Does This Prove The Tesla Model X Is The Safest SUV Yet?
The Tesla Model S is deemed the safest car that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has ever tested.
The Tesla Model S is deemed the safest car tested by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Having said that, Tesla’s Model X has not yet been tested to destruction in official crash assessments for the two years it was being sold – until now. Videos posted to the Internet show the electric SUV getting smashed in frontal, side and pole crash tests. It is safe to assume that Tesla will be celebrating the results and for good reason.
NHTSA’s tests assess both the structure of a vehicle, as well as the seatbelt and airbag restraint system.
They granted the Tesla Model X a five-star overall safety rating, as well as five stars in every other category too. This makes the Model X the highest safety rated SUV the American organization has ever tested, and the first SUV to earn the five-star rating across the board. The driver and its occupants have a 93 percent chance of walking away from a serious accident without severe injury.
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Tesla claims that data from these crash tests show that the Model X has the lowest probability of injury of any SUV, altogether. They also stated that the overall probability of injury was second only to the Model S.
The key factor of the Model X’s remarkable safety ratings is the unique design of its electric powertrain. When comparing SUVs powered by gas to the electric Model X, one can see that fuel-injection vehicles are prone to rolling over due to the high center of gravity.
The Model X, however, has a rigid battery pack that powers the vehicle, which can be found beneath the vehicle’s floor. This position of the battery creates a lower center of gravity so that it has the lowest probability of rollover than other SUVs. In other words, it is incredibly difficult to flip the Model X over.
It is clear that the Model X not only can survive crashes, but also avoid them before they even occur all thanks to Tesla’s self-driving system. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration previously reported that Tesla’s autonomous system lowered overall crash rates to 40 percent.
Cars equipped with self-driving systems are expected to save upwards of 40,000 lives each year in the U.S. alone, by removing the number one obvious cause of crashes – human error. We can now assume that the only thing safer than a Tesla is a Tesla that drives itself.