ELECTRIC CARS
Analyzes of airbag data have not been able to demonstrate any technical faults in the Volvo that drove through the wall on the third floor of a Norwegian parking garage. However, an expert on car accidents wants to warn that electric cars accelerate very powerfully.
There were no technical faults with the Volvo XC40 that on September 23 this year drove through a wall on the third floor of a parking garage in Sandvika, a suburb of Oslo. The driver died when the car fell to the ground.
– Our investigations show that there were no faults with the gas pedal, says Jens Petter Storrø, engineer and expert at the Swedish Road Administration, to the newspaper.
Recalled and fixed
The car in question had previously been recalled and fixed for a defect that could potentially cause unwanted acceleration.
However, an examination of data from the car’s airbag system shows that the accelerator pedal was gradually depressed for more than half a second before fully deploying. The pedal was then held down for the last three seconds before the car drove through the wall.
According to TU, the airbag unit logs data from the car five seconds before and two seconds after an event. This data also shows that the brakes were not applied during the five seconds preceding the accident.
– So there was no contact that turned on or off. This indicates that it was not a short circuit but an active use of the gas pedal, says Jens Petter Storrø.
After the investigation by the National Road Administration, the Oslo Police District sent out a press release about the accident. According to TU, it appears that the driver of the car, a man in his 60s, entered the car via the passenger side before the accident because the driver’s side door could not be opened due to another parked car.
“A simulation of the accident shows that the car drove straight into the wall, hit a wall of a building opposite and then landed on the roof of a smaller building further down. Finally, it hit the ground on the right side and rolled over on its wheels,” the police press release says.
TU has previously reported that the car was parked 30 meters inside the parking garage – a distance that it therefore drove before it broke through the wall.
Warning for the acceleration
The Norwegian expert also says that the Swedish Road Administration has received several complaints in recent years from motorists who claimed that their electric cars accelerated unintentionally. In the past year, the authority has investigated five such alleged cases, and each time the conclusion has been the same: No technical faults with the car.
Jens Petter Storrø therefore urges motorists to be better prepared for the power that modern electric cars have. He recalls that traditional cars make noise when you press the gas pedal and that the pedal also reacts with a certain delay.
– The electric car is completely silent. It suddenly shoots off like you’re sitting in an airplane seat. It can feel a bit surprising and unpleasant, and I myself was a bit taken aback the first few times I drove an electric car, he says.
This article was previously published in Danish ing.dk. Ny Teknik translates and publishes selected articles exclusively for subscribers, as part of a collaboration between the newspapers.
Source: www.nyteknik.se
