First Top Safety Pick+ BEV: Audi E-Tron, May Be Followed By Model 3

We finally have a battery electric vehicle – a BEV – among IIHS Top Safety Pick+ winners. While most would expect it to be a Tesla, it wasn’t so. The first one to get there was the Audi E-Tron Quattro. But it could just be a matter of time since the Tesla Model 3 was still being tested while the Audi was receiving its accolade.

Have a look at the IIHS Twitter account. This is the tweet in which it talks about the E-Tron Quattro:

Immediately before it, we have this tweet:

That allows us to imagine the Model 3 results will soon also be announced. Will IIHS put it among the safest cars it ever tested, like NHTSA, or will there be any technical aspect that may prevent that from happening?

'

Headlight efficiency is something that already made many cars be Top Safety Picks instead of Top Safety Picks+, so it will come as no surprise if the Model 3 does not make the cut because of its headlights. We’ll soon find it out, that’s for sure.

'

Regarding the Audi E-Tron Quattro, it went really well in all tests performed by IIHS, such as the ones presented on the videos, which are driver-side small overlap, moderate overlap on the passenger side, and side-impact. 

Anyway, IIHS names many other assessments, such as roof strength, head restraints and seats, front crash prevention, child seat anchors, and headlights, as we mentioned before. And we see green, for good, in all of them.

The Audi E-Tron Quattro’s safety performance is really impressive, which may make people consider it as their next car for more reasons than just being an EV. Sadly for it, the question of the moment is how the Tesla Model 3 will handle the same tests.

Will the Tesla repeat what it has done with NHTSA tests? Will IIHS disclose test results in a way that will allow Tesla to say the Model 3 is the safest car ever tested by the institute? We hope not to wait too much to be able to answer those questions.

Source: IIHS via Green Car Congress