ANCAP, Australasia's independent voice on vehicle safety, has today awarded a 5 star safety rating to all variants of the electric Polestar 2.

As a new entry into the Australian and New Zealand markets, the Polestar 2 brings with it a comprehensive range of active crash avoidance technologies, and scored strongly across all areas of ANCAP assessment.

The Polestar 2 is the fifth battery electric vehicle (BEV) to be tested against ANCAP's 2020-2022 criteria, adding to a total of 43 BEV, PHEV, hybrid and hydrogen powered vehicles rated by ANCAP to date.

High scores were achieved by the Polestar 2 in all crash tests, with full points awarded for adult and child occupants in the side impact test, which simulates the effects of a T-bone crash. Good scores were also shown in far side impact tests and for occupant-to-occupant interaction. The Polestar 2 was however penalised for vehicle-to-vehicle compatibility, as it was shown to provide a high risk of injury to occupants of a collision partner vehicle when struck.

The Polestar 2 also scored well in the assessment area of Vulnerable Road User (VRU) Protection, achieving a score of 80%. With an active bonnet, the Polestar 2 provides increased protection to struck pedestrians, and its autonomous emergency braking (AEB) system is also effective in reacting to pedestrians and cyclists. However, the AEB system does not react to pedestrians in reverse and AEB Backover tests were not conducted.

The Polestar 2 is fitted with lane support systems (LSS), including emergency lane keeping and lake keep assist, with good results recorded. Active lane support systems have been shown to reduce head-on and single-vehicle crashes by approximately 30%.

"Today's consumers are looking to purchase vehicles with top safety and environmental credentials. The well-rounded Polestar 2 ticks these boxes and adds to the suite of 5 star rated EVs now available to Australasian consumers," said ANCAP Chief Executive Officer, Carla Hoorweg.

"ANCAP safety ratings are designed to encourage vehicles to provide good protection to vehicle occupants and other road users, and the Polestar 2 has performed well across all areas of assessment."

Full details on the performance of the Polestar 2 can be viewed here.