Tesla Earns its First-ever IIHS Award

The U.S. Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) recently conducted a series of collision tests on a few new electric models and Tesla managed to pick up its first award in the process.

The 2019 Model 3 indeed qualified for a Top Safety Pick+ rating, which not only requires good performance in the driver-side small overlap front, moderate overlap front, side, roof strength and head restraint tests, but also in the passenger-side small overlap test and in the headlight evaluation.

The Model 3 is Tesla’s most affordable vehicle and its standard front crash prevention system earned a “superior” rating, avoiding collisions in both the 20 km/h and 40 km/h IIHS track tests. Meanwhile, its only available headlights earned a “good” rating.

Photo: IIHS

What’s more, the car’s structure held up well in one of the IIHS’ most challenging crash tests, the driver-side small overlap front test. Intrusion of 20 centimetres at the lower door-hinge pillar contributed to a moderate risk of injury to the driver's lower leg, as indicated by measures taken from the dummy. No other injury risk was recorded, and the front and side airbags and the seat belt worked well to control the dummy's movement during the crash.

The Model 3 is the second plug-in vehicle with no gas engine to earn a 2019 Top Safety Pick+ award from the IIHS after the Audi e-tron SUV, which qualifies for the award with standard equipment.

Photo: IIHS

"Vehicles with alternative powertrains have come into their own," IIHS Chief Research Officer David Zuby says. "There's no need to trade away safety for a lower carbon footprint when choosing a vehicle."

It’s worth noting that the only other tests ever conducted by the IIHS with a Tesla involved the 2016-2017 Model S and the car failed to earn a good rating in the driver-side small overlap front test and in the headlight evaluation. It hasn’t been tested since. Neither has the Model X crossover.

The Tesla Model 3 previously earned a five-star safety rating (the highest available) from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

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