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Top safety marks have been awarded to BYD's new luxury four-wheel drive and Hyundai's latest Tesla rival, but neither car was physically crash tested – nor assessed under current criteria.
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The Denza B8 hybrid four-wheel-drive and Hyundai Elexio mid-size electric SUV have earned five stars out of five in new safety ratings from ANCAP.
But not a single new car was crashed into a barrier to publish the latest scores – and they were tested under protocols that expired at the end of last year.
The B8 has derived its rating from 'destructive' crash testing of the smaller Denza B5, and the Elexio from the related Kia EV5, after each manufacturer submitted data to show "comparable safety performance" in a collision.
It is a component of ANCAP's rules known as 'partner models', which allows car companies to submit technical documentation to prove that one car will deform the same as another that the safety body has tested.
It allows car makers and ANCAP to avoid fresh crash tests – which can cost up to $60,000 each, and take up space in a crash lab's schedule – when it can be proven, through technical drawings and in-house crash results conducted by car makers, that two vehicles will perform similarly.
Where there are differences between the partner and donor vehicles, ANCAP conducts additional tests that can result in varying scores in certain areas of assessment.
New pedestrian protection testing occurred on the B8's different front end, which, despite being a bigger vehicle, has seen its Vulnerable Road User Protection score increased to 75 per cent, up from 74 per cent for the boxier B5.
Meanwhile, images released by ANCAP show it performed pedestrian collision and driver-assistance testing on the Elexio.
It has increased its Vulnerable Road User Protection and Safety Assist scores to 77 per cent and 85 per cent, respectively, up from the EV5's 74 per cent and 82 per cent.
Rules are set around how the 'partner' vehicle can differ in ride height, kerb weight, and wheelbase – the distance between the front and rear wheels – to avoid additional ANCAP crash tests.
It must also be released to the market within two years of the original crash tests; in this case, the Elexio is arriving in showrooms this month after the EV5's rating was released in December 2024, while the B5's score was only published two months ago.
However, it also means the safety ratings applied to the new, 2026-launched vehicles carry date stamps of 2025 and 2024, respectively, and were assessed against ANCAP's now-superseded 2023-25 criteria.
More stringent protocols introduced for 2026 test the aggressiveness of advanced safety systems, mandate physical controls for key vehicle functions, and add criteria for how flush-fitting door handles respond after a crash, among other changes.
Chery Australia chief operating officer Lucas Harris told Drive earlier this year there is more to the 'partner model' ratings than it appears from the outside.
"We've got models that have partner ratings that have been applied, and it's not as simple as us just saying 'oh yeah, it's the same platform, can you just transfer the rating?," he said.
"The amount of technical information that has to be provided is wild; we're talking in-depth technical drawings.
"I don't know about other brands, but when we do it, we do in-house crash-testing and provide them all the data that we would normally get. And when I say all the data, I mean all the data – a million photos, videos, telemetry from the car and from the robots, everything.
"It's not as simple as them going 'ah, it kind of looks the same, let's share the rating', there's a huge amount of technical work underneath it. I know from the outside, looking in without that information, it looks a little haphazard."
ANCAP says it received "comprehensive technical documentation and test results" from Denza for the B8, and conducted "thorough assessment of technical evidence" submitted by Hyundai, to release the latest ratings.
It has left the Denza B8 with scores of 86 per cent for Adult Occupant Protection, 95 per cent for Child Occupant Protection, 75 per cent for Vulnerable Road User Protection, and 78 per cent for Safety Assist technology.
It's understood to be the first vehicle with a Gross Vehicle Mass (GVM) above 3.5 tonnes to earn a five-star ANCAP rating.
Meanwhile, the Elexio has earned 88 per cent for Adult Occupant Protection, 86 per cent for Child Occupant Protection, 77 per cent for Vulnerable Road User Protection, and 85 per cent for Safety Assist.
"Consumers are expecting increasingly comprehensive safety performance from new vehicles in the market regardless of powertrain," ANCAP CEO Carla Hoorweg said in a media statement.
"These five-star results demonstrate solid occupant protection combined with advanced crash avoidance technology, providing confidence for families and fleet buyers alike."
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Alex Misoyannis has been writing about cars since 2017, when he started his own website, Redline. He contributed for Drive in 2018, before joining CarAdvice in 2019, becoming a regular contributing journalist within the news team in 2020. Cars have played a central role throughout Alex’s life, from flicking through car magazines at a young age, to growing up around performance vehicles in a car-loving family. Highly Commended - Young Writer of the Year 2024 (Under 30) Rising Star Journalist, 2024 Winner Scoop of The Year - 2024 Winner
