Our fully electric C40 Recharge has been awarded top marks in the 2022 Euro NCAP tests, meaning that like the rest of its siblings, it’s officially one of the safest cars on the road.

The Euro NCAP is a European-based rating system to help consumers choose the safest cars possible. The rating measures car safety through a series of tests that aim to replicate real-life accident scenarios.
“We always aim to be a leader in safety,” says Malin Ekholm, head of our safety centre. “That means we adhere to the strictest safety standards in all of our cars, many of which we helped establish over time.”y
Every car we create should be even safer than the last, and our upcoming generation of pure electric cars is no different. They will come standard with state-of-the-art LiDAR sensors from Luminar to keep an eye out on the road ahead (and around, and behind) and ensure that the car can ‘see’ and react to obstacles with even greater precision.

This is on top of our already-standard automatic emergency braking, forward collision warning, pedestrian and cyclist detection systems, all of which are tested both in reality and virtually at our safety centre.
<a href="https://www.volvocars.com/intl/v/cars/recharge">Learn more on our Recharge models here</a>

Euro NCAP awards C40 with five-star rating

In April Volvo Cars set an industry benchmark as the only brand with its entire vehicle lineup earning a 2021 IIHS Top Safety Pick Plus award in the U.S.

Our 2021 lineup has been on a roll over the past year, picking up not one, not two, but 15 Top Safety Pick Plus (TSP+) honors. This recognition from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) is a highly coveted distinction awarded to vehicles that provide the highest level of safety.
What makes this even more significant? The vehicle that brought our portfolio over the finish line is our XC40 Recharge – our first pure electric car.
The XC40 Recharge is the first fully electric small SUV on the road to achieve TSP+. This shows our customers that, as Volvo transitions toward our future as an electric automaker, our commitment to safety is as strong as ever.
Our latest TSP+ benchmark also adds to the record we set last month for achieving the most single-year TSP+ awards earned by any brand since the programme's inception in 2013.
We’re proud that our cars are best-in-class when it comes to safety, but what precisely earns us – or any manufacturer, for that matter – the coveted designation?
As you'd imagine, the qualifications are thorough.
In 2021, the TSP award requires &quot;good&quot; ratings in all six IIHS crashworthiness tests. This includes driver- and passenger-side small overlap front, moderate overlap front, side, roof strength, and head restraints. Winners must also be available with &quot;good&quot; or &quot;acceptable&quot; headlights, and a front crash prevention system that earns &quot;advanced&quot; or &quot;superior&quot; ratings in both vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-pedestrian evaluations.
Taking it a step further, to qualify for &quot;Plus,&quot; vehicles must also come with &quot;good&quot; or &quot;acceptable&quot; headlights across all trim levels and packages.

&quot;Regardless of body style, engine or trim, every Volvo offers innovative protection in a crash,&quot; said Anders Gustafsson, President and CEO of Volvo Car USA. &quot;We are proud that IIHS has recognised this by awarding a Top Safety Pick Plus to every vehicle we produce today. No other company has been awarded this honor across all carlines in 2021.&quot;
As of today, these cars – which comprise our entire U.S. lineup – are our proud TSP+ honorees:

Volvo XC40 P8 Recharge
Volvo S90
Volvo S90 Recharge
Volvo V90
Volvo V90 Cross Country
Volvo V60 Cross Country
Volvo S60
Volvo S60 Recharge
Volvo V60
Volvo V60 Recharge
Volvo XC40
Volvo XC60
Volvo XC60 Recharge
Volvo XC90
Volvo XC90 Recharge

Top Safety Pick Plus award makes history

We smashed up 10 cars with a 30m crane drop so emergency services could train for rescuing people from severe traffic wrecks.

