Hyundai's Nexo hydrogen-powered SUV earns five-star rating in European safety test

Hyundai Motor's Nexo hydrogen-powered SUV has earned a five-star rating in the latest European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP) evaluation, underscoring its robust safety performance in severe collision scenarios.

Hyundai's Nexo hydrogen SUV made a comeback after seven years. [SARAH CHEA]

Hyundai Motor's Nexo hydrogen-powered SUV has earned a five-star rating in the latest European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP) evaluation, underscoring its robust safety performance in severe collision scenarios as well as its suite of advanced safety technologies.

Euro NCAP, which began in 1997 and is considered Europe’s most trusted independent organization for evaluating vehicle safety, assesses new vehicles across four categories, including adult occupant protection, child occupant protection and protection of vulnerable road users, and reveals results every year.

The Nexo achieved a score of 90 percent in Adult Occupant Protection and 85 percent in Child Occupant Protection, noting its ability to maintain a stable passenger compartment in both frontal and side-impact tests, effectively protecting the critical body regions of occupants.

Hyundai Motor's The All New Nexo [HYUNDAI MOTOR]

In the adult occupant protection assessment, the vehicle earned high scores for front-seat and head restraint performance. In rear-impact scenarios in which another vehicle collided with the Nexo from behind, adult crash test dummies were found to sustain comparatively lower levels of cervical spine injury.

For the child category, the assessment showed that the Nexo effectively safeguarded all critical body regions of both the 6-year-old and 10-year-old dummies in frontal and side impact tests.

The car also received strong marks for its automatic emergency call system, which notifies rescue services in the event of an accident, as well as its multi-collision braking system designed to prevent secondary impacts.

Euro NCAP further confirmed that the doors and windows can be opened to enable occupant escape even if the vehicle is submerged in water.

Hyundai Motor previously achieved the highest safety ratings for its dedicated electric models, including the Ioniq 5 in 2021, the Ioniq 6 in 2022 and the Ioniq 9 this September.

"The new five-star result underscores Hyundai’s continuous advancement in fuel-cell engineering, crash protection and customer-focused safety technology, setting a benchmark in the global fuel-cell electric vehicle segment," Hyundai said in a statement.

BY SARAH CHEA [chea.sarah@joongang.co.kr]