Source: ANCAP
The BMW iX SUV has been awarded a five-star safety rating from Australasian New Car Assessment Program (ANCAP), Australasia’s independent vehicle safety authority.
One of three vehicles to receive five-star ratings from ANCAP in their latest testing group, the BMW iX is only the second fully electric vehicle in the Medium SUV segment to be tested under ANCAP’s 2020-2022 protocols.
Introduced into Australia and New Zealand in November, the BMW iX scored highly across ANCAP’s range of occupant protection and collision avoidance assessment areas.
BMW’s new electric SUV tested well in the side impact test and more severe oblique pole test, in the autonomous emergency braking (AEB) car-to-car and vulnerable road user scenarios, and in collisions avoided or mitigated in almost all scenarios across a range of speeds.
The only major black mark against the iX, according to ANCAP, was in presenting a higher risk to the occupants of an oncoming vehicle in the frontal offset (MPDB) test, for which the maximum penalty was applied in ANCAP’s scoring.
The BMW iX also performed well in the far side impact tests, receiving full marks for the prevention of excursion – defined by ANCAP as movement towards the other side of the vehicle – in both the vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-pole scenarios. The BMW iX also performed well in the assessment of Child Occupant Protection, scoring full points in both MPDB and side impact tests.
“ANCAP has now rated 19 fully-electric vehicles, and the BMW iX is the second fully-electric vehicle in the Medium SUV segment to be tested under ANCAP’s 2020-2022 protocols, our most stringent criteria to date,” ANCAP said in their assessment.
“BMW have again placed safety as a high priority in their vehicle design and specifications, and the iX results show BMW aren’t willing to compromise on safety for an alternative-powered vehicle.”
The full safety rating score sheet is available for view here.
The other two vehicles both awarded five stars by ANCAP in their latest testing were the Volkswagen Caddy and Genesis GV70.
Joshua S. Hill is a Melbourne-based journalist who has been writing about climate change, clean technology, and electric vehicles for over 15 years. He has been reporting on electric vehicles and clean technologies for Renew Economy and The Driven since 2012. His preferred mode of transport is his feet.
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