New names set high standards for safety: Togg and firefly shake up the EV market

LEUVEN, BELGIUM – The chances are you won’t have heard of it and will never have seen one of its cars on the road, but the first two European models from Togg, Turkey’s newest car company, have achieved outstanding results in Euro NCAP safety tests.

The T10F, an electric family saloon, and T10X, an electric SUV, are the first models from Togg, which was founded in 2018 and started manufacturing models at the end of 2022.

Both new electric cars have been awarded a five-star Euro NCAP rating. The T10F scored an impressive 95 per cent for its Adult Occupant protection, and the T10X achieved 94 per cent, scores that place them among the highest-performing cars tested by Euro NCAP.

Both models proved just as competitive when it comes to protecting children in vehicles, scoring 85 per cent in Child Occupant testing, as well as pedestrians and cyclists. Their driver assistance systems also delivered robust safety.

Based near Istanbul, Turkey’s largest city, Togg says its ambition is to export one million electric cars across European markets by 2030 and plans to expand its range of EVs to five models. The body design work for the SUV and saloon models was done by Pininfarina and Murat Günak, a Turkish-born designer who has led design at Peugeot, Mercedes-Benz, and the Volkswagen Group.

Turkey houses factories for many car makers, including European brands such as Fiat, Mercedes-Benz, and Renault. Each year, over 1.5 million cars and commercial vehicles are produced in the country. Like Tesla, Togg claims to be both a car company and a technology brand, having developed an interconnected system around its electric vehicles that it describes as an end-to-end mobility experience that integrates personal devices, smart homes, smart city infrastructure, and mobility services like ride-hailing and e-scooter rentals into one platform that can even accept payments.

firefly lights up the affordable EV market

Not to be outdone, firefly, another new car brand from the Chinese group NIO, has launched its first electric car, the firefly, and its impressive five-star Euro NCAP performance has lit up the small EV sector where it competes with the latest supermini models, including the Mini Cooper E and Renault 5.

Of particular note, in tests the firefly achieved an Adult Protection rating of 96 per cent – the highest of any passenger car assessed by Euro NCAP since the start of 2024. The score serves to illustrate that the largest cars aren’t necessarily the safest; through robust research and development, innovative engineering, and a commitment to safety, manufacturers of the new wave of affordable EVs are able to achieve a five-star rating.

As the number of smaller, more affordable electric cars increases, and popular models achieve five-star ratings, consumers are benefiting from great cars that don’t compromise on safety.

16 new models tested by Euro NCAP

In all, Euro NCAP’s experts put 16 new models through their paces, assessing everything from their passive safety – how well a car protects those inside it and any other road users involved – to the capabilities of the latest driver assistance systems. It is pleasing to report that the majority of models were awarded the maximum five-star overall rating.

Only the BMW 1 Series, Citroën C5 Aircross, Suzuki e VITARA, and its twin, the Toyota Urban Cruiser, scored four stars. The 1 Series was marked down for weak protection of the driver’s chest and left leg in the frontal offset crash, and the front passenger’s legs. Similarly, in the full-width rigid barrier test, the protection of the driver’s chest offered by the e VITARA and Urban Cruiser was rated as weak, and the protection of the rear passenger’s head was marginal. Citroën’s C5 Aircross lost points in both the Vulnerable Road User and Safety Assist categories.

The Audi Q4 e-tron, Hyundai IONIQ 9, MINI Aceman, and smart #5 are all SUVs from well- established brands, and all delivered a robust set of results during Euro NCAP tests, ensuring a five-star rating. MINI’s smallest car, the Cooper three-door hatchback, continues to impress, with a robust performance that saw it achieve five stars.

The five Chinese car makers to feature all delivered a competitive level of safety that broadly matched their European and Korean competitors in the electric vehicle sector. The AION V, an SUV, EXLANTIX ES, a family saloon, IM IM6, a crossover, and the BYD DOLPHIN SURF, a family hatchback, served as a further reminder that China’s fast-growing car industry is capable of engineering cars with globally comparable levels of safety.

However, despite being awarded a five-star rating, both the Lynk & Co 08, an electric SUV, and Volkswagen ID.Buzz, the electric reinterpretation of VW’s 1950s Type 2 campervan, very nearly lost their fifth star due to poor pelvis protection for pedestrians.

When Togg set out to establish itself as a contender in the electric car market, it made bold claims about how its new cars had been robustly engineered to deliver outstanding safety and achieve a five-star Euro NCAP rating.

Sure enough, after performing rigorous tests of the new T10F and T10X, Euro NCAP’s experts came away impressed. It’s impressive enough when an established car maker achieves a five-star rating, but for a new entrant to secure five-star ratings for its first two cars is remarkable. Togg may not be well-known outside of Turkey, but a lot more drivers are likely to hear about it and respect its cars after this performance.

We are also impressed with the firefly, the new small EV from parent company, NIO. Its scores are both sector- and industry-leading and show what is possible when designing and engineering an affordable family hatchback. If other car companies respond positively to this challenge, consumers will continue to benefit from safer cars.

Dr. Aled Williams, Programme Director Euro NCAP