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November 27, 2021
Euro NCAP announces Assisted Driving Gradings of Seven Cars equipped with Highway Assist.
Photos: Assisted Driving Gradings by Euro NCAP. Images provided by & Copyright © Euro NCAP.
November 27, 2021 - Euro NCAP has published the Assisted Driving gradings 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 the car’s ability to assist and promote safer driving and evaluate how the system engages the driver and, if the unexpected happens, what safety backup is offered by the vehicle.
First offered on premium vehicles, the technology has gone mainstream in recent years and is now available on cars in all categories, albeit with varying degrees of sophistication and 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 that they provide more automation than they were capable of doing through their naming and interaction with the driver. However, all the cars tested in this round 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.
Michiel van Ratingen, Secretary-General of Euro NCAP, says, “This balance between assistance and engagement is crucial. Cars are not yet capable of fully automated driving and should not mislead drivers into thinking that they are. Reports from America have highlighted the severe problems when people have an unrealistically high expectation of what such systems can offer and when the car they are driving does not actively try to get them back in the loop. We are pleased that the manufacturers represented in this round of tests make clear the level of support that they can provide.”
The range of cars tested demonstrated the growing prevalence of Assisted Driving across the spectrum of vehicle categories. While offering less functionality than more sophisticated systems, entry-level systems nevertheless provide the driver with a practical level of support. Moreover, the fact that they are fitted on volume-selling cars shows the direction of travel for automated driving.
Euro NCAP said its tests follow a rapidly changing legislative background. Technology is developing very quickly, and the degree of automation allowed and what action the car must take when, for example, handing control back to an unresponsive driver, is being reviewed. Euro NCAP’s future tests will take these regulatory changes into account.
Euro NCAP organizes crash & safety tests on new vehicles and provides motoring consumers with a realistic and independent assessment of the safety performance of some of the most popular cars sold in Europe. Established in 1997 and backed by several European Governments, motoring, consumer, and insurance organizations, Euro NCAP has rapidly become a catalyst for encouraging significant safety improvements to new car design.
Source: Euro NCAP
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Edited & Posted by the Editor | 6:40 AM | Link to this Post
