When it comes to Euro NCAP, many people's first impression is the crash test, which looks at the deformation of the car body, the condition of the airbag, the injury of the occupants, and finally gives a star rating. However, the new test standard 2026 is the largest revision in more than a decade. It no longer only looks at the crash for a moment, but disassembles the complete process of a traffic accident and divides it into four stages to judge the safety level of a car. The first two cars to participate in this new set of tests - BMW iX3 (next-generation Neue Klasse platform) and domestic polar krypton 007GT (European called polar krypton 7GT), both received five stars. An old European electric SUV and a large Chinese-branded electric sedan also prove that Chinese and foreign car companies have all kept up with this new safety evaluation system. When it comes to five-star security, many consumers are prone to a misunderstanding: five stars equals absolute security. It is not fully established in the old standard, but it will be more complicated to understand under the new regulations in 2026. This new set of standards divides safety into four parts: safe driving, accident avoidance, collision protection, and post-crash safety. From driving on the road to rescue and escape after the crash, the whole chain is evaluated. What to expect in four stages: 1. Safe Driving: Before the accident, can the car help the driver make fewer mistakes? Includes driver fatigue, distraction monitoring, physical key interaction, speed limit identification, child legacy reminders, and more. It is not just looking at the hardware stack, but also judging whether the interaction between the car and the machine will increase the driving burden. 2. Accident avoidance (Crash Avoidance): Can you try to directly eliminate the accident? AEB automatic emergency braking, anti-open door collision bicycles, intersection turn protection, and lane deviation intervention are all included in this item to test the performance of the active safety system in real-world conditions. 3. Crash Protection: This is the traditional crash test that we are most familiar with. Body structure, airbags, seat belts, covering men and women of different heights and weights, and children dummies, to measure the ability to protect the inside of vehicles and pedestrians and non-motor vehicles in the event of a real crash. 4. Post ‑ Crash Safety: This is a very critical new focus in the era of electric vehicles. Whether the high-voltage battery can be reliably powered off after the collision, whether the door can be opened normally, and whether the emergency call eCall can work properly is directly related to the "golden rescue time" after the collision. Let's look at the sub-scores of the two cars: The project BMW iX3 Pole Krypton 007GT Safe Driving 73% 79% Accident Avoidance 83% 89% Collision Protection 86% 93% Post-collision Safety 95% 95% Both cars obtained the same 95% high score in the final "post-collision safety", indicating that the electric vehicle high-voltage protection, the opening of the door after the collision, and the rescue support are both quite in place. However, the difference between the sub-items can precisely see the trade-offs between the two sets of product ideas. The BMW iX3 is characterized by insisting on retaining a large number of physical buttons, turning lights, double flashes, headlights, gear shifts, all with physical switches, and gaining bonus points in the dimension of "safe driving". Its driver monitoring is good at recognizing fatigue, abnormal physical conditions, but the sensitivity to brief eye distractions is average. In the 2000-kilometer road trial of real roads, the accuracy rate of speed limit identification was 86%. In the crash test, all side impact scores were fully scored, and the middle airbag was standardized to prevent passengers from colliding with each other in the car; only in the full-width frontal crash test, the driver's chest score was slightly reduced, and he did not get a full score. Krypton 7GT, on the other hand, focuses on active safety and passive body protection. Accident avoidance is 89% and collision protection is 93%, which is a very high level in the first batch of tests. The AEB performs brilliantly in intersections, reversing, and anti-opening door collision bicycle scenes; all kinds of side bumps and distant occupant protection are fully scored, and the middle airbag is also standard, covering tall, short, fat, and thin passengers through simulation and real car testing. However, it also has obvious shortcomings: the vast majority of vehicle functions are concentrated on the central control touch screen operation, the lack of physical physical switches, directly dragging down the "safe driving" section score. However, the driver monitoring of this car takes full account of fatigue and sudden distraction, as well as the detection of abnormal seat belt use and the reminder left by children in the rear, which have received high praise. The actual road is 2,000 kilometers, and the identification accuracy of the speed limit sign is 79%, slightly lower than that of the BMW iX3; only the eCall emergency call function loses points, otherwise the safety after the collision can get a full score. I'd like to share a personal point of view here. More and more new cars are cramming a large number of functions of air conditioning and lighting into the screen, which looks simple and advanced, but the new Euro NCAP 2026 regulations clearly give the attitude that frequent clicks on the function in the screen during driving is a driving risk in itself. This is not to say that touch center control is not good, but car companies need to weigh: while pursuing minimalist interiors, they cannot pass on all operating costs to drivers who are driving. This is also a question worth thinking about behind the deduction of points for Krypton 007GT. In addition, there is a very pragmatic change in the new regulations: active safety is no longer just laboratory bench testing, but also pulling to real roads for thousands of kilometers of road tests. Many car lab AEB scores are very beautiful, but the actual road identification and accessibility experience is inexplicable, and the new regulations specifically plug this loophole. There is also the unique post-crash safety of electric vehicles, which deserves the focus of all new energy consumers. After the accident, whether the battery can reliably cut off the high voltage, regardless of whether the electronic mechanism is damaged or not, the mechanical opening method is still retained, which is directly related to whether the battery can escape quickly after the accident. Both test vehicles are very strong in this area, which also represents the hard development direction of electric vehicles in the future. Of course, five stars does not equal perfection. Each of the two cars has a deduction item, but the overall comprehensive performance reaches the new standard five-star threshold. Write to conclude: When Euro NCAP was founded 30 years ago, many car companies resisted crash testing; today we stand at a new turning point. Cars are becoming more and more software-based, and there are more and more assistive driving functions, so safety is no longer a matter of "crashing". From reducing mistakes while driving, to avoiding crashes as much as possible, protecting people during crashes, and facilitating rescue after crashes, this four-stage judgment logic will be a new standard for future car safety. For ordinary car buyers, my advice is: look at Euro NCAP results in the future, don't just stare at "a few stars", and take a look at the four sub-items. A car, maybe the collision is hard, but the active assistance is average; maybe the active safety is strong, but the human-computer interaction design will increase the driving burden. Only by understanding the sub-items can you understand the true safety level of a car, rather than being simply summarized by a five-star label. (Photo/Leng Xiaoyang, Wen Auto House).