Nissan Leaf Scores 5-Star NHTSA Crash Safety Rating

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Nissan Leaf Scores 5-Star NHTSA Crash Safety Rating

Viknesh Vijayenthiran

863 views Jul 26, 2011

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2011 Nissan Leaf

HI-RES GALLERY: 2011 Nissan Leaf

Given the relative youthfulness of electric car technology in the mainstream, it’s understandable that a lot of potential consumers of electric cars remain fearful that the cars could prove harmful in the event of a crash. After all, everyone knows metal is good conductor of electricity and most electric cars are pretty much encased in the stuff.

Volvo recently set up a display showing a crashed example of one of its own C30 electric car prototypes at the 2011 Detroit Auto Show to demonstrate the safety of such vehicles even in the event of a crash, and both the Chevrolet Volt and Nissan Leaf have passed IIHS crash safety tests with flying colors.

Now the Nissan Leaf has gone on to score a perfect five-star rating in the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) round of crash testing, the first and only electric car to be tested by the agency.

The latest results include top scores for both the driver and passenger in front and side crash tests, as well as for rollover performance.

Helping the car during the arduous testing procedures was a litany of airbags, seat-belts with pretensioners and load limiters, child seat anchors, as well as traction and stability control.

We now look forward to seeing how the Chevrolet Volt fares in the same round of testing.

[NHTSA]

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2012 Nissan News News Electric Cars Car Safety Green Electric Cars Nissan Leaf News

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Comments (11)

James Davis Posted: 7/26/2011 7:00am PDT

Hurray for Nissan for having the first safest electric car in the world, and BOO!!! for All Cars Electric for continuing to compare the hybrid Volt with the all electric Leaf. Shame on you and other blogs who continue with this dumb comparing a hybrid to an electric.

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CDspeed . Posted: 7/26/2011 8:09am PDT

I'm with you James. The Volt and all other plug-in cars with an ICE in them should be confined to Green Car Reports.

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Red Baron Posted: 7/26/2011 8:11am PDT

@James - Imagine (for 2014 while they reduce the weight of the batteries for example) Nissan adding a small gas-powered generator to the existing design keeping the same all-electic range. Would that throw the LEAF out of the electric car category all of the sudden? Isn't Volt purely electric for 40 miles or so and then the hybrid beyond that? I'm waiting for the LEAF myself but you should relax a little...

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CDspeed . Posted: 7/26/2011 8:36am PDT

No James is spot on with is comment. The Volt and the Leaf are not powered in the same way. Even the current Prius has a small electric range that doesn't make it an EV. The Leaf would actually compare better with a regular gasoline car, because both a full electric car and a gasoline car are power 100% by one fuel or the other, were as the Volt is something like 20% electric 80% gasoline making it a hybrid. (the 20-80 is not meant to be actuate just example)

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James Davis Posted: 7/26/2011 9:16am PDT

Yes, "cracovian" if Leaf added an ICE motor to help run it, that would knock it out of the all electric vehicle catagory and place it in the hybrid catagory. It shouldn't take a rocket scientist to figure that one out.

Nissan will never add an ICE motor to its Leaf, there is no need to. They have a supercharge station that can recharge it in less than fifteen minutes and there will be supercharge stations placed throughout America as soon a Ford comes out with its electric with that stupid noise-maker attached to it.

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Red Baron Posted: 7/26/2011 10:34am PDT

ICE motor is not added to help Volt "run" - it's to extend the electric range when needed. You're obviously not a rocket scientist either.

In the hybrid setup both engines run more or less concurrently and together. CDspeed has a valid point with the upcoming Prius - where do you draw the line between all electric mode and hybrid; I honestly don't know but 40 miles in the Volt is definitely sufficient not to call it a hybrid since in practical terms it doesn't need gas to operate, period. It just carries ICE generator backup on its back when needed.

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CDspeed . Posted: 7/26/2011 11:29am PDT

The Volt is a hybrid as it uses both gasoline and electricity. There is no such thing as an extended range electric car it's just a GM sales gimmick that seems to have caught on because it keeps imbeciles with range anxiety calm.

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John Voelcker Posted: 7/26/2011 12:14pm PDT

Actually, I beg to differ. An extended-range electric car (or series hybrid) is technically quite different from a parallel hybrid, plug-in or not. The Volt is an EREV with an asterisk (the engine provides some torque under occasional circumstances), but the upcoming Fisker Karma is a pure series hybrid, which is to say it's driven by electricity at all times and the engine cannot provide drive torque at all (it's at the other end of the car from the motors).

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Red Baron Posted: 7/26/2011 12:29pm PDT

CDspeed - wow, dude... just wow.

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CDspeed . Posted: 7/26/2011 1:35pm PDT

@John, I know what a parallel hybrid is and am well aware of the differences between the two. But the fact remains that the Volt and Karma both depend on gasoline to run further than 40 miles. Both cars use two different types of fuel in a single vehicle, gas+electric=hybrid. @cracovian, I do apologize if you thought I meant you, I was referring to the general public, you know the type of people, those who tell you EVs are stupid even know they've never tried to take a serious look at them.

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Ramon Leigh Posted: 7/27/2011 12:53pm PDT

Only problem is : those star ratings have little to no meaning to anyone driving a car. Anyone want to guess what the difference is between a 4 and a 5 star rating? And those ratings have absolutely no force of law behind them. Fed organizations, be they the FDA the IRS, the EPA, etc. don't take any responsibility for their actions.

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