NCAP’S safest cars of 2022 are all EVS
Chinese cars now on par with established brands, says Euro NCAP
The European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP) has announced its top-scoring cars in safety and crash-testing for 2022 — and they’re all electric.
Euro NCAP’S categories include Small Family Car, Large Family Car, Executive Car, Small Off-roader, Large Offroader and, for the first time last year, an Electric Car category.
In hindsight, the introduction of the Electric Car category seems pointless, because the winners in the other categories are electric anyway. The Ora Funky Cat took top honours in the Small Family Car category, while the Hyundai Ioniq 6 took out Large Family Car.
The Tesla Model S was the Executive Car winner, with the Model Y scoring the highest in the Small Off-roader category. The top-scorer in the Large Off-roader category was the Wey Coffee 01, while the Model S was the overall winner in the Electric Car category.
Both Ora and Wey are brands from China’s Great Wall Motors (GWM). While the Wey isn’t sold in New Zealand (yet), the Ora Funky Cat will soon be here as the Good Cat. Euro NCAP says the Ora is “exceptionally well equipped and, being at the top of its class, outperformed several familiar brands,” while nothing that after “some less-than- successful attempts to break into the European market in the past, several manufacturers are showing that
Chinese brands can now compete on safety with well-established European brands.” The Hyundai Ioniq 6 achieved exceptionally high results in Adult Occupant Protection with an impressive 97 per cent, beating
even the Tesla Model S — although it fell slightly behind the American car in child occupant and safety assists. The Hyundai was significantly down on the Tesla in pedestrian protection, scoring only 66 per cent compared to the Model S’s 85 per cent, which was enough for the Tesla to beat it in the dedicated Electric Car category.
Impressively, the Wey Coffee 01 beat out the Lexus RX to take top spot in the Large Off-roader category.