Today, Euro NCAP releases the results for three Chinese electric family cars: the BYD SEAL, XPENG P7 and the BYD DOLPHIN. These cars have made their first splash in Europe’s market with the glamorous BYD SEAL targeting TESLA’s core buyers, the sleek XPENG P7 showcasing its long-distance range capability, and the BYD DOLPHIN underlining its value for money as an electric vehicle. Euro NCAP today reveals that these cars have all achieved five-star ratings in the programme’s most stringent testing yet. European manufacturers remain switched on, with the Mercedes E-Class and the Mercedes EQE SUV both achieving a ‘very good’ grading for their Highway Assist systems.
In today’s super-competitive European car market, Chinese manufacturers are keen to demonstrate that their cars are a match for better-established brands. And the cars released today show that safety is one of the areas where they compete, to the benefit of car-buyers. All three have achieved Euro NCAP’s highest star rating, with little to choose between them, particularly in the areas of adult and child crash protection. And all three are well-equipped with an impressive range of safety technologies, including lane and speed assistance.
European weather in 2023 has been a vindication of the latest evolution of Euro NCAP’s safety rating including, as it does, two important assessments related to changing shifts in temperatures and weather patterns as a result of climate change. Manufacturers are encouraged to fit child presence detection (CPD), a system which issues a warning when it recognises that a child or infant has been left in the car. This system is particularly crucial in the hot summer months when cars can become overheated, conditions which are likely to become more commonplace. Euro NCAP was the first organization worldwide to develop technical requirements for child presence detection systems and now routinely evaluates their performance. As a result, CPD systems are becoming increasingly commonplace, and both the BYD SEAL and the DOLPHIN are equipped with the system while the XPENG P7 currently lacks child presence detection.
Heavy storm conditions and flash flooding can create particularly dangerous driving conditions on the road and the possible terrifying situation of vehicle submergence. Euro NCAP’s 2023 update of the rating also includes an assessment of this scenario. This assessment consists of two tests: the first assesses the automatic unlocking of the car’s doors once under water and another looks at the duration electric windows remain functional following submergence. Both BYDs and the XPENG picked up some points in this part of the assessment, again showing that Euro NCAP promotes a rivalry that benefits the car-buying public.
But European manufacturers also remain at the cutting edge of technology, and Assisted Driving technology continues to evolve rapidly. Two cars from Mercedes-Benz – the E-Class and the EQE SUV – are rated as ‘Very Good’ in Euro NCAP’s final assessments before its requirements become broader and more demanding in 2024.
Competition between car manufacturers is the driving force behind Euro NCAP’s success. No manufacturer can afford to be left behind when it comes to safety, and this is the motivation for innovation. The new Chinese brands have hit the ground running, recognizing that European car-buyers will not compromise on safety. But technology is evolving faster than ever before, and areas like Assisted Driving open new areas for competition, and Euro NCAP will ensure that these new technologies are introduced in a way that realises their full safety benefit.
— Dr Michiel van Ratingen, Secretary General Euro NCAP
SOURCE: Euro NCAP
