Close×

The final round of Euro NCAP testing of 2021 reveals some sobering safety scores for two new vehicles from the carmaker who brought five-star safety to the market 20 years ago. The Renault Zoe and Dacia Spring have achieved zero-stars and one-star respectively in safety assessments.

The Renault Zoe, a vehicle in the Supermini class, becomes only the third car in Euro NCAP’s history to achieve a zero-star rating.

In 2021 it is assumed that vehicles coming to market will keep occupants safe in the event of a crash. However, testing of the Renault Zoe has revealed some eye-opening results from the crash test dummies used to simulate real-life impact scenarios.

In the frontal offset crash the results were rated as ‘poor’, due to weak protection for the chest area of the driver side dummy specifically. But it was Euro NCAP’s severe side pole test that revealed the most drastic results, with the driver’s head directly impacting the intruding pole.

The Renault Zoe was originally tested by Euro NCAP in 2013, where it achieved a five-star rating. However, key passive safety features have since been removed and with Euro NCAP raising the bar in its testing every two years, the Zoe has been left far behind the standard achieved by most carmakers in 2021.

Matthew Avery, Thatcham Research’s Chief Research Strategy Officer said: The adult occupant score of 43% for the Renault Zoe is the lowest we have seen in 11 years. Overall, carmakers today consistently achieve good ratings in impact testing, despite Euro NCAP raising the bar to ensure the programme remains the most safety-focused in the world." 

The Zoe lacks autonomous emergency braking and lane departure warnings.

Dacia is part of the Renault group and it's new electric vehicle the Spring only scored a measly one star. The crash test revealed poor performance across all categories. 

comments powered by Disqus