In the past twenty years hundreds of infants and young children have died after being left in vehicles, usually by accident. When turning the vehicle off, drivers of the Equinox EV are reminded to check the back seat if they opened the rear door before starting out. The Q4 e-tron Sportback doesn’t offer a back seat reminder.
The Chevrolet Equinox EV has standard driver and front passenger side knee airbags mounted low on the dashboard. These airbags help prevent the driver and front passenger from sliding under their seatbelts or the main frontal airbags; this keeps them better positioned during a collision for maximum protection. Knee airbags also help keep the legs from striking the dashboard, preventing knee and leg injuries in the case of a serious frontal collision. The Q4 e-tron Sportback doesn’t offer knee airbags.
The Chevrolet Equinox EV offers an optional HD Surround Vision and it also offers an optional rear camera washer to make backing always safe, regardless of road dirt or grime, while the Audi Q4 e-tron Sportback doesn’t offer a camera washer, requiring manual cleaning.
The Equinox EV’s optional driver alert monitor detects an inattentive driver then sounds a warning and suggests a break. According to the NHTSA, drivers who fall asleep cause about 100,000 crashes and 1500 deaths a year. The Q4 e-tron Sportback doesn’t offer a driver alert monitor.
Both the Equinox EV and the Q4 e-tron Sportback have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, side-impact head airbags, front seatbelt pretensioners, height adjustable front shoulder belts, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems, blind spot warning systems, rearview cameras, rear cross-path warning and available around view monitors.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does 35 MPH front crash tests on new vehicles. In this test, results indicate that the Chevrolet Equinox EV is safer than the Audi Q4 e-tron Sportback:
|
Equinox EV |
Q4 e-tron Sportback |
OVERALL STARS |
5 Stars |
4 Stars |
|
Driver |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
Neck Injury Risk |
19.4% |
33.2% |
Neck Stress |
154 lbs. |
173 lbs. |
Neck Compression |
19 lbs. |
75 lbs. |
|
Passenger |
|
STARS |
4 Stars |
4 Stars |
Chest Compression |
.6 inches |
.8 inches |
Neck Injury Risk |
35.1% |
37.1% |
Neck Compression |
39 lbs. |
132 lbs. |
New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does side impact tests on new vehicles. In this test, which crashes the vehicle into a post at 20 MPH, results indicate that the Chevrolet Equinox EV is safer than the Audi Q4 e-tron Sportback:
|
Equinox EV |
Q4 e-tron Sportback |
|
Into Pole |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
3 Stars |
New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.
Instrumented handling tests conducted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and analysis of its dimensions indicate that the Equinox EV, with its five-star roll-over rating, is 1.4% to 1.6% less likely to roll over than the Q4 e-tron Sportback, which received a four-star rating.