Both the Mustang Mach-E and Niro EV have child safety locks to prevent children from opening the rear doors. The Mustang Mach-E has power child safety locks, allowing the driver to activate and deactivate them from the driver's seat and to know when they're engaged. The Niro EV’s child locks have to be individually engaged at each rear door with a manual switch. The driver can’t know the status of the locks without opening the doors and checking them.
The Mustang Mach-E has standard Post Collision Braking, which automatically apply the brakes in the event of a crash to help prevent secondary collisions and prevent further injuries. The Niro EV doesn’t offer a post collision braking system: in the event of a collision that triggers the airbags, more collisions are possible without the protection of airbags that may have already deployed.
Over 200 people are killed each year when backed over by motor vehicles. The Mustang Mach-E has a standard Reverse Brake Assist that use rear sensors to monitor and automatically apply the brakes to prevent a rear collision. The Niro EV doesn’t offer backup collision prevention brakes.
The Mustang Mach-E offers all-wheel drive to maximize traction under poor conditions, especially in ice and snow. The Niro EV doesn’t offer all-wheel drive.
The Mustang Mach-E offers an optional 360-Degree Camera to allow the driver to see objects all around the vehicle on a screen. The Niro EV only offers a rear monitor and rear parking sensors that beep or flash a light. That doesn’t help with obstacles to the front or sides.
The Mustang Mach-E has standard 911 Assist, which uses a global positioning satellite (GPS) receiver and a cellular system to get turn-by-turn driving directions or send emergency personnel to the scene if any airbags deploy. The Niro EV 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 Mustang Mach-E and the Niro EV 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, rear cross-path warning and driver alert monitors.
The Ford Mustang Mach-E weighs 540 to 1108 pounds more than the Kia Niro EV. The NHTSA advises that heavier vehicles are much safer in collisions than their significantly lighter counterparts.
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, with its optional vehicle-to-pedestrian front crash prevention system, and its available headlight’s “Good” rating, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety grants the Mustang Mach-E the rating of “Top Safety Pick” for 2022, a rating granted to only 175 vehicles tested by the IIHS. The Niro EV has not been fully tested, yet.