For enhanced safety, the front seat shoulder belts of the Audi Q8 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 BMW X5 xDrive45e doesn’t offer height-adjustable seat belts.
Both the Q8 e-tron and X5 xDrive45e have child safety locks to prevent children from opening the rear doors. The Q8 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 X5 xDrive45e’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.
Both the Q8 e-tron and X5 xDrive45e have rear cross-traffic warning, but the Q8 e-tron has Automatic Brake Activation (automatically applies the brakes) to better prevent a collision when backing near traffic. The X5 xDrive45e’s Cross Traffic Warning doesn’t automatically brake.
Both the Q8 e-tron and the X5 xDrive45e have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, driver and front passenger knee airbags, side-impact head airbags, front seatbelt pretensioners, 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, lane departure warning systems, blind spot warning systems, rearview cameras, rear cross-path warning and available around view monitors.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does 35 MPH front crash tests on new vehicles. In this test, results indicate that the Audi Q8 e-tron is safer than the BMW X5 xDrive45e:
|
Q8 e-tron |
X5 xDrive45e |
|
Driver |
|
STARS |
4 Stars |
4 Stars |
Neck Injury Risk |
23% |
34% |
Neck Stress |
253 lbs. |
308 lbs. |
Neck Compression |
16 lbs. |
112 lbs. |
Leg Forces (l/r) |
137/335 lbs. |
636/584 lbs. |
|
Passenger |
|
STARS |
4 Stars |
4 Stars |
HIC |
323 |
342 |
Chest Compression |
.5 inches |
.8 inches |
Neck Stress |
157 lbs. |
220 lbs. |
Neck Compression |
67 lbs. |
91 lbs. |
Leg Forces (l/r) |
244/319 lbs. |
527/418 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 and into a post at 20 MPH, results indicate that the Audi Q8 e-tron is safer than the BMW X5 xDrive45e:
|
Q8 e-tron |
X5 xDrive45e |
|
Front Seat |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
HIC |
44 |
72 |
Abdominal Force |
117 lbs. |
130 lbs. |
Hip Force |
236 lbs. |
279 lbs. |
|
Rear Seat |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
Hip Force |
579 lbs. |
584 lbs. |
|
Into Pole |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
Max Damage Depth |
8 inches |
14 inches |
HIC |
279 |
308 |
Hip Force |
631 lbs. |
796 lbs. |
New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.
The Audi Q8 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 X5 xDrive45e is not a “Top Safety Pick” for 2024.