Renault Zoe Euro NCAP Crash Test
The [Renault] Zoe previously held a five-star Euro NCAP rating but was entered into the tests following a substantial facelift last year which ushered in a bigger battery and extra power but also, the safety organisation notes, a new seat-mounted side airbag that protects just the occupant’s thorax, rather than the head and thorax as it did previously.
This change represents “a degradation in occupant protection”, according to Euro NCAP, which reported that in the side-pole-impact test, the “driver’s head directly impacted the intruding pole and head injury values indicated poor protection of this part of the body”.
…
Matthew Avery, Euro NCAP board member and chief research and strategy officer at Thatcham, told Autocar: “Every few years, Euro NCAP raises the bar by introducing new tests which either exploit new technologies or lift the hurdle to make manufacturers do better. If everyone is five-star, we need to lift the barrier.”
Elsewhere » Auto Week NL / Cars UK / Motoring Research / Reuters