Oh Scotty no! Scotty says on account of the much heavier weight of electric cars, along with the potentially longer breaking distance at high speeds, occupants of gas-powered vehicles are now at increased risk of being in a fatal collision if it's with an EV. So... that's a thing.
(2 votes)
Comments
(Long Spike)
Ahhh yes, giant electric trucks and SUVs. The smartest way to transform to electric vehicles.
Wouldn't it be better to start with little electric hatchbacks and motorcycles instead?
(Old Spike)
Well in the developed world they do actually (small cars, not so much bikes). In the US people want big fat trucks and SUVs. F150ies are not sold here in Europe, Ranger size is the biggest recreational pick up you can get. The largest SUV's are Grand Cherokee or ML sized.
(Long Spike)
there are PLENTY of electric bikes
(Old Spike)
You mean pushbikes? I was referring to motorcycles.
(Long Spike)
..i thought they were called 'PussBikes' ...lol my bad
(Old Spike)
lol
(Old Spike)
I did not watch the video, here are just some thoughts and facts on braking distances (60-0mph):
Tesla S plaid 104 feet, Porsche Taycan 103 feet
These are the 20 Best 60 to 0 Distances Recorded by Motor Trend
The average stopping distance for cars is compared here
So the user of a gas powered car need not worry electric cars are well within the average range.
In general the limiting factors in efficient braking are:
In case of an accident with a heavier car, most modern cars are fairly well equipped. Especially in the US and all their idioticly large SUVs and pick ups it doesn't really matter whether they are electric or gas when a smaller car is hit by them.
(Site Administrator)
Get to around the 5:30 mark where he starts talking breaks and crumple zones when you can.
As a bonus, electrical car fires burn so hot that apparently many fire departments in smaller municipalities still aren't properly equipped to deal with them. So you save on the cost of the crematorium right there.
(Old Spike)
Yes, EV fires are rare but harder to put out than normal car fires, that is well known, fire depts should adapt.
EV's are built with the same safety in mind than any other car (that of pedestrians and other more vulnerable road users and that of the passengers of course) , like I said, it makes not much difference whether the SUV is gas or electric powered when they are in a crash with a normal car.
Funnily enough if it were that bad he actually provides a good argument to swap your gas guzzler for an EV, which I don't think is what he had in mind.
Still, as far as crumple zones are concerned there is an advantage to be in a crash "against" an EV! As these cars do not have a solid engine block in the front, like most other cars do, they can actually absorb more energy with their crumble zones until something hard and heavy is stopping the process.
TBH I think this guy should have stayed with his bread and butter stuff, annoyingly (to my taste) presented but useful videos about how to repair your car, this kind of thing (like the toyota "review") simply goes way over his head.
EDIT:
I forgot to mention in my original comment that the kinetic energy that needs to be absorbed is
E =1/2m * v^2
so you can see that speed is factored in exponentially and thus mass loses its influence with increased speed difference!
(Site Administrator)
Ok but where you write:
'E =1/2m * v^2
so you can see that speed is factored in exponentially and thus mass loses its influence with increased speed difference!'. I'd like you to think on that again. eg. at 33.3 m/sec (120km/h) highway speeed here in Montreal. Or somewhere in between. Mass is pretty much the constant in that case so if you (exaggerating here) double the mass, at high speeds as you say, that could easily be the difference between fractured vs broken vertebrae as far as human tolerances go. Yes redesined alloy/composite crumple zones are key, but as you mentioned, here in North America it's all about size and luxury/comfort at present. We got some plus sized monsters on the road. I think it will be a consideration until as you suggest everyone is electric and the playing field is more level. In fact, this might be something the government eventually uses to leverage removing the last gas powered vehicles from the road.
(Old Spike)
Well, irl EV's do not have double the mass. Look at the calculation below, I chose this car because this is a popular EV here (apparently there is no Diesel version of it, which would be heavier than the Gasoline car.
The higher the speed the less the mass has influence on the damage. But of course 20% more mass makes 20% more impact.
"... this might be something the government eventually uses to leverage removing the last gas powered vehicles from the road."
Governments do all sorts of silly shit, the size difference of cars wouldn't make sense as an argument otherwise big SUV's and recreational pick up trucks should have been removed a long time ago or at least have a severe speed limit attached to them.
Here in Europe environmental impact is the limiting factor. Diesel cars have been banned from some cities in Germany andf cars are taxed in accordance with their emmissions.
Probably there will be a ban on production of internal combustion engine cars in the next decade so the "issue" of old cars will sort itself out little by little, increasing the cost on petrol will do the rest. Those that drive little will not be affected that much those that do need to look for a more environmental solution.
For the amount my wife and I drive an electric car is not worth our while, I will even buy a V8 SUV (probably ML500, which I can register as a historic car in 10 years time and save on tax) as a backup car in case one of our cars needs repairs (I do them myself so it takes longer than bringing it to the workshop), we wil do maybe 1500km a year on it (if that much) so petrol economy is not important.
(Site Administrator)
Nice. And I'm really not against the advance in technology and lower emissions but I am highly skeptical about our not trading one set of problems for another in the process, including the exploitative mining of the metals needed for the batteries (for now) as well as the inevitable hike in electricity rates when demand increases. An interesting time for the industry for sure.
(Old Spike)
Well, if it is not too late for the measures we introduce now to severely reduce CO2/methane introduction into the atmosphere (experts still believe it isn't) designed to reduce and eventually stop excessive heating of the earth (experts still believe they will) some exploitive mining is a small price to pay for avoiding the consequences (experts believe they will be extremely severe).
In any case neither you nor I will suffer these consequences it will be up to future generations to "sort themselves out" and that thanks to our "selfless" efforts!
And coming back to topic: If you want advice on general car repair the guy knows his stuff, on this topic he is talking out of his arse. Cars have gotten bigger and heavier all the time.
(Old Spike)
Here is a real world example for the difference in energy levels:
Hyundai Kona 1,6GDI curb weight 1350kg, same car electric (high range) 1650kg
Energy at 60mph = 27m/s (30mph = 13.5m/s),
E=1/2m * v^2
Gasoline
E=1/2*1350kg * 27 (13.5)m/s^2
E=675kg * 729 (182.25) = 492.075 (123.018,75) J
EV
E=1/2*1650kg * 27 (13.5)m/s^2
E=825 * 729 (182.25) = 601.425 (150.356,25) J
The impact difference at 60mph is roughly 20%, which is as if the car would be occupied by 3 adults and a child rather than only one adult.