Owner fits bullbar onto Tata Nexon EV: Car designer Pratap Bose not happy

Tata Motors has been doing well in terms of sales and is currently one of the leading car manufacturer in the country. One of the most successful product from the manufacturer currently is the Nexon EV. It was launched couple of years ago and it quickly became popular among buyers for its looks and price. It was and is still the most affordable electric SUV in the country with decent driving range. It is currently the best selling EV in the country. Like many other cars that are offered in the market, there are aftermarket accessories available for Nexon EV as well. One of the owner of a Nexon EV decided to install a metal bullbar on the car. This is how, Pratap Bose, former chief designer of Tata Motors responded.

How much does that worry you? pic.twitter.com/M0htcHJBvu

— Abhay Venkatesh (@abhay_venkat4) September 9, 2020

Pratap Bose did not appreciate this modification. Some one shared the image of this Nexon EV tagging Pratap Bose on social media. It is an old post and Pratap Bose had then responded to it by sayin, “Very much unfortunately. Not great for crash, and even worse for pedestrians.” He clearly mentioned in his post that he does not encourage such modifications and mentions that at the time of an accident, a bullbar can bring more damage to the car and might also cause serious injuries to the pedestrian.

Also read: Tata Nexon price increased; Diesel variants discontinued

Why are bull-bar not good on a car

If you ask any person or car owner why he or she has installed a metal bull bar on the car or SUV, their first response would be to protect the car. These metal bars in front of the car save the bumper of the car during minor accidents that happen at a very slow speed. Once the speed of your car increases, the bull-bar changes the character and becomes a weapon brings more damage than good.

Bullbars are normally mounted on the chassis of a vehicle. At the time of an accident, the impact caused by the collision is transferred directly from the bullbar to the chassis. The crumple zone which is supposed to absorb the impact is skipped completely. The chassis of the vehicle cannot handle all the force from the accident and gets damaged. Normally, the crumple zone in the car absorbs the impact of a crash. Other problem that the bullbars create are for the airbags. They affect the proper functioning of the airbags in a car.

The sensors that normally trigger the airbags to open are normally placed at the front of the vehicle. There are high chances that the sensor might not be able to detect the impact due to the bullbar. If the sensors don’t detect the impact, the airbags won’t open which in turn is bad for the passengers. In an electric vehicle like Nexon EV, it will only add to the weight of the car and thus resulting in lower driving range.

Installing a bullbar on any car is actually illegal. Indian government has announced these accessories illegal as these are very harmful to pedestrian as well. These bullbars are made up of metal, which can cause serious injuries to pedestrians involved in a crash.

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