by This article was originally published on The Drive.
One of the most satisfying feelings in an electric vehicle is instant torque. We car lovers crave the feeling of being squeezed back into our seats, and a high-power internal combustion car has that feeling, while a hyper-efficient EV does.
Instant torque can also translate into very fast acceleration. In fact, we’re seeing battery-powered cars go from zero to 60 MPH at the supercar level, despite being two or three times heavier than petrol-powered exotics. While this is fun for the driver and those in the vehicle, it turns out that these inflated EVs can easily pose a danger to other vehicles and pedestrians on the road, and no regulators have yet taken steps to address these issues.
The electric motors of the 2022 Hummer EV produce 1,000 horsepower and 1,200 pound-feet of torque; That’s enough power to push the 9,100-pound car from zero to 60 MPH in just three seconds. As a result, a Lamborghini Aventador LP 780-4 Ultimae takes about 2.8 seconds at just over a third of its weight. Either way, that’s a lot of speed too quickly, but in the event of a crash, the Hummer produces 2.5 times more power than the Aventador at 60 MPH.
It’s hard to say how often supercar owners actually crash into their cars. By Automotive News, safety officials do not have corresponding data on supercar crashes, but information on high-performance motorcycles is available. In fact, most crashes on sportbikes occur within the first 120 days of ownership. Perhaps there is a correlation between the number of reports showing new owners crashing high-performance cars within hours or days of purchasing them.
The best example is YouTuber Edmond Mondi. A few weeks ago, Mondi posted a video on Instagram showing the Hummer EV’s supercar-like acceleration from a stagnant launch. The video created some controversy, given that the Hummer was pulled out of the driver’s seat as he sped through several car lanes in stopped traffic. Weeks later, we were reported to have smashed Mondi’s Hummer EV a few hours after picking it up from the dealership, as explained in a YouTube video posted later.
With fast acceleration and enormous weight, it’s pretty clear that it’s likely to be an accident from both new and seasoned riders. How deadly these crashes will be is something researchers need to gather data to determine.
A study by the National Bureau of Economic Research found that the odds of dying in a car crash are roughly 1 in 500. The same study determined that being in a collision with a vehicle 1,000 pounds heavier than yours increased the baseline risk of death by 47%. It’s not immediately clear how this scales with modern battery electric vehicle weights (for example, a 3,300-pound Toyota Camry is involved in an accident with a Hummer EV – a 5,800-pound difference).
Realistically, it’s hard to imagine a solution to a potential public safety problem other than regulation. Sure, automakers can offer in-car alerts or geofence speed and performance to racetracks or certain designated areas (like the Nissan GT-R in the Japanese market in the late 2000s), but hackers will no doubt treat it like a game of cat-and-mouse. To beat these restrictions. Realistically, it is unthinkable to think that an automaker would willingly cripple the selling points of performance cars in the name of safety.
consumers request fast go option. It’s a sexy selling point of a sports car and choice drinking alcohol, smoking and performing numerous other tasks that pose a risk to the user’s own health. The problem is that a massive 4.5-tonne EV stretches its feet at full speed on the public road, posing a threat to other drivers, passengers and pedestrians. No automaker or consumer wants to have more government control over a product they manufacture or own, and I certainly don’t. But at some point, we have to accept that there will be people who will die due to the misuse of the product in the name of refreshing acceleration, and even one will be too many.
