Jaguar E-PACE Euro NCAP crash test

5 stars. Overall excellent performance in crash protection and well equipped with comprehensive and robust crash avoidance technology

The passenger compartment of the E-Pace remained stable in the frontal offset test.  There was insufficient pressure in the driver's airbag to prevent a slight head contact to the steering wheel. Although the contact was not sufficient to influence the measured injuries, the car was penalised and the driver's head protection downgraded to adequate. Dummy readings indicated good protection of the knees and femurs of both the driver and passenger.  Jaguar showed that the same level of protection would be provided to occupants of different sizes and to those sat in different positions.  Protection of the driver's lower leg was rated as weak, based on dummy readings in the tibia.  In the full-width rigid barrier test, protection of both the driver and the rear passenger was adequate or good for all critical body areas.  The E-Pace scored maximum points in the side barrier impact, with good protection of all critical parts of the body.  In the more severe side pole impact, protection of the chest was adequate and that of other body areas was good.  Tests on the front seats and head restraints demonstrated good protection against whiplash injury in the event of a rear-end collision.  However, a geometric assessment of the rear seats indicated poor whiplash protection.  The standard autonomous emergency braking system performed well in tests of its functionality at the low speeds at which many whiplash injuries are caused, with collisions avoided or mitigated at all test speeds.

The E-Pace scored maximum points in the dynamic tests - frontal offset and side barrier impacts - for its protection of the 6 year and 10 year dummies, with good dummy readings for all critical body areas.  The front passenger airbag can be disabled to allow a rearward-facing child restraint to be used in that seating position.  Clear information is provided to the driver regarding the status of the airbag and the system was rewarded.  All of the restraint types for which the E-Pace is designed could be properly installed and accommodated in the vehicle.

The E-Pace has a deployable pedestrian protection system.  Sensors detect when a pedestrian has been struck and actuators lift the bonnet to provide greater clearance to the hard structures in the engine bay, and a head-protecting airbag is deployed.  Jaguar showed that the system operated robustly for all pedestrian statures and across a wide range of speeds.  Accordingly, the car was tested with the bonnet in the raised, deployed position and good or adequate results were seen over almost the entire surface*.  The protection provided to pedestrians' legs was also at least adequate but that offered to the pelvis was more mixed, with good and poor results recorded.  In tests of its performance with a pedestrian target, the autonomous emergency braking system performed adequately, with collisions avoided or mitigated in most test scenarios.   * At the facelift in late 2020, the pedestrian airbag was removed, although the bonnet actuation remains.  Results seen by Euro NCAP show that the protection of a pedestrian's head is significantly poorer around the base of the windscreen than was see in the original tests.  However, the car's five-star rating is not affected by this changed.

The E-Pace has a seatbelt reminder for the front and rear seats, and a driver-set speed limiter.  A lane departure warning system is also standard, as is the autonomous emergency braking system which performed well in tests of its functionality at highway speeds.