BETTER PARTSView a crash test with a Mercedes EQS SUV and a Mercedes EQA here
For the first time, we can watch a double crash test with EVs
Mercedes deliberately crashes three cars every day, resulting in more than 900 Mercs being destroyed every year. The most recent crash test has been made public and is a first. For the first time we see a crash test with a large, heavy car (read, the Mercedes EQS SUV) and a smaller, but still quite heavy car (read, the Mercedes EQA).
With this test, Mercedes wants to show how strong the latest generation of electric cars is. The brand relies on the good reputation it has built up in recent years in the field of safety (we do not have the space to list all of Mercedes' pioneering moments, but you probably know them). They want to maintain this good name in the electric age.
Mercedes does more than necessary
That is why Mercedes is also going out of its way here. In this test, the Euro NCAP requires a frontal impact with a 1,400 kilo trolley in which an aluminum honeycomb barrier is used to simulate the front of another car. “Hold my Hofbräu,” says Mercedes, and they conduct the crash test with a 2.6-ton EQS SUV and a 2-ton EQA. The cars drive towards each other at a speed of 56 km/h, while the required speed is 50 km/h.
You can see the result in the photos above and in the moving images at the bottom of this page. Mercedes head of crash testing Paul Dick said of the test: "The car will look hellish, but the occupants will be safe."
And indeed, after the heavy collision, the doors can still be opened. This shows that the safety cell is working as intended. All crash dummies carry 150 sensors and the resulting data indicates that there is a 'low chance of serious, fatal injuries'.
And those batteries?
The battery protection also did what it was supposed to do. The power system was automatically switched off and made safe from the moment the cars touched each other. 'Protecting human life is not about the type of powertrain. The recent crash test with two fully electric cars demonstrates this. It proves that all our cars have an equally high level of safety, regardless of which technology provides the drive," says Mercedes technology boss Markus Schäfer.