Tesla's 2024 Model Y earns 'top safety pick +' award from Insurance Institute for Highway Safety: 'This year's winners are true standouts'

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety recently announced its award-winning vehicles for 2024, and the Tesla Model Y was among the top scorers, earning the "top safety pick +" award.

The IIHS altered its scoring criteria this year, making it harder for vehicles to earn the highest honor. According to the IIHS website, they introduced a new metric for the "moderate overlap front crash test" called the chest index, which "factors in both the position of the shoulder belt on the rear dummy's chest and chest compression."

The Model Y was one of two electric vehicles to win the "top safety pick +" award, along with the Hyundai Ioniq 6. A total of 22 vehicles earned that distinction.

"We followed the tougher requirements we introduced last year with another major update to the award criteria in 2024," IIHS President David Harkey said. "This year's winners are true standouts, offering the highest level of protection for both vehicle occupants and other vulnerable road users."

The IIHS gives four possible scores in each category: Good, Acceptable, Marginal, and Poor. The Model Y earned a perfect "Good" score in every category but one. In the "Seat belts & child safety" category, it scored an "Acceptable" grade.