“You are seeing the car make impact with rail and it does eventually rupture,” James Kovar, an assistant research scientist at the Texas A&M Transportation Institute, said. Kovar released the video for the very first time at the Transportation Research Board Roadside Safety Conference in Orlando this week. That’s where 10 Investigates spoke exclusively with Kovar about the testing. “The electric vehicle penetrated through the guardrail system and ruptured the rail," he said. Kovar says going into the test, researchers knew of the previous tests from the University of Nebraska that showed a Rivian and Tesla failing when it hit a guardrail. “We tested a system that has been viewed to be a more robust system than ones previously tested with hopes of improving infrastructure on roadways,” Kovar explained. When we asked him how this test compared to that of a gas-powered vehicle, Kovar replied, “This system has been tested before according to mash standards and worked successfully. When tested with an EV, the vehicle was able to penetrate through the rail.” He says these tests are step one to improving infrastructure on our roadways. He says step two is mitigating any concern. “This is not a cause of panic. Vehicle fleet changes over time, so does our roadside safety hardware,” Kovar said. MORE: https://www.wtsp.com/article/news/investigations/10-investigates/unguarded/video-electric-vehicle-breaks-penetrates-guardrail/67-418a3850-ea37-4551-bfd0-1709527a4b6e ►Subscribe: https://on.wtsp.com/youtube ►Website: https://www.wtsp.com/ ►Facebook: https://facebook.com/10TampaBay ►X: https://twitter.com/10TampaBay