The GAC Aion UT hatchback and XPeng X9 people mover have cleared ANCAP Safety’s tougher 2026-2028 safety criteria, each awarded the maximum five stars. Both vehicles achieved high scores in crash testing, including frontal, side, and run-off-road protection.
Controls buried in the touchscreen
Both models were marked down for burying everyday driving controls in the touchscreen. ANCAP Safety says both cars rely too heavily on the touchscreen for functions including headlights, wipers, demisters, mirror adjustment, and hazard lights, as well as audio, phone, and climate controls. Each scored just 20 per cent in the driving controls assessment.
ANCAP Safety has been pushing manufacturers to retain physical switchgear for these functions to cut driver distraction. “We want to see carmakers bring back buttons for the functions drivers use every day,” said ANCAP Safety chief executive Carla Hoorweg. “Adjusting your windscreen wipers, switching on your headlights or clearing a fogged-up windscreen should be simple, intuitive and achievable without taking your attention off the road.”
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Technical standards for batteries
Both models scored well in the high-voltage battery assessment, which includes a pierce test checking whether damage to a single cell can set off a chain reaction leading to a fire. The test is applied to every battery-electric vehicle assessed under the 2026-2028 criteria.
ANCAP Safety highlighted the protection offered to small, medium and larger occupants, a new element of the assessment that uses extensive virtual simulation and sled test data to gauge injury risk across a broader range of occupant sizes, speeds, and crash severities. Each car is fitted with systems that detect incorrect seatbelt use and unsafe seating positions, along with child presence detection.
Specifics of the Aion UT rating
The Aion UT was at its best in side impacts, scoring maximum points for the driver in both the side impact and oblique pole tests. A centre airbag between the front seats also delivered maximum points in far-side impact testing. Frontal protection was rated good or adequate, though chest protection for the small female driver dummy in the full-width test was marginal. ANCAP Safety also applied a deduction for the risk the car’s structure poses to occupants of an oncoming vehicle in a head-on crash.
Its autonomous emergency braking performed strongly when turning across the path of other vehicles and when approaching pedestrians and cyclists from behind, but was less effective when a car or motorcycle crossed its path at an intersection. The Aion UT also does not intervene to prevent unintended forward acceleration towards a pedestrian caused by pedal misapplication. Post-crash door and tailgate opening scored poorly, as did pedestrian head protection away from the windscreen.
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Specifics of the XPeng X9 rating
The XPeng X9 recorded maximum scores for the driver, front passenger and child occupants in both the frontal offset and full-width frontal tests, as well as for adults and children in the side impact test. It also has a centre airbag, and ANCAP Safety applied the same head-on crash compatibility deduction as for the Aion UT. Its adaptive cruise control earned maximum scores for responding to roundabouts and crossings and for resuming after a stop.
The X9’s Safe Driving score was held back by a driver monitoring system that couldn’t detect phone use, no detection of an out-of-position front passenger, and a speed assistance system that didn’t meet the criteria for scoring. ANCAP Safety awarded no points for interior door opening after a crash, finding the emergency release for the rear door was not easily accessible. It also cautioned that child restraints should not be used in the centre seat of the third row, which has no top tether anchorage, and that one forward-facing convertible seat it tested couldn’t be correctly installed in the second-row outboard positions.
Future compliance
GAC and XPeng have also fitted the hardware for automatic emergency calling (eCall) and committed to making it operational by October 2027. The rating covers the Premium and Luxury variants built from January 2026, which have been on sale in Australia from April, and the result is valid until December 2034. The GAC Aion UT joins the BMW iX3, BYD M9, Geely EX2, and Leapmotor B05 at the top of the new scale. The BYD Sealion 5 is the only model so far to fall short under the same criteria, with three stars.
