Here’re 3 Upcoming Electric Cars In India With Near-perfect Safety Scores

All models in the list have secured five-star ratings in both adult and child occupant protection

The Indian market has warmed up to electric vehicles (EV) over the last couple of years. Simultaneously, the relevance of safety ratings of a car has also gone up in recent years, with many models achieving near-perfect results. Keeping these two things in mind, we have prepared a list of upcoming electric cars in India (launches slated till the year-end), which earned 5-star ratings in crash tests conducted by Euro NCAP. 

Hyundai Ioniq 5

Hyundai is expected to bring the Ioniq 5, its premium electric vehicle, to India. The Hyundai EV will be brought via the completely built-up unit (CBU) route and is likely to be priced around Rs 50 lakh (ex-showroom).

In the Euro NCAP crash tests, the Ioniq 5 secured five stars in both adult and child occupant protection. It scored 33.8/38 points in adult occupant protection and 42.6/49 points in child safety. 

The passenger compartment of the Ioniq 5 remained ‘stable’ in the frontal offset test. The assessment showed ‘good’ protection of the knees and femurs of both the driver and passenger. In the barrier test, ‘good’ protection was provided to all critical body areas of the driver and at least ‘adequate’ protection for the rear passenger. In both the side barrier test and the more severe side pole impact, protection of all critical body areas was ‘good’ or ‘adequate.’ Tests on the front seats and head restraints demonstrated ‘good’ protection against whiplash injuries in the event of a rear-end collision. Even the rear seat occupants had ‘good’ protection against whiplash injuries.

In both the frontal offset tests, protection of both child dummies was ‘good’ or ‘adequate’ for all body regions. In the side barrier test, protection was ‘good’ for all critical body areas. The Ioniq 5 supports child restraint systems which can be properly accommodated in the Hyundai EV.

The Vulnerable Road Users (VRU) part of the test assesses how safe the car is for those who might run into it or fall onto it by accident. The protection provided by the bonnet to the head of a struck pedestrian was mostly ‘good’ or ‘adequate.’ The bumper provided ‘good’ protection to pedestrians’ legs at all test locations. However, the protection of the pelvis was ‘poor.’ The autonomous emergency braking system of the Ioniq 5 detects vulnerable road users, as well as other vehicles. The system’s response to pedestrians was ‘adequate’ and its response to cyclists was ‘good’, with collisions avoided or mitigated in most test scenarios.

Among the safety assist features on offer on the Ioniq 5, the AEB system showed ‘good’ performance in tests and even the lane support system performed well.

BYD Atto 3

BYD’s second offering for private buyers in India will be the Atto 3 which was unveiled recently. Its launch is slated to happen in December but deliveries of the SUV will start from January 2023, with an expected price tag of Rs 30 lakh (ex-showroom).

Under the Euro NCAP crash tests, BYD’s electric SUV was subjected to three assessments: front, lateral and rear. It secured five stars in both adult (34.7/38 points) and child (44/49 points) occupant protection. In most tests for adult protection, the Atto 3 offered ‘good’ protection to the heads and legs of the front passengers but that for the remaining areas was rated as ‘adequate.’ The passenger compartment was termed to be ‘stable.’ In the side pole lateral impact test, the cover for the driver’s chest was labelled as ‘weak.’

In both frontal offset and side barrier impact tests, the Atto 3 scored healthy points for offering protection for all critical body areas of both six- and ten-year-old child dummies. The only downside is that it does not have ISOFIX child seat anchorages in the rear-middle seat and does not come with integrated child-seat restraint systems.

In the VRU test, it showed that the Atto 3’s bonnet provides good to adequate protection to pedestrians and while the front bumper is unlikely to mangle their legs, the protection for the pelvis region was rated as poor. Luckily, its AEB does a good job of detecting pedestrians and cyclists to avoid collisions in most scenarios.

BYD has equipped the Atto 3 with Advanced Driver-Assist Systems (ADAS), most of which will be offered on the India-spec model too. As per the Euro NCAP tests, its autonomous emergency braking (AEB) system performed well as did the lane support system. However, it was docked points for the lack of a driver fatigue detection feature and for its speed-assistance system. Overall, it scored rather well in this area.

Related: Here’s Everything You Need To Know About BYD Atto 3 EV In 13 Photos

Mercedes-EQ EQB

The next luxury EV expected to enter the Indian market is the Mercedes-EQ EQB. We expect the carmaker to launch it in December 2022, with a starting price of Rs 50 lakh (ex-showroom, if brought via the CKD route).

As per the Euro NCAP, Mercedes-Benz’s electric SUV passed its safety tests with flying colours as it obtained five stars in both the adult and child occupant protection assessments. While it achieved 36.4/38 points for the former, the EQB scored 44.8/49 points in child safety. It has the highest safety score of all cars in this list.

The passenger compartment remained ‘stable’ in the frontal offset test. Its results indicated ‘good’ protection of all critical body areas of both the driver and passenger. In the barrier test, protection of all critical body regions was ‘good’ or ‘adequate,’ with the exception of the neck of the driver, for which it showed ‘marginal’ protection. In the side barrier test, protection of all critical body areas was ‘good.’ In the side pole test, ‘adequate’ protection was offered to the chest, with other critical parts of the body being ‘well protected.’ Tests on the front seats and head restraints demonstrated ‘good’ protection against whiplash injuries in the event of a rear-end collision. Rear seats also indicated ‘good’ whiplash protection to the necks of the occupants.

In the frontal offset test, ‘adequate’ protection was offered to the neck of the six-year dummy. Protection of critical body areas was ‘good’ for both dummies. In the side barrier test, protection of all critical body areas was ‘good.’ Installation and accommodation of all the child restraint systems can be done properly in the Mercedes EQB.

Under the VRU, it was observed that the EQB’s bonnet provides ‘good’ to ‘adequate’ protection to pedestrians The front bumper provides ‘good’ protection to pedestrians' legs at all test positions. However, the protection provided to the pelvis area was ‘poor.’

Mercedes has equipped the EQB with a bunch of safety assist features including auto-emergency braking (AEB) and forward collision warning. The AEB system performed well in tests of its functionality at highway speeds as did the lane support system.

Also Read: 5 Things You Should Know About The New Mercedes-Benz EQE SUV