The Chevrolet Volt and Nissan Leaf have earned top safety ratings in the very first US crash tests evaluations on electric cars.
According to the country’s Institute for Highway Safety, both models earned the top rating for front, side, rear, and rollover crash protection.
With standard electronic stability control, they qualify as winners of Top Safety Pick, the Institute’s award for state-of-the-art crash protection. The ratings help consumers pick vehicles that offer a higher level of protection than federal safety standards require.
The addition of the 2 electric cars brings to 80 the number of award winners so far for 2011, including 7 hybrid models. That lifts General Motors’ current model tally to 12 and Nissan’s to 3.
"What powers the wheels is different, but the level of safety for the Volt and Leaf is as high as any of our other top crash test performers," says Joe Nolan, the Institute’s chief administrative officer.
Both the dual-power Volt and all-electric Leaf surpass benchmarks for protecting occupants in crashes and also exceed current fuel efficiency and emissions standards as set in the US.
The Volt – a plug-in battery/gasoline range-extended car can run in electric-only mode with a range of about 35 miles on a single charge before its range is extended by the supporting gasoline engine. Launched in the US in December, a European version called the Vauxhall/Opel Ampera will arrive in 2012.
Meanwhile the Nissan Leaf-an all-electric model with a range of around 100 miles to a single charge-went on sale in the US at the end of last year too, and arrived in European in March 2011.
