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Source: Euro NCAP announcement
LEUVEN, Belgium — Euro NCAP recently published the Assisted Driving grades of seven cars equipped with Highway Assist.
The overall best performer in this batch is the BMW iX3, graded as ‘Very Good’. Two others – the Ford Mustang Mach-E and the CUPRA Formentor – achieve Good gradings. The assist systems of the Polestar 2 and the Hyundai IONIQ 5 are graded as Moderate, while the Toyota Yaris and Opel Mokka-e offer Entry level systems.
Highway Assist systems help the driver to maintain a steady speed, to keep a safe distance from the car in front and to keep the vehicle in the center of the lane by combining (intelligent) Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) with Lane Centering (LC).
Highway Assist systems are designed to assist the driver, not to take control, and the driver is expected to keep his hands on the wheel and his eyes on the road at all times. For this reason, Euro NCAP tests not only the car’s ability to assist and promote safer driving, but also evaluates how the system engages the driver and, if the unexpected happens, what safety backup is offered by the vehicle.
The technology, first offered on premium vehicles, has gone mainstream in recent years and is now available on cars in all categories, albeit with varying degrees of sophistication and at different price points. In its previous rounds of Assisted Driving tests in 2018 and 2020, Euro NCAP found some vehicles promised more than they could deliver, implying, through their naming and interaction with the driver that they provide more automation than they were capable of doing.
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All the cars tested in this round, however, offer a balance between Assistance Competence – the degree to which the system can help the driver – and Driver Engagement – the extent to which the driver feels they must remain in control and not disengage from the driving task.
To view the entire announcement, click HERE.
