NHTSA Pushes Back On Tesla's 'Safest Car Ever' Claims for Model S

TTAC Staff
by TTAC Staff

The general and automotive press was buzzing in the past couple of days about Tesla’s Model S acing crash testing by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, following a Tesla press release claiming that the Model S is the safest car ever tested by that agency. Now, NHTSA is throwing some cold water on Tesla’s claims that the Model S earned more than five stars, the agency’s highest score. The car performed well, NHTSA says, but not off the charts as claimed by Tesla. The implication that Tesla is exaggerating the crash test results follows the company’s release of what it said were profitable financial results, though the figures did not follow generally accepted accounting procedures. NHTSA also released video of the Model S undergoing crash testing.

“The agency’s 5-Star Safety Ratings program is designed to provide consumers with information about the crash protection,” NHTSA said in a statement. “NHTSA does not rate vehicles beyond 5 stars and does not rank or order vehicles within the star ratings.”

Tesla based its bragging on how it calculated the Vehicle Safety Score data provided to manufacturers, yielding a 5.4 rating according to the company.

Clarence Ditlow, the director of the Center of Auto Safety, who had a role in developing the five-star schema, told ABC News that while the Tesla Model S did perform well in the crash tests the company’s spin on the data was misleading. “No matter what, you can’t say it’s the safest car ever tested, just that it had the best overall test score of any vehicle tested by NHTSA.”

TTAC Staff
TTAC Staff

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  • MarquisDeSolder MarquisDeSolder on Aug 22, 2013

    Everyone seems to overlook this: Per NHTSA's website: "frontal crash test results...reflect a crash between vehicles from the same weight class +/- 250 Lbs." What I take this to mean is that a "5 star" subcompact which weights 2800Lbs is not as safe as a "5 star" 4000lb luxo barge, since you will not be colliding with only equivalent weight vehicles on the road! So, the Tesla claim that the Model S is 'the safest car' really only applies to vehicles in its weight class.

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    • Pch101 Pch101 on Aug 23, 2013

      NHTSA doesn't crash test most luxury sedans, due to their low sales volumes and expense. It's a bit much for Tesla to brag about the NHTSA crash test results of the Model S when most of its rivals haven't been tested. A comparison requires at least two items that can be compared to each other.

  • Grumpy Grumpy on Aug 23, 2013

    You guys have too much time on your hands. I find all this crap about Tesla crash testing claims more or less irrelevant--how can a car that pretty much explodes and burns to the ground if you get it wet, be the safest car made?

  • Old Man Pants Old Man Pants on Aug 23, 2013

    @Grumpy You're probably thinking of Fiskers. Strange, 'cause I've gotten their scissors wet and nothing happened.

  • Big Al from Oz Big Al from Oz on Aug 23, 2013

    Here is a really cool interactive map on road accidents. I hope it works. It appears the US could use more safety. http://roadskillmap.com/#15.029685756555674,-36.03515625,3

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