Chinese SUV named safest electric car in Europe in 2024

(Dan Tri) - This Chinese car model achieved the highest Euro NCAP safety score among tested electric cars, but still lost to German cars if you include internal combustion engine cars.

Mẫu SUV Trung Quốc được ghi nhận là xe điện an toàn nhất năm 2024 ở châu Âu - 1 — The Zeekr X has the highest Euro NCAP safety score among electric cars and small SUVs tested in 2024 (Photo: Euro NCAP).

Chinese automakers have been quietly climbing the ranks in recent years, most notably in the electric vehicle space. Over the past decade, Chinese cars have improved dramatically in quality, design, performance and safety, all leading to Chinese cars being ranked among the safest in their segments by Euro NCAP in 2024.

Compact SUVs dominate the European market, so it's no surprise that this category accounted for 20 of the 44 models tested by Euro NCAP in 2024. Not only did Geely's Zeekr X score higher than cars from established European brands, it also took home the title of safest electric car of the year.

Specifically, the safety of Zeekr X is higher than competitors such as Deepal S07, Porsche Macan EV, Cupra Tavascan, MG HS, Toyota C-HR, Volvo EX30 and Xpeng G6.

Despite the strong performance of Chinese electric cars, the overall safest car (including internal combustion engines) was the Mercedes-Benz E-Class. The latest version of the German mid-size sedan scored the highest safety score of the year, performing well in all four Euro NCAP categories.

These 4 categories include: Protection of adults in the car, protection of children in the car, protection of pedestrians and safety support features.

Here are the scores for the safest cars:

Mẫu SUV Trung Quốc được ghi nhận là xe điện an toàn nhất năm 2024 ở châu Âu - 2

In the large SUV segment, the Mazda CX-80 narrowly beat the Audi Q6 e-tron to take the top spot. Meanwhile, in the large family car segment, the Volkswagen Passat and Skoda Superb both took the lead. This is understandable since the two models share the same chassis platform.

Many people will wonder why some segments do not have a car that is rated as the best in Euro NCAP safety. In some cases, the reason is that there are not enough cars in that segment. In other cases, some cars are “failed”, such as being dangerous in certain red-marked areas on the dummy.

As explained by Euro NCAP, in case of danger in the red marked area on the dummy, the car will only be rated a maximum of 4 stars.

Notably, the Chinese Maxus eTerron 9 is the first all-electric pickup truck to be safety tested by Euro NCAP. Although it did not receive the best rating in its segment, Euro NCAP rated its safety highly.