The Cheapest, Safest EV In America In 2024

Eight fully-electric vehicles have managed to earn a Top Safety Pick+ award from the IIHS so far in 2024, and it’s not just luxury cars and full-size pickups like the Rivian R1T. There are plenty of good deals on the list, but only one of these EVs comes in at a base price of under forty grand, and that’s the Hyundai Ioniq 6, starting at $37,500 for the entry-level SE Standard Range model, and winning a Top Safety Pick+ for the second year in a row.

Of course, it’s never a surprise to learn that a Hyundai is one of the safest and most affordable vehicles on the market. The brand has several models selling for well under $40,000, and they’ve earned nine safety awards from the IIHS in 2024. Here’s why the Hyundai Ioniq 6 is the safest deal on the market today.

How The 2024 Hyundai Ioniq 6 Earned Its Safety Award

The 2024 Hyundai Ioniq 6 boasts a nearly spotless crash test scorecard with the IIHS, with mostly Good ratings for all impact tests and safety features:

To list the points which cost the Ioniq 6 a perfect crash test rating:

• Structure and safety cage earned an Acceptable rating in the small overlap front test.
• Rear passenger restraints and dummy kinematics earned a Marginal rating in the moderate overlap front test.
• Driver torso protection earned an Acceptable rating in the side test.

Now, as to how the car came up short of a perfect score in the safety-features department:

• Low beams and high beams gave inadequate visibility in some tests on curved roads.
• Child seat anchors were found to be placed too deep in the seats for easy use.

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Standard Safety Features Included In The 2024 Hyundai Ioniq 6

Even beyond those that contribute to the car’s safety rating and eligibility for an IIHS award, the Ioniq 6 comes with an impressive suite of standard safety features, no matter your trim level.

• Safety-exit assist
• Blind-spot view monitor
• Blind-spot collision avoidance assist
• Forward-collision avoidance assist
• Rear cross-traffic collision avoidance assist
• Reverse parking collision avoidance assist
• Lane-keep assist
• Adaptive cruise control with stop & go and intelligent speed-limit assist
• Navigation-based smart cruise control
• Driver-attention warning
• Remote smart parking assist 2

What The NHTSA Has To Say About The 2024 Hyundai Ioniq 6

Generally speaking, if a vehicle does well with the IIHS, it will probably do well with the NHTSA, as well. The Ioniq 6 has not yet been given an overall star rating from the Safety Administration, as they have yet to rate the car for rollover risk. But the 2024 Ioniq 6 earned a perfect five-star rating in every single crash test besides frontal driver-side impact, where the four-star rating downgraded the overall front impact rating to a four out of five.

At present, the 2024 Ioniq 6 has generated two recalls and just five complaints with the NHTSA. Here’s what you need to know:

• Two units were recalled in April, 2024 for improperly tightened differential bolts.
• 99,055 Ioniq and Genesis models across multiple nameplates were recalled for potential loss of drive power owing to a damaged charging unit.
• One driver reports unintended acceleration.
• One complaint reports sudden braking owing to collision-avoidance system misfires.
• A driver in California reports the paint peeling and bubbling in the sun. The color is gunmetal blue.
• A driver reports getting a recall notice and being put on a long waiting list.

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Here’s What A Fully Loaded Ioniq 6 Gets You

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The 2023 Hyundai Ioniq 6 is currently under investigation for issues with the home chargers potentially leading to electrical fires. No such problems have turned up for the 2024 edition so far.

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Some More Safe, Affordable EVs

The Hyundai Ioniq 6 is the only Top Safety Pick+ winner selling for under $40,000 right now, but it’s not the only great deal on the award recipients list. The Ioniq 5 is the second-most affordable EV on the Top Safety Pick+ list, while the Nissan Ariya and the Volkswagen ID.4 were both awarded a Top Safety Pick award without crossing the $40,000 mark.

The 2024 Nissan Ariya – $39,590

The Nissan Ariya earned a Good+ score for intuitive, easy-to-use child safety anchors, and a clean sweep of overall Good crash tests. The biggest concern in a 2024 Ariya is going to be the headlights, where the low beams provided inadequate peripheral visibility in some tests. In the collision-avoidance tests, the Ariya only managed to avoid impact in the 12 mph daytime and 25 mph daytime high-beam test. The car reduced its speed by 30 mph in the 37 mph nighttime high-beam test, and by 12 mph in the low-beam test.

The 2024 Volkswagen ID.4 – $39,735

The Volkswagen ID.4 earned a perfect crash test from top to bottom, with nothing less than a Good rating in every single impact test. High-beam peripheral visibility was found to be inadequate in some tests for the Standard, Pro, and AWD Pro trims. The car avoided collision in all front-crash prevention tests besides the 37 mph nighttime tests, where it reduced its speed by 21 mph before impact in both the high-beam and low-beam tests. Note that, while the ID.4’s IIHS ratings are fairly impressive, the car has generated its share of recalls and investigations with the NHTSA. The most worrying may be a recall for doors opening while the car is in motion.

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The 2024 Hyundai Ioniq 5 – $41,800

The Hyundai Ioniq 5 earned perfect overall crash test ratings from top to bottom, with an Acceptable for the structure and safety cage in the small overlap front test, and Acceptable ratings for driver torso and rear passenger pelvis protection in the side test. The car showed inadequate high-beam peripheral visibility on some curves, and it only reduced its speed by 3 mph in the 25 mph low-beam nighttime crash prevention test for crossing adult pedestrians, although it avoided impact entirely in all 37 mph tests.

Sources:
IIHS
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NHTSA