The refreshed Tesla Model S is finally entering the European car market and according to Euro NCAP, it will be one of the safest cars on the road.
The 2022 Tesla Model S received a 5-star safety rating, just like the original version in 2014.
Tesla's flagship has a very high active safety level, with a 98% score in the Safety Assist category (on par with the recently tested Tesla Model Y).
Passive safety is also pretty strong, with Adult Occupant protection at 94% and Child Occupant protection at 91%. In terms of Vulnerable Road User protection, the result is 85%.
Those results apply to both versions of the car - dual-motor AWD, and tri-motor AWD (Plaid).
Tesla, in its blog post, notes that the Model S received "the highest Overall Score among any vehicle tested in this protocol" by Euro NCAP, very likely referring to the sum of points (142.4, compared to 140.4 in the case of the Tesla Model Y). However, it's not necessarily true that we should compare the results between vehicles (at least Euro NCAP is not doing that), because a point in one category is not equal to a point in another category.
Nonetheless, Tesla Model S is clearly at the forefront of car safety, far exceeding the minimum level that would be necessary for a five-star rating.
2022 Tesla Model S Euro NCAP test results:
- Adult Occupant protection - 94 percent
- Child Occupant protection - 91 percent
- Vulnerable Road Users protection - 85 percent
- Safety Assist - 98 percent
See all details here.
Crash tests include:
- Frontal impact test - 50% of the width of the car is striking an oncoming deformable barrier (both traveling at 50 km/h/31 mph)
- Frontal impact test - the car impacts a rigid full-width barrier at 50 km/h (31 mph)
- Side impact test - a mobile deformable barrier impacts the driver's door at 60 km/h (37.3 mph)
- Pole test - the tested car is propelled sideways into a rigid pole at 32 km/h (20 mph)
