In the past twenty years hundreds of infants and young children have died after being left in vehicles, usually by accident. When turning the vehicle off, drivers of the Sorento Hybrid are reminded to check the back seat when a sensor determines the back seat is occupied. The Model X doesn’t offer a back seat reminder.
Over 200 people are killed each year when backed over by motor vehicles. The Sorento Hybrid SX Prestige has a standard Parking Collision Avoidance-Rear that use rear sensors to monitor and automatically apply the brakes to prevent a rear collision. The Model X doesn’t offer backup collision prevention brakes.
When descending a steep, off-road slope, the Sorento Hybrid’s standard Downhill Brake Control allows you to creep down safely. The Model X doesn’t offer Downhill Brake Control.
The Sorento Hybrid SX Prestige has a standard Surround View Monitor to allow the driver to see objects all around the vehicle on a screen. The Model X only offers a rear monitor and front and rear parking sensors that beep or flash a light. That doesn’t help with obstacles to the sides.
To help make backing out of a parking space safer, the Sorento Hybrid’s standard rear cross-path warning system uses sensors in the rear bumper to alert the driver to vehicles approaching from the side, helping the driver avoid collisions. The Model X doesn’t offer a cross-path warning system.
The Sorento Hybrid has standard 911 Connect, which uses a global positioning satellite (GPS) receiver and a cellular system to send emergency personnel to the scene if any airbags deploy. The Model X doesn’t offer a GPS response system, only a navigation computer with no live response for emergencies, so if you’re involved in an accident and you’re incapacitated help may not come as quickly.
Both the Sorento Hybrid and the Model X have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, driver knee airbags, side-impact head airbags, front seatbelt pretensioners, height adjustable front shoulder belts, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems, blind spot warning systems, rearview cameras, driver alert monitors and available all wheel drive.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does side impact tests on new vehicles. In this test, which crashes the vehicle into a post at 20 MPH, results indicate that the Kia Sorento Hybrid is safer than the Tesla Model X:
|
Sorento Hybrid |
Model X |
|
Into Pole |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
Spine Acceleration |
32 G’s |
39 G’s |
New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.
For its top level performance in IIHS driver and passenger-side small overlap frontal, moderate overlap frontal, side impact, roof strength and head restraint tests, its standard vehicle-to-vehicle front crash prevention system, its standard vehicle-to-pedestrian front crash prevention system, and its available headlight’s “Good” rating, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety grants the Sorento Hybrid the rating of “Top Safety Pick” for 2022, a rating granted to only 159 vehicles tested by the IIHS. The Model X has not been tested, yet.