《TAIPEI TIMES》Tesla Model 3s unavailable for safety tests: ministry

By Shelley Shan / Staff reporter

The Taiwan New Car Assessment Program would not be able to evaluate the safety of the Tesla Model 3 until next year, as the popular car is out of stock in Taiwan, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday.

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The ministry began enforcing the program this year to ensure that the best-selling models in Taiwan are safe to drive. The state-run Changhua County-based Vehicle Safety Certification Center is tasked to evaluate the safety of the vehicles, dispatching secret buyers to purchase them at random from dealers for testing.

The center yesterday said that the Ford models Focus and Kuga received five-star and three-star safety ratings respectively.

It is to announce the results of the center’s evaluation of the Nissan Kicks and the Toyota Yaris at the end of December, it said.

The Toyota Corolla Cross and Toyota RAV4 both received five-star ratings in the first quarter, while the Toyota Corolla Altis and the Honda CR-V secured five-star and three-star ratings in the second quarter respectively.

“The Tesla Model 3 would be the first electric vehicle undergoing a safety evaluation, and the testing is scheduled to take place during the first quarter next year, but we have had trouble buying the car from dealers as it is currently out of stock,” Vehicle Safety Certification Center Executive Director Chou Wei-kuo （周維果） said.

“We are trying to facilitate testing by working with Tesla on this matter,” he added.

Next year, the center is to test eight models, including the Model 3 and the Lexus NX in the first quarter, followed by the Honda Fit and Toyota Sienta in the second quarter, Mazda’s CX-5 and Toyota’s Vios in the third quarter, and the Nissan Sentra and the CMC Zinger in the fourth quarter, it said.

新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES