Ready for NCAP 2026: Applied Intuition Accelerates Safety Compliance

As the automotive industry accelerates toward advanced safety and automation, vehicle safety evaluation programs like the New Car Assessment Program (NCAP) play a pivotal role in shaping both vehicle development and consumer trust. With the recent release of the NCAP 2026 protocol, it’s clear the landscape for automotive safety validation is evolving rapidly, and compliance is more complex—and more critical—than ever.

In this blog post, we’ll show how Applied Intuition empowers OEMs to navigate the new NCAP 2026 requirements with automated tools that streamline compliance and validation.

What is NCAP and Why Does it Matter?

NCAP is a long-standing consumer safety assessment program, established in the late 1970s in the United States and later adopted in various regions around the world, with Euro NCAP as the leading example in Europe. NCAP regularly publishes safety protocols to evaluate vehicles on features such as automatic emergency braking, adaptive cruise control, and other advanced driver assistance systems. OEMs strive to meet these protocols because their vehicles’ performance in NCAP tests determines a public star rating, a key metric that influences consumer purchasing decisions and brand reputation. Euro NCAP’s ratings are published and easily accessible, making them the de facto standard for comparing vehicle safety and technology maturity.

The Star Rating System: High Stakes for OEMs

NCAP’s star rating system is not just a badge of honor; it’s a market differentiator. High ratings can drive sales and brand loyalty, while lower ratings can impact reputation and market share. For OEMs, excelling in NCAP tests is essential to remain competitive and to demonstrate leadership in safety and innovation.

The Compliance Challenge: Complexity, Cost, and Change

Complying with NCAP protocols is a significant undertaking for OEMs. The challenges include:

• Protocol complexity: Each NCAP update introduces new, highly detailed test scenarios that must be designed, executed, and validated.
• Manual data handling: Traditionally, results from simulation and physical testing are manually entered into official score sheets, a laborious process involving hundreds of data points per evaluation.
• Physical testing costs: Physical tests are expensive, time-consuming, and require significant personnel and logistical resources.
• Frequent updates: Protocols are updated every one to two years, requiring OEMs to continually revise and revalidate their test suites.
• Software version tracking: Evolving vehicle software and changing NCAP standards make it challenging to consistently track and compare stack performance across software versions.
• Simulation acceptance: Recently, NCAP has begun to accept simulation-based testing, offering a more efficient path to compliance and reducing reliance on costly physical tests.

Applied Intuition: A Full-Stack Solution for NCAP 2026

Applied Intuition has responded to the new NCAP 2026 protocol by delivering a comprehensive suite of test scenarios and validation tools designed to streamline compliance testing and evaluation. Applied Intuition’s complete and automated solution allows users to instantly see and interpret their NCAP scores from simulation, streamlining the path from testing to understanding results. 

By collaborating directly with early-access customers, Applied Intuition has developed an NCAP suite that is both robust and tailored to real-world needs. The NCAP 2026 Test Suite consists of five sub-suites that can all be evaluated through simulation. This rapid response to protocol changes demonstrates Applied Intuition’s commitment to keeping customers ahead of the curve with a “plug and play” solution.

‍

‍

Applied Intuition not only provides the scenarios required for NCAP compliance but also proactively manages ongoing updates to the protocol. Whenever new versions are released, Applied Intuition’s team updates corresponding test scenarios, so OEMs can trust they are always testing against the most current industry standards.

Introducing the NCAP Notebook: Automating Compliance

Applied Intuition’s NCAP offering isn’t just test scenarios. It includes the new NCAP notebook, a Python-based tool that automates the process of generating official NCAP score sheets from simulation results. Here is how it works:

• Run protocol-compliant scenarios: Users execute batches of simulation scenarios that meet NCAP’s official specifications.
• Auto-populate the score sheet: The notebook processes the simulation results and automatically fills in the official NCAP scorecard, eliminating the need for manual data entry.
• Download and submit: The completed spreadsheet can be downloaded directly from Applied Intuition's platform and submitted to NCAP, streamlining the documentation process.
• Customization: The NCAP notebook is fully customizable, allowing users to modify analyses, include additional tests, compare NCAP scorecards across software versions, or perform exploratory data visualizations to suit their specific validation workflows and reporting needs.

This notebook is particularly valuable now that NCAP accepts simulation results: users can generate submission-ready documentation directly from their virtual tests, reducing the need for expensive and time-consuming physical trials.

‍

‍

Key Benefits: Time, Cost, and Confidence

The new NCAP notebook and Applied Intuition’s broader validation tools deliver several key benefits:

• Time savings: Automating the population of hundreds of data cells significantly reduces the manual effort required for compliance.
• Batch comparison: OEMs can easily compare results across different software stack versions, tracking improvements or regressions and ensuring ongoing compliance.
• Submission-ready output: The output matches NCAP’s required format, ensuring a smooth submission process.
• Cost reduction: By leveraging simulation, OEMs reduce their dependence on costly physical testing.
• Accuracy and repeatability: Automated workflows reduce the potential for human error and provide a consistent basis for validation.

Looking Ahead: A Turnkey NCAP Solution

Applied Intuition’s vision is to deliver a full NCAP solution where customers can quickly and efficiently ensure the systems they are developing adhere to the latest test protocols while removing large parts of the labor complexity of compliance testing. As regulatory requirements continue to evolve—such as the Driver Control Assistance System (DCAS) formalized under a United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) Regulation in September 2024—Applied Intuition remains committed to keeping its tools and solutions up to date with the latest policy developments, ensuring that OEMs can focus on designing and building the next generation of vehicles rather than paperwork and physical testing.

With the NCAP 2026 protocol now in effect, Applied Intuition stands ready to help OEMs meet this new standard—efficiently, accurately, and at scale. Interested in learning more or seeing a demo of the NCAP notebook in action? Contact Applied Intuition to stay ahead of the curve in automotive safety compliance.

‍