In the past twenty years hundreds of infants and young children have died after being left in vehicles, usually by accident. When turning the vehicle off, drivers of the EC40 are reminded to check the back seat if they opened the rear door before starting out. The Taycan doesn’t offer a back seat reminder.
The EC40 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 Taycan doesn’t offer front seat center airbags.
The EC40 has a standard Whiplash Protection System (WHIPS), which use a specially designed seat to protect the driver and front passenger from whiplash. During a rear-end collision, the WHIPS allows the backrest to travel backwards to cushion the occupants and the headrests move forward to prevent neck and spine injuries. At the same time the pretensioning seatbelts fire, removing slack from the belts. The Taycan doesn’t offer a whiplash protection system.
The EC40 has standard Post-impact braking, which automatically apply the brakes in the event of a crash to help prevent secondary collisions and prevent further injuries. The Taycan 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 EC40 has standard CTA Auto Brake that uses rear sensors to monitor for objects to the rear and automatically applies the brakes to prevent a collision. The Taycan doesn’t offer backup collision prevention brakes.
When descending a steep, off-road slope, the EC40’s standard Hill Descent Control allow you to creep down safely. The Taycan doesn’t offer Hill Descent Control.
The EC40 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 Taycan’s blind spot costs extra.
To help make backing out of a parking space safer, the EC40’s standard Cross Traffic Alert uses sensors in the rear to alert the driver to vehicles approaching from the side and Braking Intervention automatically engages the brakes to help avoid a collision. The Taycan doesn’t offer a rear cross-path warning system.
The EC40’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 Taycan doesn’t offer a driver alert monitor.
Both the EC40 and the Taycan have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, driver knee airbags, side-impact head airbags, front and rear seatbelt pretensioners, 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 available around view monitors.