Do we need to be concerned about the safety of Chinese cars after one cheap EV

With Chinese cars becoming increasingly popular in Britain, new crash test result have raised major concerns about the safety of some of the budget-friendly motors arriving from East Asia.

European vehicle safety body Euro NCAP has published results for an affordable small electric Chinese model already being sold in mainland Europe showing it ‘crumpling’ during a frontal impact.

The Dongfeng Box hatchback scored just three (out of five) stars in Euro NCAP’s rigorous assessment, having been marked down due to a flaw identified with its structural integrity.

During the frontal offset crash test – designed to replicate a head-on collision – multiple spot-welds failed on part of the vehicle’s body shell, compromising its safety.

‘If spot welds fail during a crash, the structure can lose its integrity – increasing the risk of deformation around the cabin and reducing protection for occupants,’ the safety body warned.

The Box is currently available in Switzerland and Norway for around £20,000. There’s no confirmation as yet regarding plans to also sell it in the UK.

The report comes as latest figures show that more than one in ten new cars bought in Britain between July through to September were Chinese, as newcomer brands continue to stamp their mark on the UK car market. 

Dongfeng is one of the four biggest car makers in China selling almost 2.5million vehicles last year – and the Box is its first foray into the European market.

Debuting in Switzerland last summer, it launched priced from CHF 21,990 – around £19,500 – to rival the likes of Citroen’s e-C3, currently one of the cheapest EVs on sale in the UK and Europe.

The Box is powered by a 94bhp single e-motor with energy provided by a 42.3kWh battery to achieve a claimed range of 193 miles between charges. 

But while it might undercut rivals on price, Euro NCAP has found it might also shortchange customers on protection. 

The Dongfeng’s failure was revealed during the ‘Mobile Progressive Deformable Barrier test’ it subjects around 50 different models to each year.

The evaluations sees a portion of the vehicle – though not the entire front – collide with a barrier to mimic real-world head-on crashes, which are the most common and often severe type of accident.

It is performed with the car being tested travelling at 31 mph and with a 50 per cent overlap against a deformable barrier on an oncoming 1,400 kg trolley, also travelling at 31mph.  

Frontal collisions are responsible for more deaths and serious injuries than any other accident type, Euro NCAP says.

And for adult occupant protection, the Box scored just 69 per cent. 

‘The unstable bodyshell raises concerns over the protection it would offer at higher speeds in the event of a similar accident,’ the report said. 

And it wasn’t the only major cause of concern in the tests. 

‘After the impact, the automatic door locking mechanism of the Box failed to unlock, potentially hindering first responders’ efforts to get to the occupants of the vehicle,’ the safety body found.

It also highlighted ‘insufficient pressure in the steering wheel airbag’ during the collision, which meant the driver’s head ‘made contact with the wheel’.

The assessment also revealed that some parts of the dashboard structure posed a risk of injury to front occupants’ legs. 

‘The Box also lacks any countermeasures to prevent occupant-to-occupant impact between those sitting in the front, in the event of a side-impact collision,’ the report concluded.

Dr. Aled Williams, programme director at Euro NCAP, said: Sales of electric cars are rising across Europe and the UK, and with the growth in the market comes new and affordable products – cutting the costs for consumers who want to switch to electric.

‘However, the Dongfeng Box doesn’t match the safety performance of other small EVs tested by Euro NCAP. 

‘Other affordable EVs, such as the BYD Dolphin Surf, Firefly, Mini Cooper e, Lynk & Co 02, and Renault 4 and 5 have achieved four or five stars, highlighting the safety gap for Dongfeng’s Box.

‘It was a concern that the spot welds were compromised during our tests and could be further compromised in higher-speed accidents. Such a failure must be addressed to match competitor…