Tesla Model Y, Volvo XC90 PHEV are newest IIHS Top Safety Pick+ winners
The Model Y aced the emergency collision avoidance tests, while the XC90 was one step below the top rating
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The 2025 Tesla Model Y and Volvo XC90 Plug-In Hybrid (PHEV) are the latest vehicles to earn the highest Top Safety Pick+ award from the U.S. Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS). The 2025 Jeep Wrangler, Chevrolet Colorado, and GMC Canyon were also included in this latest round of testing, but none of them did well enough overall to achieve Top Safety Pick or Pick+ ratings. The 2023 Wrangler had earned the lowest possible score in a frontal crash test, but improved to that test’s highest rating in 2024.
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Tesla Model Y, Volvo XC90 PHEV are newest IIHS Top Safety Pick+ winners Back to video
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The IIHS’s crash tests are side, small-overlap front, and moderate-overlap front — which are done rather than head-on, since most crashes involve vehicles that move partially out of their lane, rather than completely into the oncoming one. The moderate-overlap was recently updated to assess potential injury to a rear-seat passenger, as well as to those in the front.
The IIHS also assesses headlight performance and front crash avoidance with pedestrians — that being a vehicle’s emergency front braking. In addition, it tests front avoidance with other vehicles, seat-belt reminders, and ease-of-use for child tether anchors, but these are not part of the Top Safety Pick designations.
To get a Top Safety Pick, a vehicle must have the highest Good rating in the small-overlap and side test; and Good or next-step-down Acceptable in the updated moderate-overlap, pedestrian avoidance, and headlight performance, that last one being across all trim levels. To earn the highest Pick+, a vehicle must achieve all of those but get Good in the updated moderate-overlap, rather than Acceptable.
The Tesla Model Y rated Good in all crash, headlight, and avoidance tests; Acceptable in tether anchors; and hasn’t been tested for seatbelt reminders.
The Volvo XC90’s Pick+ award applies to vehicles build after December 2024. It got Good in crash, headlight, and seatbelt reminder tests; but scored Acceptable in both pedestrian and vehicle avoidance, and in its child seat tethers.
The 2025 Jeep Wrangler scored the top Good in the moderate-overlap and side tests. In 2023, it rated Poor in the overlap test, and Marginal in the side test; but improvements for 2024 took it to a Good rating in both of those. For 2025, it still needs to be tested in the small-front-overlap and vehicle-to-vehicle crash prevention. But in the remaining tests, it scored Marginal and Poor for its headlights (two ratings because there are different headlights among its trims); Poor in its front pedestrian crash avoidance; and Marginal in its seat-belt reminders.
The 2025 Chevrolet Colorado rated Good for small-overlap and side crash, but Marginal for the updated moderate overlap. It rated Good for its seat-belt reminders, but Acceptable/Poor for its headlights, depending on trim; Acceptable for its pedestrian avoidance; Poor for its vehicle avoidance; and hasn’t yet been rated on its child tether anchors.
Its sibling GMC Canyon hasn’t been fully tested yet, but matched the Colorado’s ratings for small-overlap and side crash, and pedestrian and vehicle avoidance.
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