Nissan’s Leaf electric car earned the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety’s (IIHS) “Top Safety Pick” designation, falling short of the group’s highest mark.
That might seem counterintuitive to people unfamiliar with the IIHS ratings, which were amended last year to include a “Top Safety Pick Plus” category. The Leaf earned the best-possible “good” rating in the front, side and rollover crash tests, but the electric car wasn’t tested in the newest “small overlap” category. Without that test, the Leaf can’t claim the higher rating.
2012 Nissan Leaf Review – Video
Sales for the Nissan Leaf climbed this year on the shoulders of a vastly reduced price over the 2012 model year to outpace the Chevrolet Volt.