Is assisted motorway driving reliable? Euro NCAP finds out

Tested 5 cars: BMW i5, Mercedes C-Class, Volkswagen ID.7, Volvo EC40 and BYD ATTO 3

Photo by: Euro NCAP

By: Eleonora Lilli

Oct 27, 2024 at 4:55am ET

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Assisted driving is optional today, but it is becoming increasingly becoming more popular and in the future it will be as popular as any other technological device. So the Euro NCAP experts put it to the test by assessing five models on motorway routes (BMW i5, Mercedes-Benz C-Class, Volkswagen ID.7, Volvo EC40 and BYD ATTO 3).

"While these modern systems allow safe driving, they have their limits in certain situations and could create additional risks (if not used correctly)", said Adriano Palao Bernal, ADAS & AD Technical Manager Euro NCAP, explaining that the evaluations carried out "provide critical insights into the driver assistance technologies available in vehicles today". Here's how it went.

How the test was done

Euro NCAP's assessment of assisted driving systems (first introduced in 2020) measures two 'aspects':

Assistance Competence, the balance between the level of assistance offered by the vehicle, the help the system offers the driver and its limits;
Safety Backup, the various interventions taken in critical situations to avoid a collision (now extended to include the detection of motorcyclists, pedestrians and cyclists).

Euro NCAP also extended the assessment requirements for driver monitoring systems and introduced additional measures to improve speed control in relation to lane type, road characteristics and specific risks.

Euro NCAP releases motorway assisted driving ratings

Euro NCAP

The results

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The highest result ('Very Good') was achieved by the BMW i5 and the Mercedes C-Class. Their systems, according to Euro NCAP, offer good lateral and speed control, which, at the same time, keeps the driver alert to regain control of the vehicle (if necessary). Mercedes' Safety Backup, then, scored particularly high because the car moves to the edge of the road and performs a controlled stop (in case the driver is not responsive).

Volkswagen ID.7 and Volvo EC40 scored 'Good', while the BYD ATTO 3 was rated 'Not recommended': the speed control system does not read the signals correctly, while the Safety Backup scores very poorly.