NIO ES8 Scores Five Stars In Euro NCAP Safety Tests

The Euro NCAP recently had an opportunity to test one of the few new Chinese all-electric models, the NIO ES8, which enters the Norwegian market first (customer deliveries to start soon).

NIO‘s flagship 7- or 6-seat SUV does not disappoint and has received the maximum five-star rating. That’s an expected result for a large and heavy (2,435 kg) dual-motor all-wheel-drive vehicle.

Aside from the solid crash test results, Euro NCAP notes that the NIO ES8 excels in the Safety Assist category, in which it got 92%. The active safety features are standard on all ES8 SUVs.

“On sale first in Norway, the all-electric 6/7 seater, also gives a good account of itself, especially in the area of active safety.  With excellent results for its autonomous emergency braking system and a full complement of other crash-avoidance features the NIO gains a 92 percent score for Safety Assist.”

The ES8’s in-house developed, high-strength all-aluminum body indicates that the new Chinese cars are now not only safe but also technologically advanced. The times of reverse-engineered or copycat Chinese cars are gone.

NIO appears very happy with the results, as a 5-star rating opens the way for a broader rollout in Europe (which would be difficult with a weak score).

“The passenger compartment of the ES8 remained stable in the frontal offset impact test, with dummy readings showing good protection of the knees and femurs of both the driver and passenger. In both the frontal-offset impact test and the side barrier impact test, the ES8 provided good protection to all critical body areas of the 6-year and 10-year dummies and scored full marks in this part of the assessment.

The AEB system of the ES8 achieved good performance in protecting vulnerable road users and car-to-car tests. With the outstanding results in the driver monitoring and lane support tests, the ES8 earned 92% in the Safety Assist category under the new protocols.”

Here are the detailed results:

• Adult Occupant – 82 percent
• Child Occupant – 84percent
• Vulnerable Road Users – 72 percent
• Safety Assist – 92 percent

The ES8 is the first out of three NIO models (ES8, ES6 and EC6) that all share the same platform. We guess that their safety results might be similar, but they are not yet introduced outside of China.

8 Photos

See all details here.

Crash tests include:

• a frontal impact test, the car impacts a rigid full-width barrier at 50 km/h (31 mph)
• a frontal impact test, 50% of the width of the car is striking an oncoming deformable barrier (both traveling at 50 km/h/31 mph)
• Pole test – the tested car is propelled sideways into a rigid pole at 32 km/h (20 mph)
• Side impact test – a mobile deformable barrier impacts the driver’s door at 60 km/h (37.3 mph)