LEUVEN, BELGIUM – As demand for EVs grows, the choice in affordable electric cars is increasing – but one new contender in the European car market has performed poorly in Euro NCAP safety testing. The Dongfeng BOX, an affordable small electric hatchback from China’s state-owned Dongfeng Motor Corporation, scored just three stars in Euro NCAP’s rigorous tests.

The independent safety organisation found that during its frontal offset crash test – designed to replicate a car-to-car 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 failure was revealed during Euro NCAP’s Mobile Progressive Deformable Barrier test, where two vehicles collide head-on with a partial overlap. Frontal collisions are responsible for more deaths and serious injuries than any other accident type. It is performed at 50 km/h (31 mph) and with a 50 percent overlap against a deformable barrier on an oncoming 1,400 kg trolley, also travelling at 50 km/h.