{"id":5518,"date":"2026-09-14T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-09-14T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/teslhub.com\/?p=5518"},"modified":"2026-10-22T05:18:06","modified_gmt":"2026-10-22T05:18:06","slug":"model-3-2026-5-stelle-nhtsa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/teslhub.com\/en\/model-3-2026-5-stelle-nhtsa\/","title":{"rendered":"2026 Tesla Model 3: five-star NHTSA rating announced"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>Archive coverage published on 22 October 2026. The editorial date of 14 September concerns the result announced by Tesla North America late on 13 September in Italian time. Later database updates are not attributed to that date.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>The <strong>2026 Model 3<\/strong> receives five stars in NHTSA\u2019s overall rating and individual categories. Tesla North America communicated the result through its official account, referring to the US programme assessing crash protection and rollover resistance.<\/p>\n<p>It is positive news for the electric saloon, but interpreting it correctly requires keeping three details together: the model year, the rating programme and the areas assessed. \u201cFive stars\u201d has a precise meaning within that system; it is not a promise that every accident can be avoided or survived without consequences.<\/p>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-rank-math-toc-block\" id=\"rank-math-toc\"><nav aria-label=\"Article contents\"><strong>In this article<\/strong><ul><li><a href=\"#risultato\">2026 Model 3: the announced result<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#categorie\">The three categories to distinguish<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#confronti\">How to compare the stars<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#italia\">What it means for readers in Italy<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n\n<h2 id=\"risultato\">2026 Model 3: the announced result<\/h2>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/tesla_na\/status\/2099256341370187969\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">original Tesla North America message<\/a> is dated 13 September 2026 at 23:58 Italian time. The company states five stars overall and in each category for the 2026 Model 3. The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nhtsa.gov\/ratings-search?vymm=2026+tesla+model+3\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">official NHTSA search by year, make and model<\/a> provides access to configuration-specific entries.<\/p>\n<p>The reference to 2026 is the model year, rather than the date on which every individual car was registered. Before applying a result to a specific vehicle, the relevant entry must therefore be identified instead of relying on the commercial name alone. This also applies to different versions within the same family.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/tesla_na\/status\/2099256341370187969\">Tesla North America\u2019s original announcement of the NHTSA rating.<\/a><\/blockquote>\n<h2 id=\"categorie\">The three categories to distinguish<\/h2>\n<p>NHTSA\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nhtsa.gov\/ratings\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">5-Star Safety Ratings programme<\/a> includes frontal and side crash tests and an assessment of rollover resistance. The Model 3 entry shows five stars in all three areas as well as the overall rating.<\/p>\n<table style=\"width:100%;border-collapse:collapse;margin:1.5rem 0\"><thead><tr><th style=\"padding:10px;border-bottom:1px solid #666;text-align:left\">Assessment<\/th><th style=\"padding:10px;border-bottom:1px solid #666;text-align:left\">Result<\/th><\/tr><\/thead><tbody><tr><td style=\"padding:10px;border-bottom:1px solid #555\">Overall<\/td><td style=\"padding:10px;border-bottom:1px solid #555\">5 stars out of 5<\/td><\/tr><tr><td style=\"padding:10px;border-bottom:1px solid #555\">Frontal crash<\/td><td style=\"padding:10px;border-bottom:1px solid #555\">5 stars out of 5<\/td><\/tr><tr><td style=\"padding:10px;border-bottom:1px solid #555\">Side crash<\/td><td style=\"padding:10px;border-bottom:1px solid #555\">5 stars out of 5<\/td><\/tr><tr><td style=\"padding:10px;border-bottom:1px solid #555\">Rollover resistance<\/td><td style=\"padding:10px;border-bottom:1px solid #555\">5 stars out of 5<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table>\n<p>The overall score summarises results according to the agency\u2019s methodology. The separate entries remain useful because they describe different aspects of the assessment. We therefore do not reduce everything to an absolute ranking of cars of very different sizes and types.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"confronti\">How to compare the stars<\/h2>\n<p>NHTSA explains that frontal and overall ratings should be compared between vehicles in the same class and within 250 pounds, around 113 kg, of one another. Side crash and rollover resistance ratings can be compared across different classes.<\/p>\n<p>This distinction prevents two identical numbers from being treated as necessarily describing the same comparison. A saloon and an SUV can both receive the maximum score, but readers still need to consider the test context. The significance of the news is the result achieved within the programme, without turning it into a record the source does not claim.<\/p>\n<p>The 2026 Model 3\u2019s five stars are not an autonomous-driving certification. Crash protection, assistance systems and operating conditions are related safety subjects, but each requires specific information. We infer no authorisations or new FSD features from this announcement.<\/p>\n<figure><img src=\"https:\/\/teslhub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Tesla-Model-3-Standard-1-1024x576.jpg\" alt=\"Model 3 2026: foto ufficiale di repertorio della gamma, non del veicolo sottoposto ai test\" loading=\"lazy\" \/><figcaption>Official Tesla archive photograph of the Model 3 range. It does not identify the configuration or vehicle used by NHTSA.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2 id=\"italia\">What it means for readers in Italy<\/h2>\n<p>NHTSA is the US agency: the result reported here belongs to its programme and concerns configurations in its entries. We do not present it as a new Euro NCAP rating or an individual check of every car delivered in Italy.<\/p>\n<p>For Tesla followers in Europe, the news adds a documented reference for the 2026 Model 3. The most useful approach is to retain the model year and source alongside the rating, distinguishing technical information from personal preferences and purchase decisions.<\/p>\n<p>Our archive account retains that scope: the overall result and categories, without adding rankings, accident percentages or claims about driver-assistance tests not documented in the dated announcement. Find more coverage in our <a href=\"https:\/\/teslhub.com\/en\/category\/settore-ev\/\">EV and Tesla<\/a> section.<\/p>\n<p><em>Cover: archive image of Model 3, rather than a photograph of the car used in testing. The embedded content is Tesla\u2019s original post.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Follow Teslhub on <a href=\"https:\/\/t.me\/TeslHub\">Telegram<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/whatsapp.com\/channel\/0029VaJSGcjE5OUruhIaxc1S\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">WhatsApp<\/a>, or join the <a href=\"https:\/\/t.me\/TeslHubChat\">community<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Alessandro Marmaglio<\/strong><br><em>Founder of Teslhub<\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Tesla announced five NHTSA stars overall and in each category for the 2026 Model 3. How to interpret the US ratings and compare vehicles correctly.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5315,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[82,74],"tags":[153,154,155],"class_list":["post-5518","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-settore-ev","category-tesla-model-3","tag-model-3","tag-nhtsa","tag-sicurezza-tesla"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/teslhub.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5518","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/teslhub.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/teslhub.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teslhub.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teslhub.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5518"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/teslhub.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5518\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5520,"href":"https:\/\/teslhub.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5518\/revisions\/5520"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teslhub.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5315"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/teslhub.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5518"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teslhub.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5518"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teslhub.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5518"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}