Volvo Sedan earns top spot, scoring extra points for advanced safety systems
A 2020 Volvo luxury sedan has earned the top score in the first edition of the newly released AAA Car Guide, a consumer resource on the latest and greatest in vehicle technology. The guide provides consumers with reviews based on a number of criteria, including how many advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) are included in the vehicle. The majority of the category winners for 2020 are either electric, plug-in electric hybrids, or hybrids, signaling that eco-friendly vehicles tend to offer the most cutting-edge vehicle technology.
“As newer vehicles start to equip more cutting-age technology and add more benefits, it can be hard to measure vehicles against one another,” says Mike Hoshaw, vice president of automotive services, AAA East Central. “It is our hope that this guide helps cut through some of the noise, especially given that there are often misconceptions surrounding the capabilities of advanced safety technologies.”
The AAA Car Guide is an evolution of the popular AAA Green Car Guide, the book that focused on fuel-efficient, low-emitting cars and trucks. The 175-page guide includes comprehensive, easy-to-read reviews of 50 new vehicles which are based on 13 criteria, including braking, fuel economy, emissions, handling, ride comfort, acceleration and the number of ADAS safety features. These vehicles are tested, scored and placed in one of five vehicle categories by the Automotive Research Center (ARC) of the Automobile Club of Southern California, a member of the AAA federation of motor clubs.
Highest ranked by category are:
Category Vehicle
Overall 2020 Volvo S90 T8 E-AWD R-Design (plug-in hybrid)
Small 2019 Nissan Leaf SV Plus (electric)
Midsize 2019 Toyota Camry Hybrid XLE (hybrid)
Large 2020 Volvo S90 T8 E-AWD R-Design (plug-in hybrid)
Pickup 2020 GMC Sierra 1500 2WD Crew Cab SLT (diesel)
SUV/Minivan 2019 Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid Limited (plug-in hybrid)
Best Under $30,000 2019 Honda Insight 4-door Touring (hybrid)
Best $30,000-$50,000 2019 Kia Niro EV EX Premium (electric)
Best Over $50,000 2020 Volvo S90 T8 E-AWD R-Design (plug-in hybrid)
The AAA Car Guide is designed to help consumers navigate new car buying, since many of the latest models come equipped with safety systems which can go by different names, often causing confusion. For example, according to previous AAA research, automatic emergency braking (standard on 31% of 2018 vehicles) has been found to have up to 40 different names – all for the same feature.
The Guide also contains a compendium of AAA’s recent research of current automotive technologies and topics, such as advanced driver-assistance systems, gasoline quality, the advantages of synthetic oil, reduced tire traction in wet-weather driving, and headlight effectiveness. Winners, detailed evaluation criteria, vehicle reviews and an in-depth analysis can be found at aaa.com/CarGuide.
AAA East Central is a not-for-profit association with 78 local offices in Kentucky, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia serving 2.7 million members. News releases are available at news.eastcentral.aaa.com. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook.