NHTSA passive-aggressively rejects Tesla's 'safest car' boasts
In a verbose blog post, Tesla bragged about building the safest car the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has ever tested. It proudly paraded the Model 3‘s five-star crash test rating and hailed the sedan as the car with the lowest probability of injury the agency has ever tested. The statements initially went unchecked — Tesla published the post over the weekend — but it didn’t take long for the agency to issue a rebuttal.
“A five-star rating is the highest safety rating a vehicle can achieve. NHTSA does not distinguish safety performance beyond that rating, thus there is no ‘safest’ vehicle among those vehicles achieving five-star ratings,” the agency wrote on its official website. It didn’t specifically mention Tesla, but the timing of the announcement — and the nature of Tesla’s claims — leave no doubt that the statement is a response to the California-based firm.
Earning a five-star safety rating is an impressive achievement, and it’s easier said than done. It makes the Model 3 one of the safest new cars sold in America, but there’s not a shred of evidence to suggest it’s safer than the rest. The relatively long list of new and late-model cars with a five-star safety rating from the NHTSA also includes the 2013 Subaru Legacy, the 2015 Audi A4, the 2017 Mercedes-Benz E-Class, the 2018 Subaru Impreza, the 2018 Volvo S60, and the 2019 Buick LaCrosse.
Tesla hasn’t commented on the agency’s reply and it hasn’t edited the blog post yet. We’ve reached out to the company and we’ll update this story if we hear back.
This isn’t the first time Tesla has misinterpreted — or misrepresented — the NHTSA’s crash test rating. In 2013, it trumpeted the record-breaking 5.4-star safety rating earned by the Model S. This once-in-a-lifetime achievement made the S the safest new car in America, the company claimed. The NHTSA quickly stepped in to remind Tesla officials there is no such thing as a 5.4-star safety rating. It also established new guidelines that forbid automakers from advertising a score higher than five stars.
Industry trade journal Automotive News points out companies who make false claims about crash test ratings can get in trouble with other agencies, including the Federal Trade Commission. That’s the last thing Tesla needs right now, it already landed on the wrong side of the Securities and Exchange Commission, but there’s no indication the FTC will take action against the company.
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