Crashworthiness of Roadside Hardware Impacted by Battery Electric Vehicles

The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) Manual for Assessing Safety Hardware (MASH) defines the crashworthiness evaluation criteria and test conditions necessary to evaluate roadside hardware. MASH requires that test vehicles meet certain inertial and dimensional criteria and that vehicles be reasonably representative of commonly available, high-sales volume vehicles. Battery electric vehicles (BEVs) are increasing in popularity and some states have adopted legislation to reduce or ban the sale of passenger internal combustion engine vehicles (ICEVs) by 2035. BEVs tend to be heavier than ICEVs by between 20 and 50 percent for models with similar cabin sizes and power outputs. Also, BEVs have significantly different structures than ICEVs: instead of an internal combustion engine, BEVs utilize battery packs commonly mounted in the floor pan and electrical motors that affect vehicle crush space, center-of-gravity height, and structural frame of the vehicle. The differences between BEVs and ICEVs could lead to incompatibilities with existing roadside hardware. However, currently little or no research is available regarding the crashworthiness of roadside hardware impacted by BEVs. Research is needed to investigate the crashworthiness of roadside hardware impacted by BEVs given the increasing number of BEVs on the road. The objective of this research is to perform an initial investigation into the crashworthiness of some common generic roadside hardware when impacted by BEVs and to develop a framework for future testing.

• Record URL:
  http://apps.trb.org/cmsfeed/TRBNetProjectDisplay.asp?ProjectID=5537

Language

• English

Project

• Status: Active
• Funding: $1000000
• Contract Numbers:

  Project 22-61

• Sponsor Organizations:

  National Cooperative Highway Research Program

  Transportation Research Board
  500 Fifth Street, NW
  Washington, DC  United States  20001

  American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO)

  444 North Capitol Street, NW
  Washington, DC  United States  20001

  Federal Highway Administration

  1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Project Managers:

  Turner, Anne-Marie

• Performing Organizations:

  University of Nebraska, Lincoln

  1400 R Street
  Lincoln, NE  United States  68588
• Principal Investigators:

  Bielenberg, Robert

• Start Date: 20240805
• Expected Completion Date: 20270804
• Actual Completion Date: 0

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Barriers (Roads); Bridge railings; Crash cushions; Crashworthiness; Electric vehicles; Highway design; Manuals; Roadside
• Subject Areas: Energy; Highways; Safety and Human Factors; Terminals and Facilities; Vehicles and Equipment;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01888641
• Record Type: Research project
• Source Agency: Transportation Research Board
• Contract Numbers: Project 22-61
• Files: TRB, RIP
• Created Date: Jul 25 2023 8:22AM