I'm wondering if anyone has any crash test data or info.... I generally have faith in the safety of Honda's vehicles, and it seems all of their vehicles have good crash test scores on IIHS. One of the reasons I bought the Clarity was its (perceived) safety. It is bigger and heavier than most other EVs, and as many say, bigger and heavier is better than smaller and lighter. However, there seems to be a lot of new technology in/on the Clarity, especially with aluminum body parts, ostensibly to make the car lighter. In particular, the trunk and hood seem very light, and I am wondering if this will affect how it will fare in a crash. Would be interested in the opinion's of other owners and any data out there. Thanks!
I wouldn’t be worried, the Clarity is a three in one vehicle. This means that the passenger carpment has been designed to protect a hydrogen tank. That’s why we can’t have a sunroof, they over built the passenger compartment to take a major impact from the side. The front is similar with no front brace, it drops the power train in frontal impact and the main reinforcement is instead in the passenger compartment. Obvious because this is a low volume car, there is no requirement for crash texting.
Body panels have no impact on safety, they are for style and aerodynamics. The unibody is mostly super high strength steel. The emergency response guide shows where the different strength steels are used and it looks pretty impressive. When it is tested by IIHS my hunch is it will do very well, except for headlights Obviously we wont know until it is tested.
