Australia's cheapest – and its most popular – electric cars have earned top marks in the latest round of safety testing.
The electric BYD Atto 1 city hatch and Tesla Model Y family SUV are among the latest five-star safety ratings awarded by crash-test organisation ANCAP.
Tesla's updated top seller earned the highest score ever recorded under the current 2023-25 test protocols in the Safety Assist category, at 92 per cent, plus 91 per cent for adult occupant protection, 95 per cent for child occupant protection, and 86 per cent for vulnerable road user protection.
Included in the Safety Assist result was strong performance in tests such as autonomous emergency braking junction/crossing and head-on, driver monitoring, and lane-keep assist systems.
The outgoing Model Y was also a five-star car for safety, under less stringent 2022 test protocols, but Tesla has elected to submit the vehicle for re-testing, refreshing the six-year expiry on its crash-test rating in the process.
At the other end of the scale, the BYD Atto 1 was awarded full points for adult protection in the side-impact and pole crash tests, though its category scores – ranging from 76 per cent to 86 per cent – were not as high as the Tesla.
It is rare for a car as small as the Atto 1 to earn five stars; the similarly-sized Hyundai Inster was awarded four stars earlier this year.
Other five-star scores include the electric Volvo EX90 and Mini Aceman, and petrol MG QS, the latter awarded "generally good crash test performance except for a Weak chest result for a rear passenger in the full-width frontal test," ANCAP said in a media release.
The Navara's five-star score carries a 2024 datestamp, as it is based on the Mitsubishi Triton crash-tested last year.
| Model | Rating | Adult Occupant Protection | Child Occupant Protection | Vulnerable Road User | Safety Assist |
| BYD Atto 1 | Five stars, 2025 | 82 per cent | 86 per cent | 76 per cent | 79 per cent |
| MG QS | Five stars, 2025 | 88 per cent | 86 per cent | 76 per cent | 80 per cent |
| Mini Aceman | Five stars, 2025 | 83 per cent | 87 per cent | 77 per cent | 83 per cent |
| Nissan Navara | Five stars, 2024 | 86 per cent | 89 per cent | 74 per cent | 70 per cent |
| Tesla Model Y | Five stars, 2025 | 91 per cent | 95 per cent | 86 per cent | 92 per cent |
| Volvo EX90 | Five stars, 2025 | 92 per cent | 94 per cent | 82 per cent | 84 per cent |
All of the latest crash tests – with the exception of the QS and Navara/Triton – were conducted by ANCAP's sister organisation Euro NCAP.
"These results show that manufacturers are increasingly meeting the requirements of modern safety protocols for a range of vehicles and price points, from the Nissan Navara to large and small electric vehicles,” ANCAP CEO Carla Hoorweg said in a media statement.
"Among this interesting mix of vehicles, it is positive to see the diminutive BYD Atto 1 arrive with a five-star rating. We know occupants of smaller cars are at greater risk due to their physical size, so this rating helps reinforce the benchmark for other manufacturers."
Alex Misoyannis has been writing about cars since 2017, when he started his own website, Redline. He contributed for Drive in 2018, before joining CarAdvice in 2019, becoming a regular contributing journalist within the news team in 2020. Cars have played a central role throughout Alex’s life, from flicking through car magazines at a young age, to growing up around performance vehicles in a car-loving family. Highly Commended - Young Writer of the Year 2024 (Under 30) Rising Star Journalist, 2024 Winner Scoop of The Year - 2024 Winner
