Rear-wheel-drive versions of the 2021 Volkswagen ID.4 electric car scored a 5-star crash-test rating from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).
The electric vehicle scored five stars overall, albeit with four stars awarded for front passenger-side crashworthiness as well as in the calculated rollover risk assessment.
The commendation from the federal government follows up on a Top Safety Pick+ award from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS). While the IIHS says its scores apply to all variants of the ID.4, NHTSA has not yet released rollover ratings for the all-wheel-drive version of the ID.4
NHTSA does not physically test vehicles for their resistance to rolling over in hard cornering or on sloped surfaces. Instead, the government looks at the vehicle’s weight, height, and center of gravity to determine a rating. What makes the ID.4 — and other electric cars like it — unique against like-size SUVs is that its battery pack helps distribute weight much lower in the vehicle. That lower center of gravity wasn’t enough to keep the rear-drive ID.4 from a four-star rating, though it’s possible the extra heft of the additional electric motor that powers the all-wheel-drive version’s front wheels may give it a different score. We’ll have to wait to find out. See Volkswagen ID.4 models for sale
