Nio ES6 Euro NCAP crash test

5 stars. Overall excellent performance in crash protection and well equipped with comprehensive and robust crash avoidance technology

The passenger compartment of the EL6 remained stable in the frontal offset test. Dummy numbers showed good protection of the knees and femurs of both the driver and passenger. NIO showed that a similar level of protection would be provided to occupants of different sizes and to those sitting in different positions.  Protection was good for all critical body areas of the passenger, and good or adequate for the driver.  Analysis of the deceleration of the impact trolley during the test, and of the deformable barrier after the test, revealed that the EL6 would be a benign impact partner in a frontal collision. In the full-width rigid barrier test, protection of all critical body areas was good for the driver, and good or adequate for the rear passenger. In the side barrier test, dummy readings indicated good protection of all critical body areas.  However, analysis showed that the curtain airbag had not deployed correctly, getting caught on the trim of the B-pillar.  A penalty was applied to the head, and protection rated as adequate.  The same penalty was applied to the head in the side pole test, although the airbag deployed correctly in this test.  Control of excursion (the extent to which a body is thrown to the other side of the vehicle when it is hit from the far side) was adequate. The EL6 has a centre airbag mounted on the driver’s seat to mitigate against occupant to occupant injuries in such impacts.  This performed well in Euro NCAP's test, and provides equal protection to the front driver and passenger. Tests on the front seats and head restraints demonstrated good protection against whiplash injuries in the event of a rear-end collision.  A geometric analysis of the rear seats also indicated good whiplash protection.   The EL6 has an advanced eCall system which alerts the emergency services in the event of a crash.   The car also has a system which applies the brakes after an impact, to avoid secondary collisions.  NIO demonstrated that if the car entered water the doors, if locked, could be opened within two minutes of power being lost and that electric windows would remain functional long enough to allow occupants to escape.

In both the frontal offset and side barrier tests, good protection was provided to all critical body areas for both child dummies, and the NIO EL6 scored maximum points in this part of the assessment.  The front passenger airbag can be disabled to allow a rearward-facing child restraint to be used in that seating position.  Clear information is provided to the driver regarding the status of the airbag and the system was rewarded.  The EL6 is equipped with a direct 'child presence detection' system, which issues a warning when it detects that a child or infant has been left in the car.  However, the system could not be assessed and was not rewarded. All of the child restraint types for which the EL6 is designed could be properly installed and accommodated in the car.

Protection of the head of a struck pedestrian or cyclist was predominantly good or adequate, with poor results recorded only on the stiff windscreen pillars.  Protection of the pelvis was mixed; that of the femur was good at almost all test points and that of the knee and tibia was good across the whole width of the car.  The autonomous emergency braking (AEB) system of the NIO can respond to vulnerable road users as well as to other vehicles.  The system performed well in tests of its response to pedestrians. The system scored highly in tests of its reaction to cyclists, including dooring, in which the car prevents or warns against door opening if a cyclist is approaching from behind.  Similarly, the AEB system performed well in all tests of its response to motorcyclists.  However, the lane support function, intended to prevent collisions with motorcyclists in certain scenarios, did not meet Euro NCAP’s requirements and was not rewarded.

Overall, the autonomous emergency braking (AEB) system of the NIO EL6 performed extremely well in tests of its reaction to other vehicles, including in the head-on test scenarios.  In Euro NCAP’s tests, collisions were avoided in almost all scenarios.  A seatbelt reminder system is fitted as standard to the front and rear seats but the driver status monitoring system did not score highly; it detects driver fatigue and distraction, but only the elements related to fatigue met Euro NCAP's requirements.  The lane support system gently corrects the vehicle’s path if it is drifting out of lane and also intervenes in some more critical situations.  The speed assistance system identifies the local speed limit, and the driver can choose to allow the limiter to be set automatically by the system.