A Headlight Fix Wasn’t Enough to Win the bZ an IIHS Award

Toyota fixed the 2026 bZ’s headlights for SUVs built from June 2026 onward, but two middling crash-test scores still keep its electric SUV off the IIHS award list.

Those later bZs rate Good for headlights, while early 2026 bZs, built before June, have headlights rated Poor, the lowest score the institute gives. The bZ also rates Acceptable in both the small overlap front test and the updated moderate overlap front test, and the IIHS requires a Good score in moderate overlap for either of its 2026 awards. That leaves the bZ off the list even though it scores Good in the updated side test and Good for front crash prevention with both vehicles and pedestrians.

It is a big step down from the car it replaced. Before the face-lift and rename, the bZ4X and its Subaru Solterra twin both earned Top Safety Pick+, the institute’s highest award, Cars.com reported in April. The 2026 models dropped from Good to Acceptable in both front tests and from Good to Poor for headlights. IIHS media relations director Joe Young told Cars.com that the updated moderate overlap test showed "a higher risk of lower right leg injury risk for the driver than we saw in the 2025 model’s test," along with "too much forward movement of the dummy in the second row." The small overlap score fell because of how the dummy engaged with the front passenger airbag, a problem Young said was "significant enough to drag the overall rating for that test down to acceptable." Toyota told the outlet the results were under review.

The IIHS ratings page now lists two headlight scores for the bZ, Poor for 2026 models built before June 2026 and Good for 2026 and 2027 models built after May 2026, which shows the change came during the model year. In the updated moderate overlap test, the structure and the rear passenger’s head, neck, chest and thigh measures all rated Good, and the Acceptable score came from the rear passenger restraints and dummy kinematics.

The headlight problem wasn’t limited to the bZ. In August, Cars.com reported that the bZ, bZ Woodland and C-HR all received Poor headlight ratings from one shared test, because the three models use the same platform and headlights, and that the IIHS faulted them for insufficient roadway visibility rather than glare. The IIHS noted that some automakers can improve headlight ratings just by adjusting the aim during production, and the C-HR’s ratings page now lists its headlights as Good as well. No Toyota SUV earned a 2026 Top Safety Pick, and the outlet tied that to headlight results and the updated moderate overlap test.

The Toyota Report Take

Fixing the headlights in the middle of the model year is exactly what Toyota should have done, and it shows the company took the Poor rating seriously. The harder problem is structural, because the bZ’s crash scores went backward after a refresh that was supposed to make it better, and a running change won’t solve a dummy that slides too far forward in the back seat. Shoppers looking at a used or leftover 2026 bZ should check the build date, since anything built before June has the Poor headlights.