The Mini Cooper E and the Mini Countryman have both achieved a five-star ANCAP safety rating in recent testing carried out by the local safety assessment body.
In a statement ANCAP said that the battery-electric Mini Cooper performed well across each of its key assessment areas, resulting in a five-star rating that applies to all Mini Cooper E variants currently available in Australia and New Zealand.
The electric Mini scored 89 percent for Adult Occupant Protection and 83 percent for Child Occupant Protection, however during ANCAP’s child restraint installation assessment it was found that for some ISOFIX child restraints, the visual indicators were obscured due to limited access between the child restraint and the side of the vehicle. This meant that the child seats were unable to be successfully installed and were not awarded points.
The Cooper E also scored 77 percent in Vulnerable Road User Protection (losing points for not having reversing autonomous emergency braking) and 83 percent for its safety assist systems.
"The five-star rating achieved by the Mini Cooper E is a positive result,” said ANCAP Chief Executive Officer, Carla Hoorweg.
"One word of caution for those considering using the Mini Cooper E to transport young children is the difficulty in being able to see the ISOFIX visual indicators on some child restraints."
The Countryman, on the other hand, had no such issues with ISOFIX restraints, scoring 86 percent in Child Occupant Protection, but lost out fractionally in Adult Occupant Protection with 83 percent due to some marginal results for the driver's chest and passenger's leg protection in the offset frontal crash test.
Vulnerable Road User Protection was 81 percent, while the Countryman also scored 84 percent in the Safety Assist category, resulting in a Five Star rating for all ICE and EV variants of the Countryman sold in New Zealand.
"The Mini Countryman is fitted with lower ISOFIX anchorages on the rear outboard seats and top tether anchorages for all rear seating positions, and did not have the same visibility limitations as the smaller Mini Cooper E,” said Hoorweg.
