Interesting test results from Euro NCAP safety institute. The European arm of Global NCAP has examined the safety features of 19 vans. Not a single van was killed.
Euro NCAP normally fires new passenger cars at various obstacles. The safety institute investigates to what extent the passenger compartment deforms or not, whether the ‘occupants’ are injured, and an opinion is also made about the active and passive safety systems present. Delivery vans are thrilled and are not driven to bits. Euro NCAP does, however, review the safety systems of 19 commercial vehicles in the N1 category (up to 3.5 tonnes). The results are nothing to write home about.
The Euro NCAP tightens up its safety requirements from time to time, but in its assessment that this time it passes over 19 delivery customers, the organization uses the criteria it set for passenger cars in 2018. Please note, only the heading Safety Assist Performance is included and that means that no crash results are assessed. It is purely about the presence and operation of safety systems, both active and passive. Euro NCAP says it has covered about 98 percent of the commercial vehicles sold in Europe with the selection of 19 delivery customers. Only three buyers receive the designation ‘Gold’.
gold
Those three gold buyers are the Ford Transit, Mercedes-Benz Vito and Volkswagen Transporter. Transit took 63 percent of the achievable points. The Mercedes-Benz Vito and Volkswagen Transporter scored 61 and 65 percent respectively.
Silver
Five vans finish in the middle bracket. Here too Ford and Mercedes-Benz orderers, although in this category it concerns the smaller Ford Transit (58 percent) and Mercedes-Benz Sprinter (52 percent). The Volkswagen Crafter scores 44 percent of the achievable points. The Opel Vivaro and Peugeot Expert also fall into the treasure fleet and come out at 42 percent and 44 percent respectively.
bronze
Most vans deserve a bronze-colored goblet. The Citroëns Jumpy and Jumper get 37 and 32 percent of the points. The Fiat Ducato ends with 28 percent of the points at the bottom of this category. The Iveco Daily, Peugeot Boxer and Toyota ProAce successively score 30, 33 and 35 percent of the achievable points. Something striking is happening here. The Citroën Jumpy and Toyota ProAce are of course almost the same as the Peugeot Expert, but the Peugeot falls into the ‘Silver’ category. The same goes for the Citroën Jumper and Fiat Ducato, which are of course related to the Peugeot Expert which also falls in the Silver group. NCAP notes that the standard equipment may differ per market, but also per ‘version’ of the purchaser.
No recommendation
Unfortunately, five company cars are labeled ‘not recommended’. At the bottom of the rating list, the Fiat Talento dangles with only 5 percent of the achievable points, followed by the Opel Movano with a score of only 7 percent. The Nissan NV400 (12 percent), Renault Master (16 percent) and Renault Trafic (11 percent) are also not recommended by Global NCAP. Where do most points end up? Simply because of the absence of driving systems such as an automatic braking system, a lane assist and a speed limiter.
NCAP says it has shared the results to illustrate that, despite their often higher weight than passenger cars, especially with a load, commercial vehicles often do not have that generous safety features.