The U.S. Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) has published the video footage of a crash test featuring the all-electric Ford Mustang Mach-E: the SUV underwent its second lateral collision test using new, less forgiving rules. Unlike most U.S. cars, it managed to score the best result (‘Good’).
The IIHS began conducting new sideways collision tests according to new rules around a year ago, increasing both the mass of the colliding object and its velocity.
The testing crew only found two things to complain about in the new Mach-E. The load exercised on the driver’s chest was found potentially dangerous (although described as ‘acceptable’), and the rigidity of the car body was found lacking (the rear left door opened up a little during the test). However, neither of these nitpicks affected the final score.
The Mustang Mach-E ended up being one of the very few cars to have passed the IIHS test with the highest grade possible. When the company just began testing according to the new standards, only one car out of two dozen managed to score thig high. An important note to make is that the institute performs this test purely for demonstration purposes and does not factor its outcome into the final safety rating of a car. The team behind the tests hopes to adopt it as a standard testing metric next year.