The Tesla Model 3 once again won the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety’s (IIHS) Top Safety Pick+ award, denoting the third sequential year the all-electric car showed up on the list.
The IIHS released its list of the Top Safety Pick and Top Safety Pick+ award winners on Wednesday, February 24. Altogether, 90 vehicles were recorded in the two subcategories, extending the list from only 64 cars a year ago.
“With these awards, we want to make it easy for consumers to find vehicles that provide good protection in crashes, sufficient lighting, and effective front crash protection,” IIHS President David Harkey said. “Manufacturers have stepped up to meet the challenge, and the list of great options has grown to an impressive size this year.”
While a lot of new vehicles made it onto the list, a few cars got back to the list subsequent to being referenced a year ago. One of them was the Tesla Model 3, denoting its third continuous appearance on the IIHS list for safe cars. The Model 3’s first appearance was in 2019, the year after its initially complete fiscal production push in 2018. Deliveries of the Model 3 started in 2017, yet it was in the second half of the year.
The 2021 Model 3 holds top marks in every one of the IIHS Crashworthiness categories, alongside everything except one potential point in Crash Avoidance and Mitigation. It is one of the most complete vehicles at any point to be released and graded by the IIHS, particularly as crash test ratings for the vehicle got top marks taking all things together yet one category: Lower Leg/Foot for the Driver-Side overlap front got an “Acceptable” rating, while all other areas of the car kept a “Good” grade, the most noteworthy conceivable rating.
The Model 3 is listed in the “Midsize Luxury Cars” segment and is joined by the Acura TLX, Lexus ES 350, Lexus IS, Volvo S60, Volvo S60 Recharge, Volvo V60, and the Volvo V60 Recharge.
Among its three-peat on the IIHS Top Safety Pick+ Award, the Model 3 has additionally won various honors from the NHTSA, Consumer Reports, Edmunds, and other international publications, who have all referenced the all-electric vehicle’s adaptability as a protected, high-performance vehicle that has really changed the automotive industry as a whole.