Kona Electric becomes the first-ever EV crash tested in Australia
Wednesday, 30 October 2019
Hyundai's Kona Electric has just become the first battery electric vehicle to be crash tested in Australia, achieving an ANCAP maximum 5-star safety rating in the process.
Hyundai says the Kona Electric was subjected to a frontal offset crash test, carried out by Australasia's independent vehicle safety authority ANCAP as an 'audit test' of the 5-star Kona model line-up.
The Kona was originally tested in 2017 in conventional petrol engine specification (see video above), while the recent addition of the EV version required a separate test to ensure it maintained the 5-star rating for the entire Kona range.
The frontal offset test simulates a head-on crash with another vehicle of the same mass, travelling at the same speed, a type of collision which represents 60 percent of serious crashes on our roads.
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Kona Electric's front offset audit test score of 14.97 out of 16.00 was actually slightly better than the 14.07 achieved by the petrol engine variant, and saw Kona maintain its ANCAP maximum 5-star safety rating.
The test, conducted in September, saw 40 per cent of the front driver's side of Kona Electric make contact with a crushable aluminium barrier at 64km/h.
According to ANCAP, the Kona's overall score of 35.07 out of 37.00 is the sum of its frontal offset test result, its maximum possible scores in the side impact and pole crash tests, and its maximum score for the inclusion of seat belt reminders.
'Kona Electric's pioneering position as the first ever EV crash tested in Australia, and its continuing ANCAP maximum 5-star safety rating, further underscores Hyundai's eco vehicle leadership,' said Hyundai Motor Company Australia Chief Executive Officer, Mr JW Lee.
Earlier this month Hyundai Nexo became the first hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicle (FCEV) tested by the U.S. Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), earning a Top Safety Pick+ award. Before this, the Nexo was also the first FCEV to achieve a maximum five-star overall rating in Euro NCAP's safety test.