Tesla Model 3 Regains CR Top Pick Status and IIHS Safety Award
The Tesla Model 3 has regained its status as a Consumer Reports Top Pick after independent tests proved the effectiveness of its new camera-based automatic emergency braking (AEB) and forward collision warning (FCW) systems.
Earlier today, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety released the first evaluations of new Tesla vehicles that use a camera-based system for AEB and FCW. Because of their performance, the Model 3 will once again get a Top Safety Pick+ designation, which is the IIHS’ highest safety award.
“Given the IIHS’ recent evaluations of Tesla’s new camera-based system on its Model 3 and consistent with CR’s integration of IIHS ratings into our recommendations, CR is restoring the car’s Top Pick status,” says Jake Fisher, senior director of CR’s Auto Test Center.
The development is significant because Tesla recently decided to no longer equip Model 3 sedans and Model Y SUVs with radar sensors, instead choosing to rely on a camera-based system it calls Tesla Vision. In a blog post, Tesla said that Tesla Vision-equipped cars will also use machine learning software it calls a “neural network” to perform some functions that were once reliant on radar. At the time the Tesla Vision-equipped Model 3 and Model Y went on sale, the technology’s FCW and AEB performance had not yet been independently tested.
