On Wednesday, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced the 54 passenger cars, light trucks and S.U.V.'s from the 2013 model year that it would subject to crash tests. The agency conducts the annual tests as part of the federal government's five-star safety ratings program, which is leveraged into a major selling point for automakers whose products perform well.
The 33 passenger cars named include entirely new or redesigned models like the Acura ILX, Cadillac XTS, Chevrolet Malibu, Honda Accord and Nissan Altima. The 16 crossovers and S.U.V.'s include the Ford Escape and Mazda CX-5, while among the four pickups is the refreshed Ram 1500. Though it did not receive major updates for 201 3, the Toyota Sienna is the lone minivan on the list.
N.H.T.S.A. estimates its list covers 85 percent of the 2013 models sold in the United States, while its rollover tests provide information on 92 percent of the light-vehicle fleet.
Ratings based on the crash-test results are posted on the N.H.T.S.A. Web site. The vehicles the agency chooses to rate are those it predicts will sell in high quantities, vehicles that have been structurally redesigned and those with improved safety equipment.
Also on the agency's list are vehicles with alternative powertrains. Scheduled for testing are a number of Fords, including the C-Max Hybrid and C-Max Energi plug-in hybrid; the Focus Electric; and the Fusion Energi plug-in hybrid. The Toyota Prius C and V will also be tested.
The agency wields considerable power in forming public opinion and in encouraging or discouraging adoption of alternative-powertrain vehicles. Weeks after concluding side-impact crash tests o n the Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrid last year, the test vehicle caught fire, prompting the agency to open a formal safety-defect investigation. General Motors responded by making modifications to the Volt, which the agency concluded reduced “the potential for battery intrusion resulting from side impacts.†The investigation was closed in January.
If a vehicle was previously tested and no significant changes were made to it, its ratings from the previous test carry over.
The government has already issued partial results for the Audi A4, with the German luxury sedan receiving five-star ratings for side-impact and rollover protection. With the Ford Taurus, the agency performed all its crash tests: frontal, side and rollover. The Taurus received five-star ratings in all categories, consequently earning an overall five-star rating.
N.H.T.S.A. altered its rating system starting with 2011 models. As part of those changes, it added a tougher, new pole test for side crashes, intended to simulate a vehicle striking a tree or a utility pole at 20 miles an hour. It also instituted a combined overall rating and, for the first time, started to use female crash-test dummies.
The agency founded the crash-test program in 1978.
To view the entire list of vehicles to be tested, click here.
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