The IIHS Loaded A Pick-Up With Concrete And Smashed It Into A Wall

The limitations of current battery technology mean EVs tend to be on the porky side. Further adding fat, the popularity of SUVs means many EVs are in this body style, while in the US, we’ve seen the arrival of electric pick-ups like the Ford F-150 Lightning which weighs around three tonnes. And that’s why the IIHS (Insurance Institute for Highway Safety) recently found itself loading up some old cars with steel plates and blocks of concrete.

You see, the organisation needs to make sure that the pulley that it uses to hurl vehicles at immovable things in its crash tests can still do the job as these bulky cars begin to arrive. The system must smoothly and accurately get cars up to 40mph, and hold them there. So can it still do that with an old F-150 carrying enough ballast to bring the total weight figure to 9,500lb (over four tonnes)?

The answer is yes - the system passed the test with flying colours. And that 9,500lb figure wasn’t just plucked out of the air, by the way - in the video, an incoming EV weighing that much is referred to. Although a make and model aren’t mentioned, we can be pretty sure it’s the 4.3-tonne Hummer EV being talked about.

Bring it on, Hummer - the IIHS crash machine is ready for your obscene mass.