A trio of 2023 electric vehicles — the Hyundai Ioniq 6, Lexus RZ, and Genesis Electrified GV70 — have just earned the Top Safety Pick+ rating by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.
The prestigious award from the IIHS requires that the cars and SUVs achieve top scores in a number of crash tests and that they have an “Advanced” or “Superior” front crash avoidance system that activates to help inattentive drivers prevent vehicle or pedestrian crashes.
Previous selections for the award among EVs have included the Rivian R1T/R1S, Kia EV6, Hyundai IONIQ 5, and Tesla Models 3/Y.
To earn the “+” designation, the agency stipulates that headlights rated “Acceptable or Good” must be standard across all trims, and that a front crash prevention system that earns Advanced or Superior ratings in both the daytime and nighttime vehicle-to-pedestrian evaluations be available.
The GV70 earned “Advanced” ratings in both the daytime and nighttime vehicle-to-pedestrian front crash prevention evaluations. The Ioniq 6 and the Lexus RZ earned “Superior” ratings in these two tests.
“To be environmentally friendly, our vehicles and our cities also need to be pedestrian-friendly,” said IIHS President David Harkey. “All three of these vehicles have standard front crash prevention systems designed to protect pedestrians both during the day and at night, when most fatal pedestrian crashes happen.”
Overall in its latest list, the IIHS named 51 cars in the “Top Safety Pick+” grouping, and 25 in the secondary Top Safety Pick tier. That’s down from 101 total award-winning models last year, likely because the organization has implemented its tough new side-impact test and is also testing for night-time pedestrian detection for collision warning and prevention systems.
The IIHS is one of two major automotive safety rating organizations, along with the federal government’s National Highway Transportation Safety Administration. IIHS is a private organization funded by insurance companies.
