Geely puts the Starray EM-i through an extreme crash test to prove that safety is not measured by stars alone

Geely Auto wants to make it clear that its arrival in Europe is a big deal, and it is not just about technology, electrification and offering a good product at a very competitive price. It also wants to play the safety card, and to do so it has put the Geely Starray EM-i through a particularly demanding crash test, carried out at the facilities of UTAC in Paris, an accredited Euro NCAP centre.

The test was not the usual EuroNCAP crash test, which both the Geely E5 and the Starray EM-i, the two models already on sale in Spain, have passed with the top rating. On this occasion the Starray EM-i had to survive a chained double side-impact simulation, a test that goes beyond the usual homologation protocols and the current requirements in Europe. First, a moving deformable barrier struck the side of the vehicle at 60 km/h. Then the car itself was pushed against a rigid obstacle on the opposite side, reproducing a second high-severity side collision, similar to an impact against a pole that penetrates the cabin. In this video you can see how the test went:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNciKiQXIj4

A test designed for real accidents

Geely’s idea behind this test is simple: not every accident follows the clean, controlled pattern of a standard test. In a real collision there can be successive impacts, side intrusions, rebounds against other vehicles or against fixed elements of the road, such as a traffic sign, a lamppost or a tree. That is where the structure, the airbags, the electronic management and the protection of the battery must work in a coordinated way.

According to the brand, after the test the cabin of the Geely Starray EM-i remained intact. The restraint systems activated correctly, the e-Call emergency call system came into operation immediately and the doors unlocked automatically after the impact. This is no minor detail for a plug-in hybrid. In vehicles of this type, battery safety is just as important as occupant protection. Geely attributes the result to the GEA architecture, to a structural protection specific to the hybrid system and to a battery designed to respond under extreme conditions.

The Starray EM-i and the Geely E5 already have five Euro NCAP stars

This test also comes at an important moment for the brand. As we previewed, the Geely Starray EM-i has already achieved five Euro NCAP stars in 2025. In the official test, Euro NCAP highlights that the cabin remained stable in the frontal impact, that the car obtained the maximum score in the side barrier impact and that it also has systems such as advanced e-Call and secondary-collision prevention.

The Geely E5 has also achieved five Euro NCAP stars. In this case, Euro NCAP tested the model as the Geely EX5, the name used in other markets, and highlighted the whiplash protection, the central airbag to mitigate injuries between occupants and the presence of systems such as advanced e-Call and secondary-collision prevention.

Safety as a brand argument

Geely insists that its philosophy boils down to one idea: “the consumer comes first, safety comes first”. According to the company, its integrated safety system has evolved toward an approach that is no longer limited to the vehicle, but incorporates people, road, cloud and satellite within a single ecosystem. The brand also says it has obtained the top ratings in 80 safety assessments of worldwide recognition, including protocols such as C-NCAP, Euro NCAP, ANCAP, ASEAN NCAP and C-IASI.

This message is especially relevant in Europe, where Chinese brands no longer compete only by offering more equipment at a lower price and need to demonstrate that their cars are on a par with traditional manufacturers also in structural quality, driver assistance, child protection, battery safety and behaviour in the event of an accident.