Turns out the new BMW i3 electric car is not only ugly and weird, it is unsafe as well. The car managed to get only four stars in the official EuroNCAP crash tests, meaning its safety features are flawed, especially in side impacts. Almost all new cars sail through NCAP tests achieving maximum score. So it is kind of a big deal if one, especially a BMW, fails to do so.

NCAP experts were less than thrilled with the i3’s performance in side impact tests, describing its chest protection as weak and the whiplash protection as marginal. When you realize that cars smaller, and much cheaper, than the i3 offer full protection, you ask yourself why would you buy the Bimmer?

If you think about it, the only reason to buy a car like the BMW i3 is because you want to look trendy. These days driving an electric car is considered cool, because it marks you aside as a person who cares about polar bears and stuff. What’s more, it is the last word in geeky technologies with a carbon fibre construction, and eight-way connectivity touchscreen Bluetooth satellite thingy fitted as standard. Who cares then if it’s slow, inconvenient, uninteresting, and well, unsafe?

The car industry is, unfortunately, moving towards making smartphones with wheels, and the i3 is a prime example. Chances are the car is going to perform even worse in the more rigorous American crash tests that it is yet to face. Serves you right matey, for sacrificing everything that’s important in a car, and for being as geeky and uncool as a phablet.