Four-star safety rating for current Cupra Tavascan

The Cupra Tavascan electric SUV – recently launched in Australia – has received a four-star ANCAP safety rating.

The Cupra Tavascan performed well in destructive crash testing, achieving solid results in ANCAP’s Adult Occupant Protection pillar, where it recorded a score of 89%. In the frontal offset (MPDB) test, the vehicle provided Good protection for most body regions of both the driver and front passenger. However, some dashboard structures presented a potential injury risk, resulting in an Adequate rating for the driver’s upper legs and a Marginal rating for the passenger’s upper legs.

In the side impact test, the electric SUV excelled, earning maximum points and offering Good protection for all critical body regions of the driver. The oblique pole test showed Adequate chest protection, while all other critical body areas showed Good levels of injury protection in this test.

The Cupra Tavascan is fitted with a countermeasure to protect against injury and intrusion in far side impacts – a centre airbag between the front seats. The centre airbag provided Good protection to front seat occupants, though excursion of the driver in the vehicle-to-pole impact scenario was rated as Marginal.

In the Child Occupant Protection pillar, the Tavascan scored 87%. Full points were awarded for protection of both child dummies in the frontal offset and side impact crash tests.

“Crash protection is a fundamental element of every ANCAP safety rating, and the Cupra Tavascan performed well in these areas with strong structural performance,” said ANCAP Chief Executive Officer, Carla Hoorweg.

Within the Vulnerable Road User Protection pillar, which considers the vehicle’s ability to protect other road users, the Tavascan achieved a score of 80%. Its autonomous emergency braking (AEB) system showed consistent performance when responding to pedestrians, cyclists, and motorcyclists in a range of collision avoidance scenarios, where it successfully mitigated or avoided collisions. The Tavascan, however, is not equipped with an AEB system capable of avoiding an adult or child pedestrian while reversing. An anti-dooring system that alerts the driver of cyclists approaching from behind is available, but the warning was not issued sufficiently early and performance of the system was assessed as Poor.

Unlike Cupra Tavascan vehicles sold in Europe, Australian vehicles do not offer an intelligent speed assistance system or speed limit information function to assist the driver in managing the vehicle’s speed. These omissions reduced the Tavascan’s score in the Safety Assist area of assessment beneath the 70% scoring threshold required for a five-star rating. The Tavascan scored 67% in this pillar. To achieve a five-star rating, vehicles must reach established thresholds across each of the four areas of assessment.

“While some improved performance across the Safety Assist pillar could have enhanced its score, the absence of an advanced speed assistance system primarily contributed to this four-star result. Speed sign recognition and an intelligent speed limiter are standard in European models but have not been made available to current Australian Tavascan buyers,” said Ms. Hoorweg.

“The Tavascan performed well in each of the other areas of assessment, and we encourage Cupra to consider an update to Australian vehicles to elevate it to the five-star level of its European equivalents.”

Full details on the performance of the Cupra Tavascan can be viewed here.