For enhanced safety, the front and rear seat shoulder belts of the Toyota Mirai have pretensioners to tighten the seatbelts and eliminate dangerous slack in the event of a collision and force limiters to limit the pressure the belts will exert on the passengers. The Hyundai Ioniq Plug-In Hybrid doesn’t offer pretensioners for its rear seat belts.
The Toyota Mirai has standard driver and front passenger side knee airbags mounted low on the dashboard. These airbags helps prevent the driver and front passenger from sliding under their seatbelts or the main frontal airbags; this keeps them better positioned during a collision for maximum protection. Knee airbags also help keep the legs from striking the dashboard, preventing knee and leg injuries in the case of a serious frontal collision. The Ioniq Plug-In Hybrid doesn’t offer a front passenger side knee airbag.
The Mirai has standard Whiplash Injury Lessening Seats (WIL), which use a specially designed headrest to protect the driver and front passenger from whiplash. During a rear-end collision, the WIL system moves the headrests forward to prevent neck and spine injuries. The Ioniq Plug-In Hybrid doesn’t offer a whiplash protection system.
The Mirai has a standard Secondary Collision Brake, which automatically applies the brakes in the event of a crash to help prevent secondary collisions and prevent further injuries. The Ioniq Plug-In Hybrid 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 Mirai offers an optional Parking Support Brake that uses rear sensors to monitor for objects to the rear and automatically applies the brakes to prevent a collision. The Ioniq Plug-In Hybrid doesn’t offer backup collision prevention brakes.
The Mirai offers an optional Bird’s Eye View Monitor to allow the driver to see objects all around the vehicle on a screen. The Ioniq Plug-In Hybrid 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 Mirai has standard Rear Cross Traffic Alert to warn the driver of approaching traffic and automatically engage the brakes to help avoid a collision. Hyundai charges extra for rear cross-path warning on the Ioniq Plug-In Hybrid.
Both the Mirai and the Ioniq Plug-In Hybrid have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, driver knee airbags, side-impact head airbags, 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, rearview cameras and driver alert monitors.
The Toyota Mirai weighs 937 to 1017 pounds more than the Hyundai Ioniq Plug-In Hybrid. The NHTSA advises that heavier cars are much safer in collisions than their significantly lighter counterparts.