The Ford Explorer Plug-In Hybrid Receives A 5-Star Safety Rating
In the latest Euro NCAP safety assessments, the Ford Explorer received a respectable 5-star safety rating.
Euro NCAP assesses four areas in their tests, which include Adult Occupant Protection, Child Occupant Protection, Vulnerable Road User Protection and Safety Assist features. The vehicle undergoes different crash scenarios (frontal, rear and side tests) and is marked on how well the vehicle and its features protect these four important areas.
It was a rocky start for the Ford Explorer. In the frontal offset test, original readings proposed good protection to the knees and femurs of the driver and passenger. However, inspection after the crash highlighted issues with the dashboard, which could be a potential hazard to these areas of the body, and was therefore recorded as providing marginal protection in this test.
In the full-width rigid barrier test, which is when the vehicle collides head-on with a stationary object, all critical body parts of the dummies were found to have received good or adequate protection. The only exception was the chest of the rear passenger, which showed a marginal level of protection.
However, the Ford Explorer excelled in the side barrier test where it received maximum points, meaning all critical body parts were protected well if a collision was to occur in the side of the Explorer.
When the side pole crash was more severe, rib compression indicated marginal protection to the chest area, but other critical body parts were protected well.
Impressively, readings from the 10-year-old and 6-year-old dummy found good protection to all critical body parts in both the frontal-offset and side barrier impact tests and scored maximum points.
Furthermore, if you were to have a rearward-facing child restraint in the front seat, the Explorer cleverly disabled the airbag, reassuring you that your baby would not be hurt from the impact of the airbag if an accident was to happen. This feature performed exceptionally and was rewarded well in this assessment.
Child seats in other areas of the Explorer, including the front and second-row seats, could be properly installed, but although ISOFIX was found to be equipped in the third row, there were issues found when it came to installing child seats in this area of the Explorer.
Finally, for this section, when the Explorer was involved in a rear-end collision, the head restraints and seats provided good protection against whiplash. The autonomous emergency braking system also performed exceptionally well. Most whiplash injuries occur at low speeds when driving around built-up, urban areas, however, the autonomous emergency braking system in the Explorer Plug-in Hybrid avoided or eased most potential collisions that occurred in the varied scenarios, aiding any potential whiplash injuries or accidents.
The test doesn’t only assess the protection of those inside the vehicle. Vulnerable road users, which includes cyclists, are also assessed.
The areas of the vehicle which provided good or adequate protection to the legs and head of pedestrians were the majority of the bonnet and the bumper. However, the edge of the bonnet performed poorly, and the protection to the pedestrian’s pelvis produced mixed reviews; sometimes it was recorded as good, other scenarios found poor protection to the pelvis.
Finally, the safety features included in the Ford Explorer Plug-in Hybrid scored a respectable 76% and included:
- Seatbelt reminder
- Lane Assist
- Speed Assistant System
- Autonomous Emergency Braking System
All safety features aided the driver, helping to avoid drifting into the wrong lane and making driving at highway speeds easier. The seatbelt reminder works for all seats and the speed assistant system helps the driver to keep to the speed limit by using a camera to digitally map the local speed limit.
Overall, although there were some marginal ratings of protection recorded throughout the test, the Ford Explorer performed well, which is reflected in the 5-star safety rating it received.