AUTOMATED driving systems on four new cars have been evaluated by experts at Euro NCAP with the latest Nissan Qashqai and Volkswagen ID.5 electric compact SUV scoring top marks.

Systems on the Polestar 2 electric saloon came in a grade below while the Jaguar I-PACE achieved an ‘entry' level status.

The Euro NCAP tests comprise out of series of critical highway driving scenarios, such as typical cut-in and cut-out scenarios, designed to show how effectively the system is able to support the driver in avoiding a possible crash.

It also evaluates how driver and system cooperate and how the system ensures that the driver remains engaged in the driving task, avoiding over-trust. Finally, the vehicle's ability to mitigate the consequences of a crash, referred to as safety backup, is tested, in case an accident is unavoidable.

The new Qashqai, already a top performer in Euro NCAP's overall safety rating, stood out in the assisted driving tests. With almost perfectly matched scores for Driver Engagement and Vehicle Assistance, the car's ProPILOT with Navi Link system demonstrated excellent balance between helping the driver and preventing over-reliance.

But it is in the area of Safety Backup that the car really excels, with an almost-perfect 93 per cent.

VW's ID.5, which shares a common platform with the ID.3 and ID.4, also performed well. Again, it provided a high level of assistance to the driver, supporting many driving tasks on the highway but never promotes over-trust which might lead to driver distraction.

Secretary general of Euro NCAP, Michiel van Ratingen, said: "We have been publishing Assisted Driving gradings for a couple of years now and we are seeing real improvements in system performance.

"Most manufacturers realise that it is important that drivers enjoy the benefits of assisted driving without believing that they can hand over control completely to the car, and that's one of the aspects that our assessment considers.Congratulationsto Nissan - the Qashqai is the most affordable car in this group but, with the ID.5, shares the highest rating we have seen so far. It shows that the technology is moving fast and that assisted driving will become part of the mainstream very soon."