ELECTRIC VEHICLES : 100% Electric. Five-star Safety.
After a gruelling session at the mercy of the European New Car Assessment Programme, the European and World Car of the Year 2011 has added yet another string to its bow – a five-star Euro NCAP safety rating. Better still, it’s the first ever electric vehicle to be honoured with this distinction – the Nissan LEAF.
Passing the crash test
Frontal impact. Side impact. Side pole impact. Whiplash. Blow by blow, millimetre by millimetre, every face and axis of the LEAF has been subjected to a punishing series of crash-tests. And for all that, the car’s 48 lithium-ion battery modules remained completely unscathed. What’s more, with the battery switched on throughout, the safety measures of the in-built electrical system proved sound too.
Intelligent technology and design
The NCAP assessment awarded the Nissan LEAF an impressive 84% for its on-board safety systems such as the Electronic Stability Control (ESC) and speed limiter. Design-wise, the low nose and minimal ‘hard points’ under the bonnet also earned LEAF a healthy pedestrian safety score of 65%.
Flying colours? Only to be expected
As Jerry Hardcastle, vice president of Nissan Vehicle Design & Development put it, “We are not surprised by these results". Nissan LEAF has gone through more tests than any car we have ever produced. On top of the conventional offset barrier and side impact tests, we have tested the electrical system in every way to ensure it can never be overcharged and that the isolation programme works as intended in a crash.”