For enhanced safety, the front and rear seat shoulder belts of the Nissan Ariya 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 Ford Mustang Mach-E doesn’t offer pretensioners for its rear seat belts.
The Nissan Ariya 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 Mustang Mach-E doesn’t offer a front passenger side knee airbag.
The Ariya Platinum+ has a standard front seat center airbag, which deploys between the driver and front passenger, protecting them from injuries caused by striking each other in serious side impacts. The Mustang Mach-E doesn’t offer front seat center airbags.
Both the Ariya and the Mustang Mach-E have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front and rear 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, blind spot warning systems, rearview cameras, rear cross-path warning, driver alert monitors and available around view monitors.
Side impacts caused 23% of all road fatalities in 2018, down from 29% in 2003, when the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety introduced its side barrier test. In order to continue improving vehicle safety, the IIHS has started using a more severe side impact test: 37 MPH (up from 31 MPH), with a 4180-pound barrier (up from 3300 pounds). The results of this newly developed test demonstrates that the Nissan Ariya is safer than the Mustang Mach-E:
|
Ariya |
Mustang Mach-E |
Overall Evaluation |
GOOD |
GOOD |
Structure |
GOOD |
ACCEPTABLE |
|
Driver Injury Measures |
|
Head/Neck |
GOOD |
GOOD |
Head Injury Criterion |
48 |
115 |
Neck Tension |
201 lbs. |
357 lbs. |
Torso |
GOOD |
ACCEPTABLE |
Shoulder Deflection |
.75 in |
1.42 in |
Shoulder Force |
245 lbs. |
268 lbs. |
Torso Max Deflection |
1.02 in |
1.42 in |
Torso Deflection Rate |
6 MPH |
9 MPH |
Pelvis |
GOOD |
GOOD |
Pelvis Force |
781 lbs. |
825 lbs. |
Head Protection |
GOOD |
GOOD |
|
Passenger Injury Measures |
|
Head/Neck |
GOOD |
GOOD |
Neck Tension |
89 lbs. |
112 lbs. |
Torso |
GOOD |
GOOD |
Shoulder Deflection |
.79 in |
.87 in |
Shoulder Force |
245 lbs. |
268 lbs. |
Torso Max Deflection |
.63 in |
.94 in |
Pelvis |
GOOD |
GOOD |
Head Protection |
GOOD |
GOOD |
The Nissan Ariya 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 Mustang Mach-E is not a “Top Safety Pick” for 2024.