After rigorous testing, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) has bestowed Top Safety Pick+ recognition on Tesla’s 2019 Model 3.

This is the first award Tesla has earned from the Institute— and, the Institute’s highest safety honor.

An affordable sedan, the Model 3 is an all-electric plug-in vehicle. IIHS engineers put it through the paces in six crashworthiness tests, where it earned good ratings across the board. Evaluations included the driver-side small overlap front, moderate overlap front, side, roof strength, head restraint, and passenger-side small overlap tests.

Noteworthy, the Model 3's structure held up well in one of the Institute's most demanding crash tests, the driver-side small overlap front test.

Intrusion of 8 inches at the lower door-hinge pillar contributed to a moderate risk of injury to the driver's lower leg, as indicated by measures taken from the dummy. There were no other injuries, and the front and side airbags and the seat belt performed well to control the dummy's movement during the crash.

However, to earn a Top Safety Pick+ award vehicles must also earn an advanced or superior rating for its available front crash prevention system as well as good-rated headlights.

The Tesla Model 3 did not disappoint.  Its standard front crash prevention system earned a superior rating, avoiding collisions in both the 12 mph and 25 mph IIHS track tests. Moreover, the midsize car’s only available headlights garnered a good rating.

Tesla’s Model 3 is the second plug-in vehicle with no gas engine to earn the 2019 Top Safety Pick+ award after the Audi e-tron, a large SUV. The e-tron qualifies for the award with standard equipment.