A Look At All The Cars Tested By BNCAP And Their Respective Scores

BNCAP or Bharat NCAP is India’s own new car assessment program (NCAP) for crash test safety ratings. The voluntary car assessment programme was effective from 1 October, 2023, but it wasn’t until December when they actually put out the results of their first ever crash test. Fast forwards to today, the entity has handed out ratings for four models and that’s what we are gonna take a look at in this story:

Tata Harrier and Safari

Harrier Price: Rs 15.49 lakh - Rs 26.44 lakh (ex-showroom)

Safari Price: Rs 16.19 lakh - Rs 27.34 lakh (ex-showroom)

Overall rating: Five stars

Adult Occupant Protection: 30.08 / 32.00

Child Occupant Protection: 44.54 / 49.00

The first vehicles to be tested by the BNCAP were the Tata Harrier and Safari siblings. Both the vehicles aced the test and scored a full five star rating. In AOP, both the cars offered good protection for all body parts in all three front deformable, side movable deformable, and side pole impact test; save for the chest and driver’s knee, which received marginal and adequate rating. 

In COP for an 18-month-old child, the Harrier and Safari both scored 11.54 points out of 12, while the score was a ful 12 out of 12 for the 3-year old child. You can check out a thorough report of the Harrier and Safari’s crash test here.

These impressive safety ratings are an extension of the Harrier and Safari’s extensive standard safety kit, which includes six airbags, electronic stability control, hill start assist, ISOFIX child seat mounts, ABS with EBD, and rear parking sensors.

Both cars get the same 170PS/350Nm, 2-litre diesel engine, which can be paired with either a 6-speed manual or a 6-speed automatic transmission.

Tata Nexon EV

Price: Rs 14.49 lakh - Rs 19.49 lakh (ex-showroom)

Overall rating: Five stars

Adult Occupant Protection: 29.86 / 32

Child Occupant Protection: 44.95 / 49

The Tata Nexon EV is one of the latest vehicles to be tested by the BNCAP, and just like the models before it, the Nexon EV also passed the test with flying colours. Although it scored a full overall five star safety rating, it actually has the lowest adult protection score out of all the cars tested by Bharat NCAP. 

The frontal offset deformable barrier test showed a good rating for all parts, save for the driver’s chest and legs, and the passengers right leg. The side movable deformable barrier test too showed good protection for all parts, save for the driver chest, while the side pole impact test offered good protection against all body parts.

In COP for an 18-month old child, the Nexon EV scored 11.95 points out of 12, while the score was a ful 12 out of 12 for the 3-year old child. You can read a detailed crash test report on the Nexon EV here.

The Nexon EV gets a bunch of safety features and most of them are offered as standard. The list includes 6 airbags, ABS with EBD, electronic stability program (ESP), hill hold assist, reverse parking sensors, ISOFIX anchors, day/night IRVM and electronic traction control. 

As for its powertrain, the Nexon EV gets two battery pack options – Long range 40.5kWh battery and a medium range 30kWh battery, with a claimed range of 465km and 325km, respectively. The bigger battery gets a 143PS/215Nm electric motor, while the medium range version gets a 129PS/215Nm electric motor. It supports fast FC charging speed of up to 50kW.

Tata Punch EV

Price: Rs 10.99 - Rs 15.49 lakh (ex-showroom)

Overall rating: Five stars

Adult Occupant Protection: 31.46 / 32

Child Occupant Protection: 45 / 49

The smallest car to be tested by the BNCAP passed the test with flying colours as it became the safest car tested by the folks at BNCAP. In the AOP, the Punch EV offered good protection for all body parts, save for the passenger’s chest and driver’s feet, which received adequate rating in the frontal offset deformable barrier test. 

The side movable deformable barrier test offered good protection for the head, abdomen and hips, while the chest received adequate shielding. While the side pole impact test had a clean sweep with good protection for all body parts. 

For COP, the level of protection for the 18-month old child and 3 year old child wasn’t given specific scores, but the Punch EV nevertheless scored 45/49 in the overall test. 

In terms of safety features, the Punch EV comes standard with 6 airbags, ABS with EBD, electronic stability program (ESP), hill hold assist, a tyre pressure monitoring system (TPSM), rear parking sensors, and ISOFIX child seat anchors. 

Also Read: Top 5 Compact SUVs Sold In India In May 2024

Just like the Nexon EV, the Punch EV too gets two battery pack options: a 25kWh battery with a claimed range of 315km and a 35kWh battery with a claimed range of 421km. The latter gets a 122 PS/190 Nm electric motor, while the smaller battery pack is paired to a 82 PS/114 Nm electric motor. It supports fast FC charging speed of up to 50kW.

These are the four cars tested by the BNCAP at the time of writing this article. It is likely that more cars will be crash tested in the coming days. You can click on this link to know about the Bharat NCAP.