Tesla takes a hit in insurance industry crash test
Tesla’s pristine safety test record just got scraped by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, which found the Model S less safe than other comparable cars.
The institute found the Model S provided only adequate protection from certain types of front-end crashes, despite the electrified vehicle maker getting a 2nd chance at the test.
Tesla has staked its reputation on engineering high-quality vehicles designed to ace government and independent safety tests. CEO Elon Musk has also said a refined Autopilot software, a driver-assist package, could lower crashes by ninety percent and make Tesla’s the safest cars on the road.
Tesla says federal government tests best measure vehicle safety – and that’s where the electrified vehicle maker has earned 5-star ratings for the Model S and X.
“The most objective and accurate independent testing of vehicle safety is presently done by the U.S. Government, which found Model S and Model X to be the two cars with the lowest probability of injury of any cars that it has ever tested, making them the safest cars in history,” a company spokesperson said in a statement.
The Model S received the highest ratings from the insurance institute in every category except one, where it received the 2nd highest rating, the spokesperson added.
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The IIHS, an industry-backed non-profit aimed at improving vehicle safety, evaluated six large vehicles in its most latest round of testing. It examined how the sedans survived five crash scripts, considering harm to a vehicle’s front and side, its roof strength and head restraints.
Three cars received top marks in all categories: the Lincoln Continental, Mercedes Benz E-Class and the Toyota Avalon. Tesla received top marks in all but one category – the puny overlap test. It measures how the car protects a driver when a vehicle hits a tree, utility pole or another vehicle with the front driver side corner.
The institute said the Model S safety belt let the crash dummy’s pecs stir too far forward, landing the dummy’s head hard on the steering wheel through the air bag.
“Tesla made switches to the safety belt in vehicles built after January with the intent of reducing the dummy’s forward movement,” the agency said. “However, when IIHS tested the modified Model S, the same problem occurred, and the rating didn’t switch.”
David Zuby, executive vice president for IIHS, said the Model S came close to earning a top rating, but in addition to failing the one crash test, its headlights were poorly rated.
If a customer is looking for the safest, large vehicle, he said, “there are better choices” than Tesla.
Tesla vehicles have a distinct design advantage over gasoline driven vehicles – there’s no motor under the fetish mask. Instead, the front trunk, or “frunk,” is engineered to crumple and absorb the influence of a front-end collision.
The company is also developing Autopilot to enhance vehicle safety, with a suite of sensors to provide drivers with extra warnings and automatic braking in some instances. Musk has posted Tesla crash photos with testimonials from owners surviving major accidents.
Tesla vehicles have received top ratings from the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration, or NHTSA. The Model S and Model X have received overall 5-star ratings from NHTSA in its latest tests, which gauge harm from front and side collisions and rollovers.
The company spokesperson said insurance rates for the Model S and Model X are about five percent lower than comparable luxury vehicles, adding that “Tesla assures that there will always be an insurance provider that will charge less for a Model S or X than any other car with a similar driver, price and vehicle category.”
The company has also marketed the Model Three, a $35,000 electrified sedan scheduled for release this month, as being designed for a five-star safety rating.