China’s Dongfeng Box EV ‘crumples’ in Euro safety testing, NCAP says

The Chinese state-owned Dongfeng Box EV “crumpled” in European New Car Assessment Programme (NCAP) testing, according to an NCAP press release. 

“As demand for EVs grows, the choice in affordable electric cars is increasing, but one new contender in the European car market has performed poorly in Euro NCAP safety testing,” the release says. 

It says the Dongfeng Box scored just three stars. 

Multiple spot welds failed on part of the vehicle’s body shell during its frontal offset crash test, designed to replicate a car-to-car collision, the release says. The failure compromises the vehicle’s safety. 

“If spot welds fail during a crash, the structure can lose its integrity — increasing the risk of deformation around the cabin and reducing protection for occupants,” the release says. 

It says the failure was revealed during a progressive deformable barrier test where two vehicles collide head-on with a partial overlap. It adds that frontal collisions are responsible for more deaths and serious injuries than any other accident type. 

The test was performed at 31 miles per hour with a 50% overlap against a deformable barrier on an oncoming 3,000-pound trolley, also traveling at 31 mph.

The Dongfeng Box scored 69% for adult occupant protection. 

“The unstable bodyshell raises concerns over the protection it would offer at higher speeds in the event of a similar accident,” the release says. “After the impact, the automatic door locking mechanism of the Box failed to unlock, potentially hindering first responders’ efforts to get to the occupants of the vehicle.”

Testing also found other issues. 

Insufficient pressure in the steering wheel air bag allowed the driver’s head to make contact with the wheel, the release says. It adds that some parts of the dashboard structure posed a risk of injury to the front occupants’ legs. 

The vehicle also lacked any countermeasures to prevent occupant-to-occupant impact for those sitting in front, in the event of a side-impact collision, the release says. 

“Sales of electric cars are rising across Europe and the UK, and with the growth in the market comes new and affordable products — cutting the costs for consumers who want to switch to electric,” said Aled Williams, NCAP programme director, in the release. “However, the Dongfeng Box doesn’t match the safety performance of other small EVs tested by Euro NCAP. Other affordable EVs, such as the BYD Dolphin Surf, Firefly, MINI Cooper e, Lynk & Co 02, and Renault 4 and 5 have achieved four or five stars, highlighting the safety gap for Dongfeng’s Box.”

The release says that in July, Euro NCAP highlighted a flaw with the rear curtain air bag of the Chery Tiggo 7 and 8 models. After being redesigned, the issue was proven to be fixed in the latest tests. 

“The pair of SUVs suffered poor results, failing to adequately protect a child’s head in the event of a side-impact,” the release says. “The fault was identified, and a retest was performed, but the problem remained. Subsequently, at Euro NCAP’s suggestion, Chery has redesigned the system, and in the latest tests, the issue was found to be resolved. The Tiggos were awarded a five-star rating.”

Williams says in the release that Chery’s response is an example of an automaker responding positively to Euro NCAP’s safety tests. 

Images

Photo courtesy of Dongfeng Motor Co.