Volvo’s entire lineup has earned the highest safety rating from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), known as Top Safety Pick Plus. Volvo is the only automaker able to claim that distinction.
The XC40 Recharge electric SUV is the most recent Volvo to achieve that status. Starting at $53,990, the XC40 Recharge packs 402 horsepower into a compact SUV frame and boasts an EPA-estimated driving range of 208 miles.
There are two automotive safety rating agencies in the United States — one run by the government and one by private industry. The IIHS is the latter. A consortium of insurance companies funds the laboratory, which performs its own crash tests separate from (and in some ways more rigorous than) those performed by the federal government’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).
To earn the Institute’s highest honor, cars must meet three criteria:
- Achieve a score of “good” (the Institute’s highest score) on driver-side small overlap front, passenger-side small overlap front, moderate overlap front, side, roof strength, and head restraint tests
- Score an advanced or superior rating for available front crash prevention in both vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-pedestrian evaluations
- Achieve a good or acceptable rating on an evaluation of the car’s headlights
It’s that last criterion that sets apart Top Safety Pick from Top Safety Pick Plus winners. Last year, the IIHS added the headlight requirement. At the time, some automakers used lower-quality headlights as standard equipment, with brighter lighting available as an added-cost option. Since the Institute added the headlight requirement, it says, automakers have made upgraded headlights standard equipment on at least 17 models.
Volvo says “the company’s vision is that no one should be killed or seriously injured in a new Volvo.”
