2019 Audi E-tron earns IIHS' first Top Safety Pick+ award for an EV
The first electric car to earn the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety's highest award is the 2019 Audi E-Tron, the insurance industry-funded group announced Wednesday.
The IIHS said the E-tron crossover earned top "Good" scores in every crash test, including the driver- and passenger-side small overlap crash tests. The group noted that every E-tron qualifies for the award after the standard LED headlights earned a "Good" score.
Audi's standard automatic emergency braking system on the E-tron was rated "Superior" by the agency after it avoided a forward crash at 25 mph. In the same test at 12 mph, the IIHS said the E-tron slowed by 11 mph.
The E-tron is the first battery-electric vehicle to earn the agency's top award. The Tesla Model 3 hasn't yet been comprehensively tested, and electric variants of gasoline-powered cars such as the Hyundai Kona and Kia Niro don't carry their ratings across powertrain types.
Federal testers haven't yet rated the E-tron's crash safety.
The E-tron joins the Audi A6 on the IIHS' list of Top Safety Pick+ winners. The Audi Q8, A3and A4 were named Top Safety Picks by the agency.
The 2019 Audi E-tron earns an 8.4 on The Car Connection's overall scale thanks to its 200-mile electric range and luxurious interior. The E-tron is available in 2019 in Premium Plus, Prestige, and Edition 1 versions and starts at more than $75,000, before applicable federal and state incentives.
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