The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has released the results of a battery of crash tests of the 2020 Tesla Model Y, and the news is good. The Model Y earns an overall rating of 5 stars from NHTSA.
In fact, the Model Y knocked out 5-star performances in each of the agency’s crash tests. In the 35-mph front barrier test, both the Model Y achieved a 5-star rating for both the driver and passenger. In the 38.5-mph side-barrier test and in the side-pole impact test, the results were 5 stars for both the front-seat and rear-seat occupants. NHTSA also tests for rollover risk, and the Model Y’s 7.9% risk was another 5-star result.
NHTSA also notes that the Model Y comes standard with the agency’s four recommended safety technologies: forward-collision alert, automatic emergency braking, lane-departure warning, and dynamic brake support.
The Model Y joins several variants of the Model S in achieving a 5-star safety rating from NHTSA. (The Model X and the Model 3 have not been rated by the agency.) The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has yet to test the Model Y, although the Tesla Model 3fared well in that agency’s evaluations, earning a Top Safety Pick+ accolade.