MG ZS EV NCAP crash and safety tests video

[Stuart Wright]

For those of you interested in seeing the NCAP tests

 

[Laurence Brown]

Wow, thank you Stuart. I have not seen that before. I thought it was quite impressive!

 

[weedavemac]

Looks like it coped very well indeed.

 

[hmadsen]

I wonder if they will have the new version tested or they are so much alike that they do not need it, as it will essentially be the same.

I would think the AEB systems would have been improved from the old to the new model, this technology moves very fast, so 3 years is a lot of time in the world of electronics.

But maybe they will not test it if they don't have to, because the tests have become more rigorous and they risk losing a star.

I saw the Zoe had a 5 star review in 2012, and they did not retest it until 2021, and then the tests were a lot more tough and the car suddenly dropped to 0 stars, which is a bit bad for a car that is sold from new, to this day.

 

[RHA]

I wonder if they will have the new version tested or they are so much alike that they do not need it, as it will essentially be the same.

I would think the AEB systems would have been improved from the old to the new model, this technology moves very fast, so 3 years is a lot of time in the world of electronics.

But maybe they will not test it if they don't have to, because the tests have become more rigorous and they risk losing a star.

I saw the Zoe had a 5 star review in 2012, and they did not retest it until 2021, and then the tests were a lot more tough and the car suddenly dropped to 0 stars, which is a bit bad for a car that is sold from new, to this day.

They changed things with the Zoe.. it wasn't the same car as the first version that they had tested from what I've seen which is why the results are too poor to be acceptable in my opinion.

The tests for it are available by googling or looking on the NCAP website. Their more modern tests they also upload to YouTube too.

 

[johnnyc]

They changed things with the Zoe.. it wasn't the same car as the first version that they had tested from what I've seen which is why the results are too poor to be acceptable in my opinion.

The tests for it are available by googling or looking on the NCAP website. Their more modern tests they also upload to YouTube too.

So I’ve got a decent bit of interest in the Zoe and this issue - as we purchased one in December and after asking outright if the removal of the Automatic Emergency Braking System would render the car lower in terms of safety, they replied on Twitter (I’m sure the tweet is still there) stating that even with the removal of this feature the car I was just about to buy would definitely be a 5 Star rated NCAP car. I spoke to dealers and they also said it was rated 5 star for safety, full in the knowledge that the safety rating has lapsed and it was unrated at the time.

A week later the 0 star NCAP rating came out. Car cancelled and now we obviously find ourselves with the MG ZS on order.

With regards to the updated safety test on the 2020 Zoe, the base model was ‘one’ of the models tested, and as it didn’t have some tech features such as Active Emergency Braking System - it automatically got 0 stars, as NCAP believes that just because a car is a lower spec model, you shouldn’t have to pay more to get a safer car.

With regards to the ‘actual crash test’ it performed very poorly - even if the base model had all the automated safety features on - it probably wouldn’t have got more than a 2 star NCAP safety score! The cost cutting measures of not including safety belt pretensioners and (even worse) the removal of a head height airbag for the driver and passengers - meant in the event of a crash - the damage done to the crash test dummies was substantial. In the crash report it stated that it was one of the worst cars in recent history in terms of the damage that occurred to the crash test dummies - this is obviously not due to automated tech safety features, but things such as airbags, seatbelts etc etc.

In the side pole test (which simulates a side impact into a tree or pole), due to the removal of the head height airbag - the crash test dummies head actually went through the window and made direct contact with the pole - if that was a person - you probably wouldn’t walk out of a crash like that alive.

Some Zoe owners (or potential owners) say that although the car got a 0 star rating as they have a too of the range Model, this safety rating won’t apply to their car as it has all the required automated tech - however the car that was tested in the side impact test was indeed a top of the range ‘riviera model’ (if you check the video out - you can see it’s white stripe on the dark blue paint - this was the only model that featured this paint job) - and this is the test that highlighted the side airbag issue.

Renault unfortunately buried their head in the sand with this issue & said in their own testing, they had never seen a side impact crash involving a tree or pole, so felt justified to remove the head air bag. It got so bad, that the owner of the Renault Zoe Owners Club sold his Zoe and bought a Kona!

I feel glad we were able to cancel our car and change to the ZS Trophy - it feels so much more premium - and hopefully a bit safer.

 

[hmadsen]

Wow, so they removed the curtain airbags.

That sounds awful, especially in a car as small as the Zoe.

the AEB system....Well that system is not likely to have been in the car when they tested it in 2012, not a lot, if any cars, had that kind of a system at that time.

I have to be honest and say i never even considered getting a Zoe, i have vowed to never buy a french car, which is another reason i am buying an MG, instead of a Vauxhall, even though i have never driven any other brand in the 25+ years i have owned cars.

