NCAP rating

[Plug]

i3 given a 4 star NCAP rating.

Well written article explaining why : http://www.carsafetyrules.com/bmw-i3-fo ... ting/1127/

[gaz26]

I think this is a real concern, it would put me off buying the car. With all the hype from BMW they have failed one of the major tests for a car getting safety absolutely correct. With so many cars getting 5 stars these days a 4 star rating is not good enough in my view

http://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/indus ... ety-rating

[i3me]

I think this is a real concern, it would put me off buying the car. With all the hype from BMW they have failed one of the major tests for a car getting safety absolutely correct. With so many cars getting 5 stars these days a 4 star rating is not good enough in my view

http://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/indus ... ety-rating

The perspective of the author is not that the i3 is unsafe, but that BMW have overlooked a few details which would have scored more points in the NCAP assessment, thereby falling short of the 5 star rating. What the NCAP assesment missed is a rear seat belt warning light and a too sharp front hood edge, potentially causing more injury to a pedestrian, if hit. The integral safety of the car surpasses the norm in a side-on pole collision and if the car is fitted with the Approach Control Warning (part of the Driving Assistant Plus pack (5AT) will actively avoid a frontal collision, even with a pedestrian!

I think we're talking about a very safe car here!

[gaz26]

I think this is a real concern, it would put me off buying the car. With all the hype from BMW they have failed one of the major tests for a car getting safety absolutely correct. With so many cars getting 5 stars these days a 4 star rating is not good enough in my view

http://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/indus ... ety-rating

The perspective of the author is not that the i3 is unsafe, but that BMW have overlooked a few details which would have scored more points in the NCAP assessment, thereby falling short of the 5 star rating. What the NCAP assesment missed is a rear seat belt warning light and a too sharp front hood edge, potentially causing more injury to a pedestrian, if hit. The integral safety of the car surpasses the norm in a side-on pole collision and if the car is fitted with the Approach Control Warning (part of the Driving Assistant Plus pack (5AT) will actively avoid a frontal collision, even with a pedestrian!

I think we're talking about a very safe car here!

I quote from the Autocar article
The new BMW city car achieved four stars on its test, with Euro NCAP commenting that in severe side impacts protection of the chest for adult occupants was "weak", and that the front seats and head restraints provided only marginal protection against whiplash in a rear-end collision.

Not a car I would want to drive

[Stevei3]

Not a car I would want to drive

Oh dear, harsh words! Although I agree that stupid points to score were left behind (rear seatbelt warning, speed limiter), real easy points to get things right were missed (anti-whiplash seats) and some design choises resulted in less than optimal crash-behaviour (hood, missing door pillar), I would not go as far as that.
On the plus side, the carbon safety cell proved to be extremely rigid. Take a look at the doorseams in the crash videos for instance. Or the (lack of) deformation of the cell upon side impact. Even the pole impact does not deform the cell. The pole does protrude the passenger cabin as far as the carbon roofline however, that will hurt. An i3 with door pillar could (perhaps) have had an edge in the pole test.

Given the effort that went into the little i BMW should have managed to score better I guess...
Steven

[i3me]

Quote from Car Safety Rules:

"The side impacts are against the carbon fibre structure and it behaves quite differently to a conventional steel car. In the more severe pole-strike test a normal car’s side caves in as it hits the pole. The i3 absorbs the energy without crumpling. That doesn’t necessarily mean better safety, however: the rib compression readings from the dummy indicate that protection of the chest was weak. That’s allowed in a five-star car, but many conventional steel cars do better. And in the whiplash test, BMW’s stylish, ultra-thin seats provided only marginal protection of the driver’s neck. Again, that’s acceptable for a five-star car too.

So what let the car down? The protection for pedestrians isn’t good enough for five stars and BMW has neglected to fit seat belt reminders on the rear seats."

Again, we're not talking about an unsafe car here, however the design could have been more safe!

[gaz26]

Looks like the i3 is the only car BMW makes that doesn't get 5 stars

http://m.euroncap.com/index_en.aspx#results

[AndrewDebbie]

It is, but NCAP changed for 2013, so the older * ratings are not directly comparable.


The whiplash results are unforgivable in a car as expensive as an i3.

Audi A3 scored 3.2 (good) BMW 3 series 3.1 (also good) -- i3 scored 2.8 (Marginal)



Videos are up on youtube. i3 does well in the stability control test

i3 ESC Test (all runs with ESC on)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tH5K2QzGYGo

i3 Crash Test

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2greh-OyBOU


compare to:

Leaf ESC test (first run is with ESC turned off)


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvwS10kMZPs


Leaf 2011 crash tests:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nsb7SkrpyE

[gaz26]

Will be interesting to see how BMW play this. They clearly need to make some urgent changes but that will take time. I remember how Mercedes got it wrong with that J turn test on the A Class, really hurt sales until they sorted it.

As the i3 will be used as a city car where rear end shunts and side impacts are a real possibility I think they have made some big errors in design here. Also amazed they have designed a car with such poor pedestrian protection especially as pedestrians will find it difficult to hear an electric car.

[gaz26]

Should owners be concerned by the NCAP results showing such poor protection for pedestrians? Given the near silent running of an electric car and the expectation most of its work will be in the city how do the engineers at BMW design a car that NCAP shows would probably not be a good experience for a pedestrian if hitting one.

The i3 is not exactly an object of beauty like a Ferrari so what has gone wrong here?

It also appears in efforts to maybe save weight the seats and headrests may not be optimal in terms of top safety, hence the NCAP comments about whiplash?