2026 Tata Punch EV Facelift Scores 5-Star Bharat NCAP Rating, Again

The facelifted Tata Punch EV has been put through Bharat NCAP’s crash test protocol for a second time, and the compact electric SUV has come away with a 5-star rating once again, covering both adult and child occupant protection.

Bharat NCAP tested the Adventure 40 and Empowered+ S 40 variants for this round, but the agency has confirmed the rating applies across the entire lineup, all six variants, regardless of whether they run the 30kWh or 40kWh battery pack.

The scores

The 2026 Punch EV recorded 31.09 out of 32 points for Adult Occupant Protection (AOP) and 45 out of 49 for Child Occupant Protection (COP). In the frontal offset deformable barrier test specifically, it scored 15.28 out of 16 points, and it cleared the side pole impact test as well.

This is the Punch EV’s second outing with Bharat NCAP. The pre-facelift version was tested back in 2024 and scored 31.46/32 for AOP, so the 2026 car’s adult protection score has actually dipped very slightly. The child occupant score, though, is unchanged at 45/49. Tata’s ICE-powered Punch was also crash-tested under the same program earlier this year, scoring 30.58/32 and 45/49.

For context, the driver and front passenger got good protection scores for the head and neck in the assessment, while chest and knee protection came back as adequate. On the child safety side, Bharat NCAP used 18-month-old and 3-year-old dummies, both secured in rearward-facing child seats using ISOFIX anchorages, and both returned full marks in the frontal and side impact evaluations.

What comes standard

Every Punch EV variant, including the base trim, gets the same safety kit that helped it earn this rating: six airbags (including side curtain and side chest airbags), Electronic Stability Control, ABS with EBD, ISOFIX mounts on the rear outboard seats, pedestrian protection, and seatbelt reminders for every seating position. Tata hasn’t reserved any of this for the higher variants, so a buyer picking the entry-level Punch EV gets identical crash protection to someone buying the top-spec car.

Why it matters

A repeat 5-star rating after a facelift isn’t just a box-ticking exercise. Bharat NCAP re-tests updated vehicles because a facelift can change body structure, weight distribution, or restraint systems enough to affect crash performance, and Tata Motors has now shown the Punch EV’s safety architecture held up through that update. In a segment where buyers increasingly weigh safety scores alongside range and price, that consistency is a genuine point of differentiation for Tata, which has built much of its brand positioning in recent years around leading Bharat NCAP and Global NCAP results across its SUV range.