Another reason why Tesla is so far ahead of the game. Elon Musk had the engineers design the vehicle to be as safe as possible, period. They didn't design the safety of the car with the crash tests in mind. They passed all the crash tests with flying colors as a side-effect of actually designing for safety.
Tesla Model S is interesting example actually. Initially it was imported into EU with something of a waiver from full ECE regs due to few number. Some of the earliest ones in EU have 8 airbags just as in US (larger dual stage front airbags), then more with ECE front (dual layer) airbags. By MY15 all had only six airbags, the knee bolsters were removed. The reason for this is that in US models with dual stage airbags the knee bolsters deploy in unison with the seatbelt pretensioners to keep the front occupants positioned safely when the front airbag deploys an since they are dual stage units it is very important that happen. The Model S is a big enough car that with the smaller less forceful ECE airbags it is not so much of an issue if the occupant slides under a bit and has abdomen closer to airbag as it deploys. This was likely done for cost as it did not provide enough ROI in terms of safety in EU markets. There is a digit in the VIN in fact that codifies these differences. In addition there are a number of other safety systems that differ between US and EU models of the S.
Tesla did make a very safe car, but they did not do so blind to varying regulations in different markets as well as the demands or running a business profitably.