Euro NCAP tested four vehicles that are classed as quadricycles rather than cars, and found an appallingly low level of crash safety

Share Tweet Email Whatsapp

If you’ve spent any time in a big, busy city, you’ll have no doubt seen titchy little city cars like the G-Wizz pottering around. As it turns out, they aren’t really cars at all. They’re actually classed as quadricycles, falling into two categories: light and heavy. The issue with this is that, while road legal, quadricycles aren’t subject to the same safety standards as cars. So just how well do they perform in crashes? Crash test experts Euro NCAP wanted to find out, so tested four models: the electric Renault Twizy, Tazzari Zero and Club Car Villager, and the petrol-powered Ligier IXO. The results were rather worrying…

All were tested for front and side impacts at 50km/h (31mph), and given a score out of 16 points for each test. All four cars performed very poorly. Worst was the Ligier, which managed a paltry two points for the front impact, and 7.9 for the side. Next up was the Club Car Villiager, which also scored two points for front impact but a marginally better nine points for the side.

The Tazzari did slightly better in the front impact with four points, but the side impact result was worse than the Club Car at eight. The Twizy - the only car of the four to come from a major car manufacturer - achieved the best front impact score of the four, but that was only a dismal six points. The side impact score was actually the worst of the cars tested at seven points, with the vehicle’s open sides leaving the driver with a severe lack of protection.