To be fair, a car manufacturer should not be able to introduce a car, and then just produce it for 10+ years without having its safety evaulated with regular intervals, It is NOT a fair comparison to say that a 10 year old car, with 5 stars is in any way comparable to a brand new model that just got it's 5 stars.

I think even the Dacia Spring would be able to get 5 stars, if they tested it using the "rules" they used in 2012.

 

[johnnyc]

Wow, so they removed the curtain airbags.

That sounds awful, especially in a car as small as the Zoe.

the AEB system....Well that system is not likely to have been in the car when they tested it in 2012, not a lot, if any cars, had that kind of a system at that time.

I have to be honest and say i never even considered getting a Zoe, i have vowed to never buy a french car, which is another reason i am buying an MG, instead of a Vauxhall, even though i have never driven any other brand in the 25+ years i have owned cars.

To be fair, a car manufacturer should not be able to introduce a car, and then just produce it for 10+ years without having its safety evaulated with regular intervals, It is NOT a fair comparison to say that a 10 year old car, with 5 stars is in any way comparable to a brand new model that just got it's 5 stars.

I think even the Dacia Spring would be able to get 5 stars, if they tested it using the "rules" they used in 2012.

The thing with the new face lifted version, was the removal of the head height airbag (not curtain as there’s no airbags in the back, just front and front side) means that it’s actually less safe than the model in 2012, so it’s less safe than the model it replaced. Basically if the 2021 new facelift model took the same test that the 2012 model took, it would have a lower score and probably a lower star rating too.

The thing is with the NCAP ratings, it’s always worth reading the actual test results to see what is good/bad ratger then just relying on the star rating.

 

[Eclectic]

The removal of the side head airbag on the new Zoe, plus Renaults blase response for doing it, is one of the reasons I have a ZS EV on order to replace my ZE40 (which has been an excellent car)

 

[sgt4hed]

The Zoe was an interesting case, their reason for removing the head height airbag "we have no recorded cases of pole impacts of this type in France" - yet they kept the airbag in literally every other model of Renault. If you can get hold of the crash test footage for the side impact test you can actually see the crash test dummy head come through the window and connect directly with the pole it is being crashed into... hence the 0 star because death is all but guaranteed in that scenario.

 

[Eclectic]

The other interesting thing was that Renault wouldn't supply NCAP with a car, so they went out and bought - the cheapest version! Hence few of the latest safety gadgets, hence a guaranteed fail anyway! Really odd decisions made by Renault there. The ZS NCAP results are much more reassuring!

 

[johnnyc]

The other interesting thing was that Renault wouldn't supply NCAP with a car, so they went out and bought - the cheapest version! Hence few of the latest safety gadgets, hence a guaranteed fail anyway! Really odd decisions made by Renault there. The ZS NCAP results are much more reassuring!

Don’t think this is the case - they tested the base model as NCAP suggest they the base model should be no less safe than the top of the range car, so they were always going to test the base model.

They also tested the top of the line model too - the one in the side pole impact test, where the dummies head comes out of the window and hits the post directly - resulting in a very serious head injury or death.

 

[hmadsen]

The removal of the side head airbag on the new Zoe, plus Renaults blase response for doing it, is one of the reasons I have a ZS EV on order to replace my ZE40 (which has been an excellent car)

The real reason is probably shortage in supply or cost cutting measures.

Just like last year when Tesla suddenly said it would deliver their Model 3 and Y without the front radar for adaptive cruise control and instead rely only on the front facing camera to keep distance and emergency brake if needed.

If it had been true, what they said, that this feature would be just as reliable with the camera, it is quite the mystery why they did not remove it from the S and X models.

Also, the claim of being just as safe is obviously false, as the radar can "see" through fog, and the camera can not.

 

[johnnyc]

I’d say

The real reason is probably shortage in supply or cost cutting measures.

Just like last year when Tesla suddenly said it would deliver their Model 3 and Y without the front radar for adaptive cruise control and instead rely only on the front facing camera to keep distance and emergency brake if needed.

If it had been true, what they said, that this feature would be just as reliable with the camera, it is quite the mystery why they did not remove it from the S and X models.

Also, the claim of being just as safe is obviously false, as the radar can "see" through fog, and the camera can not.

I’d say cost cutting - as every other Renault has the side head airbags and more!

 

[hmadsen]

I’d say

I’d say cost cutting - as every other Renault has the side head airbags and more!

I was told that the real reason they removed the radar from the "cheap" models of Tesla was because they were able to get the radar unit, but not in quantities large enough to fit to all cars.

This is the reason they only fit it to the "expensive" cars, apparanly.