How Safe Is the 2026-27 Tesla Model Y?

What Car Shoppers Need to Know

• The Tesla Model Y was updated for 2026 with new exterior and interior styling as well as fresh driving characteristics.
• Both the 2026 and 2027 Model Y qualify as an Insurance Institute for Highway Safety Top Safety Pick, the agency’s highest award.
• Only two other electric SUV competitors earn this top honor.

Tesla updated the Model Y electric SUV for the 2026 model year, addressing many of our issues with its ride quality, cabin noise and interior refinement. Now, buyers have another reason to consider it: safety. In recent testing, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety gave the 2026 and 2027 versions of the Model Y its top award, Top Safety Pick+.

Related: See Every Photo We Took of the 2026 Tesla Model Y’s Interior

Top Safety Pick, Explained

IIHS runs vehicles through a battery of three crash tests, additionally evaluating how well their headlights illuminate dark roads, and how well their forward collision warning systems help them avoid or mitigate crashes with both other vehicles and pedestrians. In each category, IIHS rates a vehicle on a scale of good, acceptable, marginal or poor.

Vehicles can earn Top Safety Pick or Top Safety Pick+ awards, or they can receive no award. The base award requires good scores in all three crash tests and an acceptable or good rating in the headlight and pedestrian avoidance evaluations; to qualify as a TSP+, a vehicle also must upgrade to a good score in the pedestrian avoidance test and earn an acceptable or good score in the vehicle-to-vehicle collision avoidance test.

The Model Y aced all of the tests, scoring a good in every category. Note that in the tables below, slash values indicate split results across different equipment; “NT” means it was not tested.

2026 Tesla Model Y Crash-Test Scores

Crashworthiness

IIHS conducts two frontal crash tests. The small overlap test is older; it recreates the forces involved when a vehicle traveling at 40 mph leaves the road and hits a tree or pole. In the test, the vehicle hits a rigid barrier that covers 25% of its front end’s width.

The moderate overlap front test simulates a crash in which a vehicle hits an oncoming vehicle head-on. In this test, the subject vehicle hits a barrier that covers 40% of its front end. The barrier is covered with a deformable honeycomb facing that recreates the crash forces of both vehicles traveling just under 40 mph. A crash-test dummy has always been belted into the driver’s seat, but in 2022, IIHS added a second dummy, this one in the seat behind the driver.

The side impact test is a T-bone collision with a stopped subject vehicle hit by a sled moving at 37 mph. The sled approximates a modern SUV, carrying about as much weight as one and sitting at the approximate height of one. Dummies are belted into the driver’s seat and behind the driver, and the sled hits the subject vehicle in the driver’s side.

Related Video: Should Tesla Model Y Owners Get the New 2026?

Crash Avoidance and Mitigation

The forward collision prevention system is evaluated for its ability to detect pedestrians and other vehicles. For the vehicle-to-pedestrian rating, IIHS measures how well the system can detect and avoid pedestrians in three instances: a child crossing the road in daylight, an adult crossing the road in the dark of night, and an adult walking at night along the road’s shoulder in the same direction as the vehicle. Each test is conducted at multiple speeds and with the high beams on and off.

The vehicle-to-vehicle evaluation measures how quickly the front crash prevention system detects other vehicles that represent possible hazards and warns the driver of them. It also tracks how much the vehicle slows down or stops to mitigate a collision or prevent it outright. These tests are also performed at several speeds, and the subject vehicle has to detect three other types of vehicles: a motorcycle, a car and a semitrailer. For the motorcycle and car tests, the obstacle vehicles are placed in the center of the lane and offset to either side.

The 2026 Tesla Model Y’s standard safety features include:

• Forward collision warning with automatic emergency braking
• Blind spot warning system
• Lane departure warning

Versus Competitors

The Tesla Model Y’s electric-vehicle competitors tend to do well in IIHS testing. Two competitors also earned the TSP+ honor, and another scored a TSP. Chevrolet and Volkswagen failed to earn an award, though the discontinued ID.4 wasn’t subjected to two of the tests. Check out the complete results for the class in the table below.

Read More About the Tesla Model Y on Cars.com:

• How Much Is the 2026 Tesla Model Y?
• What’s the 2026 Tesla Model Y’s Range?
• Tesla Gives Model Y a Proper Third Row With Long-Wheelbase L Model
• Should Tesla Model Y Owners Get the New 2026?
• Is the Cheaper 2026 Tesla Model Y Worth Your Consideration?
• 2026 Tesla Model Y First Drive: How Much Better Is It Than Ours?

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