Tesla’s redesigned 2026-27 Model Y has earned a Top Safety Pick+ award from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, the group’s highest safety rating. IIHS announced the result on September 3, placing the electric SUV alongside the 2027 Kia Telluride in its latest group of award winners.
The rating applies to the current redesigned Model Y, which entered production for the 2026 model year. IIHS gave the vehicle good ratings across its crashworthiness tests, including the small overlap front test, updated moderate overlap front test and side-impact test.
Tougher rules for 2026
IIHS raised the bar for its 2026 awards. A vehicle must receive good scores in the moderate overlap front, small overlap front and side crash tests, and every trim must have headlights rated acceptable or good.
For a standard Top Safety Pick award, IIHS requires an acceptable or good result in its pedestrian front crash prevention evaluation. The Top Safety Pick+ rating requires a good pedestrian score and an acceptable or good score in the institute’s vehicle-to-vehicle front crash prevention 2.0 test.
Tesla met those requirements with standard crash-prevention equipment. The Model Y earned a good pedestrian front crash prevention rating and met the required score in the updated vehicle-to-vehicle test.
Crash protection and prevention
The IIHS testing program covers more than a vehicle’s structure. It evaluates how a car protects occupants in a crash and how well its standard technology can avoid or reduce a collision before impact.
Tesla’s Model Y earned good results in each core crash test required for the award. The front and side tests assess injury risk for occupants and the strength of the passenger compartment during severe crash scenarios.
Meanwhile, the front crash prevention tests focus on automatic emergency braking performance in encounters with other vehicles and pedestrians. These systems must come standard for a vehicle to qualify for either 2026 IIHS safety award.
A repeat recognition for Model Y
This is not the Model Y’s first Top Safety Pick+ award. The 2025 Model Y previously earned the same recognition in the midsize luxury SUV category under the IIHS program’s prior requirements.
Tesla first received a Top Safety Pick+ rating for certain 2021-22 Model Y vehicles after IIHS evaluated the vehicle’s camera-based front crash prevention system. At that time, the SUV received superior ratings in vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-pedestrian crash avoidance tests.
Tesla said in 2021 that Model Y had received the highest available results in IIHS crashworthiness and front crash avoidance testing. The company cited strong occupant injury scores and favorable evaluations of the vehicle’s passenger safety cell.
Still, each IIHS award applies to a defined model year and tested configuration. Buyers should check the IIHS listing for the exact vehicle year and production details before treating an earlier result as applicable to a different Model Y.
Federal safety rating remains in place
The Model Y has a separate five-star overall safety rating from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. That federal result covers frontal crash protection, side crash protection and rollover resistance.
Earlier this year, NHTSA added new driver-assistance and automatic emergency braking checks to its five-star program. Versions of the 2026 Model Y built after November 12, 2025 were the first vehicles reported to pass those newer tests.
The IIHS and NHTSA programs use different methods, so the ratings should not be treated as identical. IIHS uses its own crash tests and award thresholds, and its Top Safety Pick+ program now places added weight on pedestrian detection and vehicle-to-vehicle crash prevention.
The new IIHS rating gives Tesla another independent safety result for its highest-volume vehicle. The Model Y has been central to Tesla’s global sales for years, and the refreshed version now carries recognition under the institute’s newer safety rules.
Tesla’s Model Y now joins a small group of electric SUVs with a current IIHS Top Safety Pick+ award and a five-star NHTSA rating. The result gives the updated crossover a strong position in a U.S. market where safety testing has become more demanding.
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