We already know that the Model 3 is one of the safest cars for sale in the world. But, as it had not been launched in Europe until very recently, Euro NCAP had not laid its hands on the car. Now, it did. And the tests from the European organization, some of the toughest in the world, confirm that the little Tesla wonder matches the very best cars ever tested by them.
The Model 3 offers exactly the same adult occupant protection of the Mercedes-Benz A-Class, the safest car tested by Euro NCAP in 2018. Both got a 96 percent result. On the safety assist topic, the Model 3 beats the A-Class with a 94 percent result, the best ever with the new standards, while the German hatchback scores 75 percent. When it relates to child protection and vulnerable road users, on the other hand, the little Mercedes gets better results: respectively 91 and 92 percent, against 86 and 74 percent of the entry-level Tesla.
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It is important to note that the Model 3 tested was the Long Range RWD and that it did not present knee airbags nor side chest or side pelvis airbags for the rear passengers. This is possibly the cause of the relatively low result for child protection.
We are not sure if Tesla will be able to claim the Model 3 is the safest car ever tested by Euro NCAP, as it did with NHTSA tests, but Euro NCAP itself will be able to tell us, by the end of the year, if the EV will appear in its Best In Class ranking. While we wait, Tesla is probably very satisfied already to have heard “Maximum” Bob Lutz say the Model 3 has “excellent fit and finish”. Apart from pedestrians and other cars, the Model 3 probably did not see that coming...
Gallery: Tesla Model 3 Fares Among Best in Class in Euro NCAP
Model 3 earns 5-Star Safety Rating from Euro NCAP
The Tesla Team July 3, 2019
At Tesla, we’re deeply committed to safety, which is why we engineered Model 3 to be the safest car ever built. In the U.S., Model 3 has already earned an overall 5-star rating from NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration), including earning 5-stars in every category and sub-category, and scoring the lowest probability of injury of any car ever evaluated by the U.S. New Car Assessment Program.
Today, Model 3’s safety record continues in Europe, where it has just been awarded a 5-star rating from the European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP). The Programme’s four categories – each of which Model 3 earned 5-stars in – evaluate a car’s ability to protect adults, children, vulnerable road users like cyclists and pedestrians, as well as its safety assistance features. In this latter “Safety Assist” category, which evaluates a car’s active safety features including its ability to avoid accidents, mitigate injuries and prevent drivers from unintentionally drifting out of their lane, Model 3 earned the highest score that Euro NCAP has awarded to date under their 2018/2019 testing protocols.
Euro NCAP’s results demonstrate the impact of recent improvements made to our Automatic Emergency Braking (AEB) system that were extended to all Model S, Model X and Model 3 cars built since October 2016 via an over-the-air software update earlier this year. They also reflect important safety improvements made with new features like Lane Departure Avoidance, Emergency Lane Departure Avoidance, and conditional speed limits based on time of day and weather conditions.
Tesla’s engineers developed each active safety feature evaluated by Euro NCAP by leveraging the real-world data collected from the sensor suite of every Tesla vehicle made since October 2016, coupled with data from billions of inputs from actual drivers to help us understand how drivers behave in dynamic scenarios. This data gives us a more precise understanding of the environment around our cars and the different ways that accidents happen, allowing us to more accurately predict when an accident is likely to occur and deploy automated technology to mitigate or avoid it.
In addition to recognizing the benefits of active safety features enabled by data and technology, the Euro NCAP results also demonstrate the importance of Model 3’s all-electric architecture and powertrain design, which ensures the structural integrity of the vehicle and protects occupants with its fortified battery pack, rigid passenger compartment, and overall low center of gravity.
Model 3 is our most affordable car yet, and safety is something that is paramount to all drivers. That’s why we engineered Model 3 from the ground up with the strongest structure, best occupant restraint system and the most advanced safety features that we could imagine, with a goal of getting as many of them on the road as possible. As Model 3 continues to earn the highest safety ratings around the globe, we hope that it translates into one very important point for our customers – peace of mind knowing that their car is helping them drive safely.
Tesla, Mercedes and Škoda Score a Touchdown in Euro NCAP’s Latest Safety Tests
Euro NCAP releases safety ratings of six new cars today. Four of those have achieved five stars: the much talked about Tesla Model 3, the new Škoda Scala, the Mercedes-Benz B-Class and the latest GLE from the same stable. The new Kia Ceed and crossover SUV DS 3 Crossback rated four stars with equipment offered as standard but both make it into five stars territory when equipped with an optional safety pack.
The Tesla Model 3 made a strong debut with a perfect score in the frontal offset deformable barrier crash test, a mainstay of Euro NCAP’s assessment since its inception in 1997. Its performance in the Safety Assist tests particularly impressed, thanks to its superb driver assistance systems like lane support, speed assist and autonomous emergency braking. The Tesla’s 94 percent score in 2019 Safety Assist tests is the best yet under Euro NCAP’s most recent protocol.
Another novice, Skoda’s new Scala, positioned between consumer favourites Fabia and Octavia, just pips the Model 3 in overall crash performance, with a 97 percent score in Adult Occupant Protection. This firmly puts the Scala amongst the top small-family cars tested by Euro NCAP for this part of the assessment, along with the recently tested Mercedes-Benz A-Class and Mazda 3.
With B-Class and GLE ratings, Mercedes-Benz is continuing its winning streak with its 10th and 11th solid 5-star result since 2014, underscoring that its safety reputation still is non-negotiable.
Potential buyers of the KIA Ceed and DS 3 Crossback should inquire about the optional safety equipment on offer as Euro NCAP tests have shown that their respective “Advanced Driver Assistance” and “Active Safety Brake” packs will deliver better real-world safety performance.
Michiel van Ratingen said,
IT’S GREAT TO SEE CARS DOING SO WELL. OUR TESTS GET TOUGHER AND TOUGHER, AND CARS CONTINUE TO PERFORM WELL, WHICH MEANS THAT CAR-BUYERS ARE GETTING AN EVER-SAFER RANGE OF VEHICLES TO CHOOSE FROM. NEXT YEAR, WE UP THE ANTE AGAIN, WITH BETTER TESTS OF DRIVER-ASSISTANCE SYSTEMS, A COMPLETELY NEW FRONTAL CRASH TEST AND MORE ATTENTION TO PROTECTION IN SIDE CRASHES. THESE NEW TESTS SHOULD HELP TO MAKE THE ROADS SAFER FOR EVERYONE.