The Q4 e-tron’s pre-crash front seatbelts will tighten automatically in the event the vehicle detects an impending crash, improving protection against injury significantly. The Bolt doesn’t offer pre-crash pretensioners.
For enhanced safety, the front seat shoulder belts of the Audi Q4 e-tron are height-adjustable to accommodate a wide variety of driver and passenger heights. A better fit can prevent injuries and the increased comfort also encourages passengers to buckle up. The Chevrolet Bolt doesn’t offer height-adjustable seat belts.
Both the Q4 e-tron and Bolt have child safety locks to prevent children from opening the rear doors. The Q4 e-tron 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 Bolt’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 Q4 e-tron has a standard Secondary Collision Brake Assist, which automatically applies the brakes in the event of a crash to help prevent secondary collisions and prevent further injuries. The Bolt 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.
The Q4 50 e-tron has all-wheel drive to maximize traction under poor conditions, especially in ice and snow. The Bolt doesn’t offer all-wheel drive.
The Q4 e-tron 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. A system to reveal vehicles in the Bolt’s blind spot costs extra.
To help make backing out of a parking space safer, the Q4 e-tron has standard Rear Cross-Traffic Assist and Automatic Brake Activation automatically engages the brakes to help avoid a collision. Chevrolet charges extra for Rear Cross Traffic Alert on the Bolt and the Bolt’s Rear Cross Traffic Alert does not include automatic braking.
Both the Q4 e-tron and the Bolt have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front and rear side-impact airbags, side-impact head airbags, front seatbelt pretensioners, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems, rearview cameras and available around view monitors.
The Audi Q4 e-tron weighs 1050 to 1264 pounds more than the Chevrolet Bolt. The NHTSA advises that heavier vehicles are much safer in collisions than their significantly lighter counterparts.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does 35 MPH front crash tests on new vehicles. In this test, results indicate that the Audi Q4 e-tron is safer than the Chevrolet Bolt:
|
Q4 e-tron |
Bolt |
|
Driver |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
HIC |
165 |
250 |
Neck Stress |
173 lbs. |
239 lbs. |
Leg Forces (l/r) |
72/157 lbs. |
137/187 lbs. |
|
Passenger |
|
STARS |
4 Stars |
4 Stars |
HIC |
264 |
440 |
Neck Stress |
102 lbs. |
119 lbs. |
Leg Forces (l/r) |
14/25 lbs. |
26/162 lbs. |
New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does side impact tests on new vehicles. In this test, which crashes the vehicle into a flat barrier at 38.5 MPH, results indicate that the Audi Q4 e-tron is safer than the Chevrolet Bolt:
|
Q4 e-tron |
Bolt |
|
Rear Seat |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
4 Stars |
New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.
The Audi Q4 e-tron achieved a “Top Safety Pick” rating from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) for the 2024 model year. This recognition was based on its impressive performance in the small overlap frontal crash test, updated side impact crash test, headlight evaluations, and pedestrian crash prevention testing. The Bolt has not yet been fully evaluated by the IIHS for 2024.