Euro NCAP has published several crash tests of cars, and most startling are the test results of the Renault Zoe.
The car gets zero stars out of five possible.
Zoe is the first to receive zero stars after Euro NCAP introduced new test requirements in 2020.
The collision testers believe the new Zoe, which received a facelift in 2020, has poor protection against crashes overall. In addition, they conclude that the car protects soft road users poorly and lacks key technology to avoid collisions. That disqualifies Zoe from getting any stars at all, the test agency writes in a press release.
Euro NCAP writes that the 2020 update improved battery capacity, but not safety.
– On the other hand, the seat-mounted side airbags that protected the head and chest were replaced with a less efficient model that only protected the chest. This resulted in poorer protection for the passengers, the company writes.
Zoe har sold very well in Europe. In Norway, at the time of writing, it sniffs at 1000 new registrations in 2021, according to Elbilstatistikk.no.
The first version of the Renault Zoe was tested in 2013 and received five out of five stars by Euro NCAP, but the test requirements have been changed and tightened several times since then.
One star for Dacia Spring
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The upcoming Dacia Spring, which is produced by the same company, will not look much better. It gets one star.
Euro NCAP writes that the results of the collision tests with Dacia Spring are simply problematic. They believe there is a high risk of life-threatening injuries to the driver’s chest and rear passengers’ heads in frontal collisions. Euro NCAP also believes that Dacia Spring has marginal breast protection in the event of a side impact.
Mediocre collision results and poor anti-collision technology result in one star for Dacia Spring, concludes Euro NCAP.
– Security has been sacrificed
Michiel van Ratingen, Secretary General of Euro NCAP, says that Renault was once synonymous with safety, and points out that Renault Laguna was the first car to receive five stars in the crash test in 2001. Van Ratingen believes safety was sacrificed in Renault’s transition to electric cars .
“Not only do these cars lack central safety systems as standard, but the protection for the people in the car is worse than we have seen in any car in many years,” he says.
He believes it is cynical to offer customers a cheap, environmentally friendly car if it comes at the expense of a higher risk of collision damage.
TU has tried to get comments from the Norwegian importer, so far without success.
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