Not long ago, C-NCAP, an old-fashioned domestic car crash test agency, released the latest batch of test model results. Not surprisingly, except for a low-priced autonomous car, the rest have received more than five-star praise. China Insurance Research, which has been silent for more than half a year, also released the results of its latest batch of vehicle tests soon after. Among them, the Passat got a high score of all G, which is very different from the last test, which also caused a lot of discussion. . Where does the crash test come from? With so many test institutions around the world, how are they different? Which collision score is more valuable for reference? This article will tell in detail.
▋From the first "bump" in history to the birth of the test dummy
The story begins in 1886. In this year, German Karl Benz developed the world's first car, Mercedes-Benz, which created the starting point of the automobile industry, and the car accident also followed. At this time, Audi next door found a business opportunity. In 1938, Audi engineers reinforced their body and then pushed the car down a hill. As a result, the body of the car did not deform much and the engine ran normally. This test caused a lot of repercussions at the time and was considered to be the pioneering work of the crash test, after which Audi's sales skyrocketed immediately.
In 1959, the Mercedes-Benz W111 model did a more professional crash test, that is, in this year, Volvo invented the three-point seat belt, and everyone paid more attention to the safety of the car.
▋From the creation of the first standard procedure to the global flowering of testing institutions
In 1978, the U.S. Highway Safety Administration (NHTSA) required all vehicles to undergo a frontal crash test at a speed of 56km/h, and created the world's first New Car Assessment Program (NCAP, New Car Assessment Program). Although the test items were single at that time, it also prompted many manufacturers to pay attention to the safety of automobiles. Since then, different regions around the world, including the European Union, Japan, Australia, and South Korea, have successively established their own NCAP systems, and the test items have become more and more comprehensive.
From the above timetable, we can see that the international collision evaluation systems are mainly developed by NCAP, and only the IIHS in the United States and the C-IASI in China are a set of evaluation methods that are quite different. Even if similar evaluation methods are adopted, the safety crash test of each country or region will be formulated according to the actual local conditions. On the one hand, it depends on the local economic development status and the overall safety technology status of car companies to determine the rigor of the test standards; on the other hand, the traffic environment varies from place to place, and local test institutions will also formulate according to their actual conditions. Some test items with local characteristics.
Among the many crash test institutions, the E-NCAP in Europe and the IIHS in the United States have to be mentioned in foreign countries, while the domestic ones are mainly C-NCAP and C-IASI developed in recent years. Let's take a closer look at these crash test institutions.
·European E-NCAP
E-NCAP was founded in 1997 and was initiated by the governments of five European countries. It is a professional safety evaluation organization established by combining European Union organizations, professional scholars and high-tech engineering technicians. Since E-NCAP is an independent European automobile industry organization, its members are composed of members from different European countries, and it is not easy to be influenced by car companies in terms of collision results, and the test results are recognized by consumers. At the same time, it also provides car companies with more horizontal evaluation parameters to help car companies improve their product power.
·US IIHS
IIHS crash tests are known for their harshness. Relatively speaking, the behavior of IIHS will be more aggressive, and even more hostile to the relationship with manufacturers. IIHS is different from NCAP in its scoring system. It is mainly judged by grades, including four grades: G (excellent), A (good), M (pass), and P (poor). In its test project, the most headache for car companies is the 25% small overlap collision. The vehicle hits the obstacle at 64km/h. At this time, the vehicle will be subjected to a huge pressure impact, and the entire body, especially the A-pillar, is easily deformed. Testing is also a major feature of IIHS.
Compared with the frontal 40% offset collision of E-NCAP, the 25% offset collision angle of IIHS is smaller, the speed is faster, and the test of the body structure is more severe. In actual driving, it can be understood that the driver subconsciously avoids danger and steers the direction, which will cause the impact force to be concentrated on one side, and put forward higher requirements for the A-pillar structure of the vehicle, the protection of the driver's legs, and the position of airbag detonation. Scenarios such as "the airbag can't be connected to the head" and "the A-pillar slaps the face" are easy to happen in this situation.
Development History of Automobile Crash Test (Figure 12)
Behind IIHS is a coalition of insurance companies. In order to reduce premiums, insurance companies are highly motivated to pick manufacturers' safety issues. To a certain extent, stakeholders check and balance stakeholders, and there is no more efficient way to supervise. It can be seen that many "global cars" that have undergone replacement will be sent to IIHS for testing, which is highly authoritative.
·China C-NCAP
my country's C-NCAP (China-New Car Assessment Program, China New Car Assessment Program) is an enterprise organization with China Automobile Technology Research Center Co., Ltd. (China Automobile Center) as its core. Although the test project is very close to E-NCAP, it is a self-financing enterprise after all, and it is not completely public welfare like E-NCAP, so the "hidden" standard is actually far away. Judging from the test results, it seems that except for some low-priced Chinese self-owned brand models, it is easy for most joint venture models to obtain five-star reviews, which is why C-NCAP is nicknamed the five-star wholesale department by netizens.
The 2018 new regulations pushed by C-NCAP have shaken the previous "fat" to a certain extent. For example, it is also a side collision. The C-NCAP front frame truck is only 950kg, which cannot simulate the weight of the car, while the E-NCAP reaches 1400kg. The same whiplash test, the C-NCAP test speed is 15.65km/h, while the E-NCAP test speed is 24.45km/h. C-NCAP will increase the whiplash test speed to 20km/h in 2018, but it is still lower than the E-NCAP standard.
Development History of Automobile Crash Test (Figure 14)
·China C-IASI
China's C-IASI is similar to the US IIHS, and it also has the background of the insurance industry. It digested and absorbed the US IIHS crash test, and with the help of the testing force of the China Automotive Engineering Research Institute in Chongqing, the Chinese version of "IIHS" was launched in 2018. "- C-IASI. Compared with C-NCAP, the C-IASI crash test is indeed more stringent and the standards are more demanding. There is also a 25% offset crash test, which is also the reason why many domestic hot-selling models have been dragged down by China Insurance Research in the past two years. The reason for the altar.
Not long ago, the China Insurance Research Institute announced the latest batch of C-IASI crash test results. Although the Passat's performance was very different from the previous one, it was questioned, but the China Insurance Research Institute also made a reasonable explanation. Although this Passat is a voluntary application, China Insurance Research also completely followed the process of purchasing from the formal channels of 4S stores during the car purchase process, which is the same as its planned model. The difference is that the 2020 Passat was tested this time, and the last one was the 2019. It can also be seen from the side that strict crash tests can prompt car companies to improve vehicle safety, and car companies also have the strength to make improvements in a short period of time.
Summary: As can be seen from the comparison in the text, IIHS and E-NCAP are both authoritative, but the two have different focuses. Although my country's C-NCAP looks close to E-NCAP, there is a gap in the "hidden" standard. In contrast, the C-IASI crash test of China Insurance Research Institute seems to be more worthy of a closer look. For the purpose of making profits, car companies decide whether the car products in a region are safe, not by the self-consciousness and "conscience" of car companies, but by regulations. Just as the US IIHS introduced the 25% small-scale crash test, many car companies strengthened the crash strength of the driver's side in order to take the test, but did not improve the co-pilot side at the same time, until the IIHS raided the co-pilot side. The role of car crash testing in promoting car safety is obvious, and for ordinary consumers, it is indeed an important reference for considering the safety of a car.
