ANCAP Safety has awarded five-star safety ratings to six new alternative-powered SUVs as part of its latest round of assessments. The tested vehicles featured either hybrid or fully-electric power trains.
Hybrid Vehicles
The Lexus LBX and Volvo EX30, both small SUVs, earned five-star ratings for their overall safety performance.
However, despite the strong ratings, both vehicles received penalties in the frontal offset (MBDB) test. Hard structures behind the dashboard were found to pose a potential risk to occupants. The safety assessment for these models was still largely positive. Both vehicles scored high in other areas, including adult occupant protection and child safety.
The Hyundai Santa Fe hybrid, a larger SUV, was awarded a five-star rating, achieving full points in several key areas. These included protection for the driver in the full-width and side impact tests and excellent child protection in the frontal offset and side impact tests. The petrol variant of the Santa Fe remains unrated at this time. The hybrid variant’s collision avoidance systems also earned high marks, demonstrating the vehicle’s ability to effectively avoid collisions with other road users, including pedestrians and cyclists.
Electric Vehicles
In the electric vehicle (EV) category, the Leapmotor C10, Zeekr X, and XPENG G6 all received five-star ratings. The Leapmotor C10 electric SUV impressed in the Adult Occupant Protection category, particularly in side impact and oblique pole tests, where it scored full marks. The vehicle also excelled in Child Occupant Protection, earning maximum points in frontal offset and side impact tests. The C10’s crashworthiness and occupant protection in various tests highlight its strong safety features.
The Zeekr X, a debut model from the Zeekr brand, made a strong first impression, securing a five-star safety rating. The vehicle earned maximum points for occupant protection by performing particularly well in side impact crash tests. However, the Zeekr X faced some challenges in the front structure during the moderate overlap frontal test (MPDB), which assesses vehicle-to-vehicle compatibility. This resulted in a moderate risk to occupants in the event of a crash with an oncoming vehicle.
Similarly, the XPENG G6 electric SUV, which recently launched in both Australia and New Zealand, also earned a five-star rating. ANCAP praised the G6 for its autonomous emergency braking (AEB) system, which scored highly in tests involving vehicles, pedestrians, cyclists, and motorcyclists.
The vehicle’s crash protection performance was also strong, earning high scores for driver and passenger protection in the frontal offset, side impact, and oblique pole tests. However, the vehicle did incur a penalty due to minor head contact observed in the far side impact test, where the centre airbag helped prevent severe injuries but was not entirely effective in preventing occupant excursion (movement towards the other side of the vehicle).
“There are close to 100 current five-star ANCAP ratings for alternate-powered vehicles, with most manufacturers proving that new models can be both safe and green” said ANCAP CEO, Carla Hoorweg.
The full safety report for these vehicles can be found here:
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