In the first results announced by the vehicle safety body in 2024, Bharat New Car Assessment Programme (BNCAP) has bestowed two of Tata Motors’ popular electric vehicles (EV) – the Tata Punch EV and Nexon EV – with a five-star rating. Having announced the first set of results towards the end of 2023 – which also happened to be for two Tata SUVs, Harrier and Safari – Bharat NCAP has followed it up with the announcement of the first safety ratings for Tata’s electric SUVs, neither of which had been tested by global safety watchdog Global NCAP so far. The five-star rating is applicable to all variants of both EVs, as they have an extensive list of standard safety equipment, including electronic stability control and six airbags.
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Notably, the Tata Punch EV has registered the highest score yet for both adult as well as child occupant protection of all vehicles tested under Bharat NCAP. The variant tested was the Punch EV Long Range Empowered Plus (S), which is also the heaviest version of the EV. The Punch EV scored 31.46 out of a total 32 points for adult occupant protection, with the report noting the vehicle offers adequate to good protection to both the driver as well as the front passenger in both frontal offset and side impact tests.
On the child occupant protection front, the Tata Punch EV managed a score of 45 points out of a total 49, securing 24 points for the safety provided to the child test dummies in the crash tests, 12 points for the performance of the child restraint systems, losing out only on the vehicle assessment test score, with nine points out of 13.
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The Nexon EV didn’t lag too far behind its smaller sibling in the Bharat NCAP tests. The variant tested, once again, was the top-spec Nexon EV Empowered Long Range. For adult occupant protection, the Nexon EV scored 29.86 points out of a total 32. The SUV provided adequate to good protection to both the driver and front passenger in the frontal offset crash as well as the side impact test.
On child occupant protection, the Nexon EV notched up 44.95 points out of a total 49, bagging 23.95 points out of 24 for the safety offered to the child test dummies in the crash tests, 12 points for the performance of the child restraint systems, dropping a few points on the vehicle assessment test score, with nine points out of 13.
The Punch EV is priced from Rs 10.99 lakh to Rs 15.49 lakh, while the Nexon EV is priced from Rs 14.49 lakh to Rs 19.29 lakh (all prices, ex-showroom). Both cars, in their internal combustion engine (ICE) form, have previously received five star ratings from Global NCAP.