“Does it have to be a new car?” an attending cameraman said as he watched a shiny new XC40 being hoisted by a crane 30m (100ft) into the sky – to later freefall and smash into the ground. “I’m happy to give you my old car to crash if you let me have that new Volvo.”
He was joking – but his offer was sincere. Little did he know he was focused on the main reason why we recently worked with our friends at emergency services to do a 30m crane drop with 10 new Volvo cars – each car dropped several times to ensure maximum damage.
Emergency services personnel need to practice their various methods for extricating people from severe car crash scenes. Jens Molin, who has worked as a firefighter and extrication specialist for 20 years, explained how working with new cars is critical to emergency services teams.
“A problem we have as a fire brigade is that when we train normally, we usually get our cars from scrapyards. These cars are most often 10 to 20 years old, and they work very differently from the cars of today, regarding safety, hardness in the steel and how they work when we try to open them up. So it’s extremely important for us to work with new cars to test our abilities.”
That’s (one reason) why we couldn’t swap out the cameraman’s old car for the new Volvo – damaging new cars with the latest safety structures and technology was critical to what needed to be learned that day.

Our Safety Centre, for twenty years, has conducted on average one physical crash test per day – the type you might already know about, with crash test dummies – but these tests are very specific and our cars’ safety structure is so robust that, in most crash scenarios, the emergency services people can simply open the door of a new Volvo to access the occupants.
So we were very interested in the (fun) challenge of answering the question: how can we damage our new cars enough for them to be suitable for emergency services training? Why not try something extreme, like dropping each car several times from a 30m crane?
It was the first time we’ve dropped our cars from a 30m-high crane. Only by doing this could we create enough deformation to adequately simulate the damage found in the most extreme crash scenarios, like single-car accidents at very high speed, accidents where a car hits a truck at high speed, or when a car takes a severe hit from the side. It’s these kinds of severely damaged cars emergency services needed to test their skills and new equipment, to learn how to deal with the most extreme accidents; the ones where survivors need their help most.
Why is practicing such scenarios so important? When it comes to car crashes, emergency services heroes often talk about the ‘Golden Hour’ – getting severely injured people to the hospital within an hour of a crash occurring can be the key to their survival.
“We have been working closely together with the Swedish rescue services for many years,” says Håkan Gustafson, a senior investigator with our Traffic Accident Research Team. “Because we have the same goal: to have safer roads for all. We hope no one ever experiences the most severe accidents, but not all accidents can be avoided. So it is vital there are methods to help save lives when the most severe accidents do happen.”
But there’s only so much that words can do to explain something this spectacular, so see it for yourself in this video that says more about the challenges emergency services personnel face in their daily work.

Watch us drop new cars from a 30m crane

Volvo Cars is one of the most innovative companies and electrification is crucial to innovate and transform automotive industry. Learn more  here.

Innovation News | Volvo Cars

Discover the latest corporate news, press releases and articles from Volvo Cars. Learn more Volvo work culture, employees and managers here.

Corporate and Culture News | Volvo Cars 

Volvo leads inventions of car safety features. Discover how we keep pushing up standards to save lives, breaking paradigms to ensure safe mobility.


Car Safety News | Volvo Cars

The future of mobility faces enormous challenges. Electrification is a crucial player in to fight against climate change. Learn more here.


Electrification News | Volvo Cars

Discover the latest corporate news and press releases from Volvo. Learn more about company announcements here.


Corporate News| Volvo Cars

News and articles about daily life at Volvo Cars, as employee, manager or consultant. Learn more Volvo work culture and people working experiences here.


Work Culture News | Volvo Cars

All the latest news and corporate updates about electrification strategy, safety innovations, sustainability roadmap, automotive industry, and work culture.


Volvo News and latest updates | Volvo Cars 

Technology to create products and services for a better future makes Volvo one of the most innovative companies. Find out our last news here.

Technology and Innovations News | Volvo Cars

Take a tour to Volvo Cars industry news and how we are transforming automotive industry by creating new ways of industrial production. 


Automotive Industry News | Volvo Cars

Learn more about how Volvo is working to decrease its carbon footprint by researching new production techniques and creating innovative materials.


Our News

Euro NCAP awards C40 with five-star rating

Top Safety Pick Plus award makes history

Watch us drop new cars from a 30m crane