads, often involving a failed overtaking action.
The German manufacturer explains: "With the world’s first public crash test involving two fully electric vehicles, Mercedes-Benz is going above and beyond not only the legal requirements but also those of the ratings industry.
"Euro NCAP stipulates a frontal impact test using a 1,400 kg trolley with an aluminium honeycomb barrier replicating the front of another vehicle.
"In accordance with the specifications, the test vehicle and the trolley collide with an overlap and at a speed of 50 km/h.
"Mercedes-Benz, however, used two real vehicles, an EQA and an EQS SUV, which are significantly heavier at around 2.2 and three tonnes respectively.
"In addition, both models were faster, each going 56 km/h, which meant that the overall crash energy was considerably higher than required by law."
The firm say the vehicles’ extensive deformation following the collision may seem alarming to the non-expert.
For the Mercedes-Benz engineers, however, it shows that the vehicles were able to effectively absorb the energy of the collision by deforming.
As a result, the passenger safety cell of both electric models remained intact and the doors could still be opened.
In an emergency, this would make it possible for occupants to exit the vehicle on their own or for first responders and rescue personnel to reach them.
The high-voltage system in the EQA and the EQS SUV was reported to have switched off automatically during the collision.
Mercedes add: "The crash test at the Group’s Technology Centre for Vehicle Safety in Sindelfingen demonstrates Mercedes‑Benz’s real-life safety philosophy: To make cars that hold up not only in defined crash test scenarios, but also in real-life accidents.
"The test scenario involving a speed of 56 km/h and 50 percent frontal overlap corresponds to a type of accident common on rural roads, for example during a failed overtaking manoeuvre."
The speed selected for the test takes into account that, in a real-life accident, the drivers would still try to brake before the worst case of a collision.
Markus Schäfer, Member of the Board of Management of Mercedes-Benz Group AG, Chief Technology Officer, says: "Safety is part of Mercedes-Benz’s DNA and one of our core commitments to all road users. And to us, protecting human lives is not a question of drive system.
"The recent crash test involving two fully electric vehicles demonstrates this. It proves that all our vehicles have an equally high level of safety, no matter what technology drives them."
Motoring giant Mercedes-Benz smashed two cars into each other at almost 35mph.
The impact test was designed to show how the electric cars surpassed minimum safety requirements, especially when weighty battery packs can make EVs heavier than petrol or diesel-fueled motors.
The crash test, at the Group’s Technology Centre for Vehicle Safety in Sindelfingen, saw EQA and EQS SUV models collide head-on with a 50 percent overlap in a real-life accident scenario, each travelling at 56 km/h (34.8 mph).
This scenario was designed to replicate an accident common on rural roads, often involving a failed overtaking action.
The German manufacturer explains: "With the world’s first public crash test involving two fully electric vehicles, Mercedes-Benz is going above and beyond not only the legal requirements but also those of the ratings industry.
"Euro NCAP stipulates a frontal impact test using a 1,400 kg trolley with an aluminium honeycomb barrier replicating the front of another vehicle.
"In accordance with the specifications, the test vehicle and the trolley collide with an overlap and at a speed of 50 km/h.
"Mercedes-Benz, however, used two real vehicles, an EQA and an EQS SUV, which are significantly heavier at around 2.2 and three tonnes respectively.
"In addition, both models were faster, each going 56 km/h, which meant that the overall crash energy was considerably higher than required by law."
The firm say the vehicles’ extensive deformation following the collision may seem alarming to the non-expert.
For the Mercedes-Benz engineers, however, it shows that the vehicles were able to effectively absorb the energy of the collision by deforming.
As a result, the passenger safety cell of both electric models remained intact and the doors could still be opened.
In an emergency, this would make it possible for occupants to exit the vehicle on their own or for first responders and rescue personnel to reach them.
The high-voltage system in the EQA and the EQS SUV was reported to have switched off automatically during the collision.
Mercedes add: "The crash test at the Group’s Technology Centre for Vehicle Safety in Sindelfingen demonstrates Mercedes‑Benz’s real-life safety philosophy: To make cars that hold up not only in defined crash test scenarios, but also in real-life accidents.
"The test scenario involving a speed of 56 km/h and 50 percent frontal overlap corresponds to a type of accident common on rural roads, for example during a failed overtaking manoeuvre."
The speed selected for the test takes into account that, in a real-life accident, the drivers would still try to brake before the worst case of a collision.
Markus Schäfer, Member of the Board of Management of Mercedes-Benz Group AG, Chief Technology Officer, says: "Safety is part of Mercedes-Benz’s DNA and one of our core commitments to all road users. And to us, protecting human lives is not a question of drive system.
"The recent crash test involving two fully electric vehicles demonstrates this. It proves that all our vehicles have an equally high level of safety, no matter what technology drives them."
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FunTranscript
00:00 We are seeing today the first ever public EV crash. So we are crashing two electric vehicles
00:29 into each other. We do this with a velocity of 56 kilometers per hour and an overlap of
00:35 50 percent. We are doing this test to show that first the electrical vehicles with an
00:41 electrical powertrain have the same performance as vehicles with combustion engines. This
00:46 could be also happening on a real road with real traffic with real people.
00:50 It is important that especially with electric vehicles that there is no damage to the battery
01:11 and to the high voltage components. Both vehicles look completely destroyed at first and the
01:18 front looks severely damaged. This is part of the protection concept for the occupants.
01:23 The front of the vehicles deform as designed to effectively absorb energy and reduce the
01:30 forces to the occupants. Our vision is Vision Zero in 2050. That means zero fatal accidents
01:40 with a car from Mercedes-Benz. There is no bigger purpose than saving people's lives.
01:48 Safety is teamwork. There are various steps and various people involved. At first we start
01:54 by doing different simulations. When we are ready to do a crash test we get a car here
02:00 right from the production line and the first thing that we do is we paint the car orange.
02:05 We take this orange color because when we first started doing crash tests it was just
02:09 black and white filming and on the black and white films this orange color was the
02:14 best contrast. When the car is painted we place measuring instruments, a lot of technical
02:23 equipment into the car to make sure that all the signals from the dummies are all coming
02:29 together. Dummies are a measuring device which are used to evaluate the safety of our cars.
02:37 This is up to 150 sensors which are inside those dummies. So the sensors measure different
02:44 forces, different acceleration and compressions. Those measurements are directly linked to
02:52 possibilities of injuries. One of the most important things which has to be prepared
02:57 is that the dummy is working properly. The kinematics are correct, the sensors are measuring
03:02 properly and then we have to make sure that the dummies are positioned correctly in the
03:08 car. What makes a difference here is that the airbags and the belt tensioners are safety
03:19 systems that we focus on here at the facility. Those are activated within just a split second.
03:25 And that's this engineering excellence we have that in this second all the systems are
03:30 working at the right time, in the right position, at the right place. When the vehicles are
03:35 being placed on the track and the cameras are rolling and the light is on, everybody
03:39 has to check if the systems are alright, if the measuring systems are online and then
03:45 we're ready to go. We are very pleased with the results of the test. We have to protect
03:51 the occupants and the battery. The battery remains stable and the high voltage system
03:57 switch off. The body in white works very well, the crumble zone is very good. The chance
04:03 is very low that the occupants and therefore the dummies have fatal injuries and I'm very
04:09 impressed. It's a milestone of our development. Our vision is zero fatal accidents in 2050.
04:18 For us, for everybody here, the approach is to make the road traffic safer for everybody.
04:25 There is no bigger purpose than saving people's lives.