ANCAP Safety has awarded five-star safety ratings to the BYD Seal sedan and Dolphin hatchback.
The Seal and Dolphin battery electric vehicles are the second and third cars to be rated against new 2023 criteria.
Both were assessed for their structural crash protection through a rigorous series of physical crash tests, as well as their ability to actively avoid collisions with other cars, pedestrians, cyclists, and – new from 2023 – motorcycles.
In ANCAP’s destructive crash tests, the BYD Seal (Medium Car) achieved full points for protection of the driver and child passengers in the side impact test, and the driver in the oblique pole test. Protection offered to the chest and lower legs of the driver in the frontal offset (MPDB) test, and rear passenger chest in the full width test, was assessed as Adequate.
For its size, overall, the BYD Dolphin (Small Car) demonstrated a mix of Good and Adequate protection for adult occupants in crash tests, with a Marginal level of protection offered to the driver’s chest in the frontal offset test. Maximum points were scored for the Dolphin’s protection to child occupants in both frontal and side impact tests.
Like the Seal, the Dolphin is fitted with a centre airbag to minimise injury from head contact between front seat occupants or contact with the intruding side of the vehicle in side impact crashes, and effective protection was demonstrated by both vehicle models.
In addition to the routine suite of active collision avoidance performance tests, under the new 2023 test criteria, both BYD models were tested for their ability to detect a cyclist passing the vehicle from the rear, and warn and/or prevent occupants of the vehicle opening their door into the cyclist’s path. The Seal and Dolphin are both fitted with an anti-dooring system that provides an audible warning, however neither model has a system for occupant retention (temporary door locking).
Another new aspect included in ANCAP testing from 2023 includes an assessment of vehicle access when submerged in water. Both the Seal and Dolphin meet the requirements for ‘door opening’ functionality – demonstrating that, if the car entered water, the doors would remain functional for the minimum required time period (two minutes) after vehicle power is lost. ‘Window opening’ functionality however was not demonstrated.
“Our 2023 test and rating criteria have introduced further requirements for high levels of structural protection as well as new challenges for manufacturers in the area of active safety systems and, pleasingly, the three models rated so far this year have each achieved five-star ratings,” ANCAP chief executive Carla Hoorweg says.
“This is a trend we’d like to see continue as we finalise testing and assessments on a number of new models later this year.”
