Two out of three of Australia’s safest cars are electric vehicles – Tesla electric vehicles, to be precise – according to the latest annual ranking from Australasia’s independent vehicle safety authority, ANCAP.
In a statement on Friday, ANCAP said the Top 3 safest cars for 2019 included the Tesla Models X and 3 at second and third place respectively, topped only by the Mercedes-Benz CLA, which claimed top ranking with an overall weighted score of 90.2%.
ANCAP chief James Goodwin said the Tesla Model X – which came a very close second with an overall score of 89.6% – had achieved some of the highest scores in key judgement categories.
“The Model X received a record-equalling high score of 98% for Adult Occupant Protection, with full points awarded for the protection of the driver in all four of the full-scale crash tests – frontal offset, full-width, side impact, and oblique pole,” he said.
The Tesla Model 3 ran a very close third with an overall score of 89.4% averaged over the four key areas of assessment.
“Both the Model 3 and Model X achieved the highest Safety Assist scores recorded to date at 94% – well ahead of all others rated this year,” Goodwin said.
“Well done to the CLA for being named the standout performer.”
ANCAP’s safety ratings are determined based on a series of internationally recognised, independent tests and safety assessments – involving a range of destructive physical crash tests, an assessment of on-board safety features and equipment, and performance testing of active collision avoidance technologies.
The tests, which cover passenger cars, sports utility vehicles (SUV) and light commercial vehicles, are evaluated against Adult Occupant Protection, Child Occupant Protection, Vulnerable Road User Protection, and Safety Assist.
To achieve the maximum 5 star ANCAP safety rating, a vehicle must achieve the highest standards in all tests and feature advanced safety assist technologies.
Sophie is editor of One Step Off The Grid and deputy editor of its sister site, Renew Economy. Sophie has been writing about clean energy for more than a decade.