Mercedes electric cars in crash testing: “Safety is not a driving issue”

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Approximately 1.3 million people die in road traffic every year worldwide; last year the number was 20,600 in Europe alone. The European-wide safety index Euro NCAP shows how safe a car is in the event of an accident.

But Mercedes goes one step further: crash tests at its in-house vehicle safety technology center in Sindelfingen (D) go well beyond legal requirements. With its first public crash test with two electric cars, the German manufacturer proves that passenger safety does not depend on the powertrain. Blick was present alive at the staged crash.

Real accidents are simulated

Mercedes is pursuing an ambitious goal: “Vision Zero is a strategy by which we want to make our cars so safe that there will be no fatal accidents with Mercedes vehicles after 2050,” explains Paul Dick, Head of Vehicle Safety at Mercedes-Benz.

To this end, the German automaker carries out around 900 crash tests with vehicles every year and 1,700 skid tests, in which only the bodywork with the components to be tested is struck. There are also thousands of computer simulations. The starting point is real accident scenarios.

Prevention and damage control

However, Dick underlines that the priority at Mercedes is not just safety during an accident: “Prevention is as important as protection during an accident. That is, to prevent a collision if possible with our safety systems. If this is not possible, you should at least prepare for the impact.”

Assistance systems that automatically apply emergency braking assistance, for example, to reduce the effects of a collision. Or seats that tilt more toward the interior of the vehicle before a side impact, so the body has more room to resist deformation.

In addition, the “safety brain”, a small yellow control unit where all sensors and systems come together, analyzes which direction the collision came from and then triggers only the necessary airbags. Why not all? Because otherwise, in the event of a subsequent crash, deployable airbags would no longer be available.

Electric cars and combustion engines are equally safe

Everything explained so far applies to all cars, whether combustion or electric. But we hear again and again that electric cars are more dangerous than gasoline or diesel engines due to flammable batteries. Is this true? “NO. Safety is not a driving issue,” explains Julia Hinners, passive safety engineer at Mercedes-Benz. “For us, an electric car is as safe as an internal combustion engine. “It just needs to be built to protect the battery and the high-voltage power grid.”

The huge battery pack under the body must not be deformed under any circumstances, otherwise things could get really complicated. For this, the entire subframe of electric cars is strengthened and the impact energy is directed away from the battery. Additionally, in the event of a collision, the vehicle automatically cuts off the high voltage lines and de-energizes the battery.

Additionally, according to Hinners, electric vehicles offer an advantage that should not be overlooked in frontal collisions: Due to the absence of a combustion engine in front of the passenger cell, there is sufficient space to create an optimum and safe crumple zone. It absorbs a lot of energy in frontal collisions.

SUV versus SUV at 56 km/h

The manufacturer then shows us the safety of a Mercedes electric car in a frontal collision with 50 percent side overlap. Mercedes allows a three-tonne SUV EQE to collide with a compact EQA weighing around 2.2 tonnes at 56 km/h. A scenario that often occurs on country roads, for example, after an unsuccessful overtaking manoeuvre.

Milliseconds later: After a violent and very loud explosion, it all ended. A picture of destruction. “The severe deformation of two SUVs after the collision may seem frightening to ordinary people. “But it shows us that the energy of the collision is effectively dissipated through the deformation of the cars,” says Paul Dick. Even the doors can be opened without any problems.

When the fire department announced the test accident location, we journalists were allowed to take a closer look at the consequences of this accident. When we look at the passenger compartment, it amazes us: almost no external damage is visible on the interior of both SUVs. Even the huge touchscreen on the EQE is still fully functional, with only minor scratches on the windshield. On the smaller EQA, the windshield was shattered and a wheel was completely torn off. However: All of the people in the vehicle could have survived this accident with injuries. And as ordinary people often report, nothing burned during this crash test.

Source: Blick