Model Y nets record crash test safety score riding on radar-less Tesla Vision that stopped for children and bikers

Tesla just bragged with what the European car safety testing agency Euro NCAP called "a truly outstanding, record-breaking Model Y rating." The Model Y from Giga Berlin - the one with the extra airbags - earned the highest ever Overall Score of 92% among all vehicles tested with the European New Car Assessment Program's new and more demanding crash test procedure. "Tesla have shown that nothing but the best is good enough for them, and we hope to see them continue to aspire to that goal in the future," said NCAP’s Secretary General as the Model Y earned its highest score of 98% in exactly the Safety Assist component that engages the radar-less Tesla Vision kit.

Contrary to the ex-VW CEO's opinion that higher levels of autonomous driving need LiDAR in addition to cameras in order to function properly, Elon Musk is convinced that Tesla Vision can get around solely on its camera-based Autopilot system. Starting last year, Tesla transitioned all its vehicles to the Vision software and hardware and now all of its new cars are coming without a radar. At the time, Tesla promised that the transition won't affect the safety rating of its EVs.

Some argued that Tesla Vision and the self-driving mode it enables are now inferior to what Tesla promises. Recently, there was a controversy with a child mannequin crash test fail that forced Tesla aficionados to use their own children in countering the test's conclusions. The Euro NCAP Safety Assist component, however, includes crash simulations with dummy children, adult pedestrians, bikers, or other vehicles, and the Model Y performed with aplomb, earning a "near-perfect 98% score."

"In Euro NCAP track tests, the Model Y camera-only Vision system performs remarkably well in preventing collisions with other cars, cyclists and pedestrians," continued the findings. "In tests of the system’s response to pedestrians, the system performed well. In tests of the system’s response to cyclists, the Model Y scored maximum points," says the Model Y's datasheet.

Digging deeper into it, the only ho-hum situation that the Euro NCAP testers painted in red was the "Vehicle reversing into standing pedestrian" test that may have prevented Tesla from getting a higher than 82% score in the Vulnerable Road Users collision prevention category. For comparison, the first electric Genesis GV60 got 63% in that category. Tesla also earned a remarkable 97% safety score in the Adult Occupant Protection category, perhaps owning to the extra right driver side airbag that the Giga Berlin-made Model Y is now coming with.

The second place in the new Euro NCAP crash test Overall Score ranking is taken by the Lexus NX and Subaru Outback, followed by a number of Mercedes models. There are also many Asian cars with high crash trial scores now, including the Genesis GV60 as well as plenty of China-made vehicles that the safety agency says it has tested a record amount of this year, but "the Model Y steals the show," remarked Euro NCAP.

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