Tesla’s Model S did not obtain a top score in crash tests conducted by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), according to a press release from the agency.
In a previous test, IIHS reported that the Model S safety belt “allowed the dummy’s torso to move too far forward.”
Based on results of the second test, the agency said: “Tesla made changes to the safety belt in vehicles built after January with the intent of reducing the dummy’s forward movement. However, when IIHS tested the modified Model S, the same problem occurred, and the rating didn’t change.”
A Tesla rep told CNBC: “Tesla’s Model S received the highest rating in IIHS’s crash testing in every category except for one, the small overlap front crash test, where it received the second highest rating available. While IIHS and dozens of other private industry groups around the world have methods and motivations that suit their own subjective purposes, the most objective and accurate independent testing of vehicle safety is currently done by the U.S. government, which found Model S and Model X to be the two cars with the lowest probability of injury of any cars that it has ever tested, making them the safest cars in history.”