The X5 xDrive45e’s pre-crash front seatbelts will tighten automatically in the event the vehicle detects an impending crash, improving protection against injury significantly. The Cayenne Coupe doesn’t offer pre-crash pretensioners.
The X5 xDrive45e has standard Active Head Restraints, which use a specially designed headrest to protect the driver and front passenger from whiplash. During a rear-end collision, the Active Head Restraints system moves the headrests forward to prevent neck and spine injuries. The Cayenne Coupe doesn’t offer a whiplash protection system.
Over 200 people are killed each year when backed over by motor vehicles. The X5 xDrive45e offers an optional Active Park Distance Control that uses rear sensors to monitor for objects to the rear and automatically applies the brakes to prevent a collision. The Cayenne Coupe doesn’t offer backup collision prevention brakes.
The X5 xDrive45e’s standard lane departure warning system alerts a temporarily inattentive driver when the vehicle begins to leave its lane and gently nudges the vehicle back towards its lane. A lane departure warning system costs extra on the Cayenne Coupe.
The X5 xDrive45e has a standard blind spot warning system that uses sensors to alert the driver to objects in the vehicle’s blind spots where the side view mirrors don’t reveal them and moves the vehicle back into its lane. A system to reveal vehicles in the Cayenne Coupe’s blind spot costs extra.
To help make backing out of a parking space safer, the X5 xDrive45e’s standard Cross Traffic Warning uses sensors in the rear to alert the driver to vehicles approaching from the side, helping the driver avoid collisions. The Cayenne Coupe doesn’t offer a rear cross-path warning system.
The X5 xDrive45e’s driver alert monitor detects an inattentive driver then sounds a warning and suggests a break. According to the NHTSA, drivers who fall asleep cause about 100,000 crashes and 1500 deaths a year. The Cayenne Coupe doesn’t offer a driver alert monitor.
Both the X5 xDrive45e and the Cayenne Coupe have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front and rear side-impact airbags, driver and front passenger knee airbags, side-impact head airbags, four-wheel antilock brakes, all wheel drive, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, post-collision automatic braking systems, daytime running lights, rearview cameras and available around view monitors.
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 X5 xDrive45e the rating of “Top Safety Pick” for 2022, a rating granted to only 175 vehicles tested by the IIHS. The Cayenne Coupe has not been tested, yet.