The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) has announced the 2024 edition of its Top Safety Pick awards, and the Tesla Model Y has come out again, earning the higher Top Safety Pick+ award for the fourth year in a row. The electric SUV earned the award despite more stringent standards this year on protection for back seat passengers and pedestrians.
In this year’s awards 71 models qualified, an increase from the 48 that qualified last year. Of those 71 however, only 22 were able to earn the Top Safety Pick+ award, down from last year’s total of 28. Part of the reason for the drop was a significant update to the award criteria, specifically a new side crash test that uses a heavier barrier at a higher speed.
Previously, vehicles needed to achieve at least an “acceptable” or “good” rating in this test to be eligible for the lower-tier Top Safety Pick award. For this year however, a “good” rating is required for both the Top Safety Pick and Top Safety Pick+ awards.
Additionally, vehicles must now receive an “acceptable” or “good” rating in a revised pedestrian front crash prevention test by IIHS. This new test combines what were formerly separate evaluations for daytime and nighttime into a single assessment.
“We followed the tougher requirements we introduced last year with another major update to the award criteria in 2024. This year’s winners are true standouts, offering the highest level of protection for both vehicle occupants and other vulnerable road users,” said IIHS President David Harkey.
With all of these changes in mind, the Model Y achieved “good” ratings nearly across the board in all of the crashworthiness and crash avoidance and mitigation tests, with the only “acceptable” rating coming for the “Rear passenger restraints and dummy kinematics” test. The electric SUV also achieved an “acceptable” rating for the ease of use of its LATCH child restraint system.
Electric vehicles (EVs) in general did very well at the 2024 IIHS Top Safety Pick awards. Other EV winners include the Rivian R1T and R1S, Audi Q4 and Q8 e-tron, Volvo XC90 Recharge, Nissan Ariya, Hyundai Ioniq 5, Ioniq 6, and Kona, Genesis GV60, and Toyota Prius.
You can read the full results for the 2024 Tesla Model Y here, and watch the different crash tests below.
