The non-profit Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) has released its safety ratings for Tesla’s Model Y compact crossover SUV, for model years 2021-2022.
According to the IIHS, the Model Y has earned its TOP SAFETY PICK+ award. In order to qualify for either of the IIHS’s two awards, good ratings must be earned in six IIHS crash tests, which include driver-side small overlap front, passenger-side small overlap front, moderate overlap front, original side, roof strength and head restraint tests.
Also required is a front crash prevention system that can garner advanced or superior ratings in both the vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-pedestrian evaluations, says the IIHS.
“Model Y vehicles built after April 2021 meet all the criteria for the “plus.” Following a conversion to a camera only system, the standard front crash prevention system earns superior ratings in both the vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-pedestrian tests. The two available headlight systems earn good and acceptable ratings,” explained the IIHS in a press release on Tuesday.
In crashworthiness tests, the Model Y scored top ‘good’ marks in six tests. For crash avoidance and mitigation, headlights were given top ‘good’ marks and ‘acceptable’, depending on trim, while front crash prevention (vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-pedestrian) earned ‘superior’ ratings.
Child seat anchors in the 2021-22 Model Y were given ‘acceptable’ ratings, as lower anchors were determined to be “too deep in seat”.
“The dummy’s position in relation to the door frame, steering wheel, and instrument panel after the crash test indicates that the driver’s survival space was maintained very well,” explain the IIHS, adding the driver’s space was maintained well, plus risk of injuries to the crash test dummy’s legs and feet were low.
The IIHS said on a separate note, the standard front crash prevention system on 2021-22 Tesla Model 3 vehicles built after April 2021 also earns a superior rating in both crash avoidance tests, after a software update. For Model 3 vehicles built earlier, they earned an advanced rating in the vehicle-to-pedestrian evaluation.
Top Safety Pick+ from IIHS! That’s the highest overall rating, but we think we can get max score for all subcategories/individual tests too.
Retesting in a month or so with improved software. The improved software will then be uploaded to all cars with FSD computers.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 29, 2021
Check out the IIHS crash tests for the 2021-2022 Tesla Model Y, below:
Back in October, Tesla shared details from its Crash Lab and how the company leverages ‘data driven safety’. Tesla is able to use safety data from its fleet of customer vehicles, then push out software updates to make its cars safer based on real-world crash scenarios.
Tesla makes the safest cars in the world & our factory injury rate is better than industry avg & tracking to be better than any auto plant in North America. We care deeply about safety at a fundamental level.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 15, 2020
