The Hyundai Ioniq 6 and Genesis Electrified GV70 have won the highest Top Safety Pick+ award from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS).
For 2023, Top Safety Pick+ award winners must earn the highest “Good” score in the IIHS’ driver-side small overlap front, passenger-side small overlap front, original moderate overlap front (a high score on the updated version of this test isn’t required), and side crash tests.
Award winners must also have headlights rated “Acceptable” or “Good” as standard equipment on all trim levels, and front-crash prevention systems with the top “Superior” or second-tier “Advanced” rating in daytime vehicle-to-pedestrian collision avoidance testing.
The Ioniq 6 and Electrified GV70 join a handful of other EVs on the 2023 IIHS Top Safety Pick+ list, including the Rivian R1T, Subaru Solterra, Tesla Model Y, and Volkswagen ID.4. The Lexus RZ echoes the crash-test performance of the Toyota bZ4X-but it skips the bZ4X’s base LED projector headlights that held that model back from the list.
The Hyundai Ioniq 5, which shares its E-GMP platform with the Ioniq 6, among others, was named a Top Safety Pick+ for 2022. The crash-test performance vehicles based on the E-GMP platform bodes well for the 2024 Kia EV9, which is due for the U.S. market later this year. Kia also plans to begin assembling the EV9 at its West Point, Georgia, factory in 2024.
The Electrified GV70 is an all-electric version of the gasoline Genesis GV70 crossover. But unlike the gasoline variants, the Electrified GV70 is now being built in Montgomery, Alabama. Both the Kia and Genesis U.S. manufacturing moves are a response to the revamped federal EV tax credit, which mandates U.S. assembly for qualifying vehicles.
Author: Stephen Edelstein
Source: Green Car Reports