The Mercedes-Benz CLA BEV achieves a full five-star Euro NCAP rating across all four major safety categories.
Safety assist systems are rated as effective and non-intrusive, with near-perfect scores for lane support and pedestrian detection.
The Mercedes-Benz CLA BEV, which was recently launched in India in three variants, including the CLA 200, CLA 250+, and a Launch Edition, has passed one of the world's most demanding vehicle safety assessments with flying colours.
The CLA 250+ variant was put through the full Euro NCAP test protocol, and the results speak clearly for themselves. A five-star rating was awarded, with the car posting percentage scores of 94 in Adult Occupant Protection, 89 in Child Occupant Protection, 93 in Vulnerable Road Users, and 85 in Safety Assist.
Strong Adult and Child Occupant Protection Scores
In the Adult Occupant Protection tests, the CLA BEV recorded 15.5 out of 16 in both frontal and lateral impact assessments.
In the progressive deformable barrier test, all critical body areas were rated as good for front-row occupants. The rear occupant benefited from adequate chest protection in the full-width rigid barrier test.
Moving to lateral impacts, driver protection was rated as good in the side mobile barrier test, though the driver's chest protection came in as marginal during the side pole test.
A central airbag ensured that occupant-to-occupant protection was rated as good. Rear impact and neck protection for both front and rear seats were rated as good, contributing to a score of 3.6 out of 4 in that category.
Children Fared Well, with Minor Gaps
For Child Occupant Protection, both six- and ten-year-old dummies showed good protection in frontal crash scenarios.
The lateral impact test, however, returned adequate rather than excellent head protection for the ten-year-old dummy, bringing the total COP score to 23.7 out of 24. On the practical side, child seat installation was found to be straightforward.
Pedestrians and Cyclists Well Accounted For
In Vulnerable Road User testing, the CLA BEV scored 32.1 out of 36 in impact protection, covering pedestrian and cyclist head protection, pelvis, femur, and knee and tibia protection. The A-pillars, however, were rated as poor.
The car fared better in VRU impact mitigation, scoring 26.5 out of 27. Its Autonomous Emergency Braking system with Forward Collision Warning is active from as low as 7 kmph.
AEB pedestrian scored 8.7 out of 9, while AEB cyclist achieved a perfect 8 out of 8. Scores for AEB motorcyclist and Lane Support System for motorcyclists were also full marks.
Safety Assist Technology Proves Capable
The Safety Assist category returned a score of 85 per cent. Speed assistance scored 2.7 out of 3, Lane Support Systems achieved a perfect 3 out of 3 and are operational from 45 kmph, while AEB for car-to-car interaction scored 7.8 out of 9.
Points were lost in a head-on collision scenario where auto-brake performance was rated as poor. The CLA BEV includes driver drowsiness detection, though it does not offer occupant detection, which accounted for some of the shortfall in the occupant status monitoring score of 2 out of 3.
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