2022 was a very challenging year for the automotive industry. New safety, emissions and cybersecurity regulations, as well as the Ukraine war, Brexit, semiconductor, materials and labor constraints were the main issues. To ease the burden on the industry, Euro NCAP delayed the introduction of its new protocols until early 2023.
2022 will be remembered as a year of records for Euro NCAP. Never before has the organization conducted so many tests and never before have so many new vehicles joined the program. Of the 65 vehicles that took part in the tests, 15 received four stars (22%) and 50 received five stars (78%). Compared to 2021, no vehicles received 3 or fewer stars. With the growing demand for EVs, seven new vehicles joined Euro NCAP, six of which are from China.
As in 2021, the EV market continues to expand rapidly. In 2022, 22 of the 65 new models (34%) were fully electric vehicles. The other 17 vehicles are hybrid or plugin hybrid models (26%). The share of ICEs fell from 50 % in the previous year to 40 %. Europe’s best-selling car, the Tesla Model Y and the new Model S both scored top marks in Euro NCAP safety tests in 2022. Of the vehicles evaluated in Euro NCAP, 94% (61) included a system that detects driver drowsiness. In 53 of the 61 cars, the system detected it by monitoring the steering or lane violation, while 9 vehicles detected it by directly tracking the driver’s eyes or using a combination of the two.
