There's still so many things to know about the new 2021 Ford Mustang Mach-E. For instance, customers may wonder how safe is Ford's all-new full-electric SUV. Mach-E customers, however, don't need to crash the all-electric SUV just to know how safe it is. For that matter, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety is an authority on vehicle safety and crash tests, and it has just gave the 2021 Ford Mustang Mach-E a Top Safety Pick award.
Ratings Are Enough To Earn Top Safety Pick Award
Any tested vehicle can earn the Top Safety Pick or Top Safety Pick+ awards from IIHS by recording Good ratings in the driver-side small overlap front, passenger-side small overlap front, moderate overlap front, side, roof strength and head restraint tests. It needs to earn Advanced or Superior rating for available front crash prevention following vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-pedestrian evaluations.
A Top Safety Pick+ vehicle should have Acceptable or Good standard headlights, while a Top Safety Pick drive only needs to have Acceptable or good available headlights. The 2021 Ford Mustang Mach-E managed to get good ratings on the six IIHS crashworthiness tests and superior front crash prevention. However, it failed to reach the Top Safety Pick+ award due to a Marginal grade on its available headlights.
Marginal Rating On Headlights Killed Top Safety Pick+ Award
Unknown to many, two sets of headlights are available for the 2021 Ford Mustang Mach-E: LED projector and LED reflector headlights. The projector headlights – offered on the Premium, GT and First Edition trims – of the Mustang Mach-E received Good ratings. This is because these headlights provide good visibility on both low and high beams.
IIHS, however, gave the LED reflector headlights – available on Select and California Route 1 trims – a Marginal overall rating. This because its straightaway is inadequate on the left side. Visibility is also inadequate on the gradual right and both left curves. With this shortcoming, the Top Safety Pick+ award became beyond reach.
EVs Seemed Safer Than Conventional Vehicles, Says Study
The Top Safety Pick award seemed to coincide with a recent study from IIHS-affiliated Highway Loss Data Institute on the overall safety of electric vehicles (models 2011 to 2019). The study found that injury claim rates for drivers and passengers of EV s were over 40 percent lower than for conventionally powered counterparts.
Source: Ford, Insurance Institute for Highway Safety