The Tesla Cybertruck finally has its first crash safety rating over a year after deliveries first began in November 2023. And like all other Tesla vehicles before it, the electric truck scored a 5-star rating in nearly all the individual categories.
The categories include frontal and side crashes, as well as risk of rollover. To simulate a head-on collision, the Cybertruck was driven into a flat rigid barrier at 35 mph. For that, NHTSA awarded the truck a 5-star rating for drivers and a 4-star rating for passengers.
The report notes that the driver seat center airbag deployed, but knee airbags for both driver and passenger did not. Tesla confirmed to the agency that the knee airbags were not designed to deploy “for this specific test configuration.”
For the side crash test, the Cybertruck earned an overall 5-star rating. These tests consisted of a side barrier test, in which a moving, non-rigid barrier angled at 27 degrees is crashed into the driver side door at 38.5 mph. A side pole crash test involves simulating the vehicle crashing into a fixed object like a tree or utility pole at 20 mph.
And lastly, the Cybertruck earned a 4-star rating in the rollover test. NHTSA determined that the truck did not tip over during the dynamic test, but that there was still a 12.4 percent risk of rollover.
In the US, car companies “self certify” that their vehicles comply with federal safety standards requiring everything from sideview mirrors to airbags to automatic emergency braking. There is no “pre-approval” before an automaker is allowed to sell its cars to the public. Crash tests are typically performed after the vehicle is available for sale.
Tesla conducted its own crash tests with the Cybertruck in-house, videos from which were shown during the delivery event in 2023. But this is the first time that the EV has been tested by independent regulators. Previous Tesla vehicles, including the Model Y, the Model 3, Model X SUV, and Model S all earned 5-star crash test scores.
After it was released, safety experts questioned whether the Cybertruck’s stainless steel body and sharp angles presented a unique risk to pedestrians and other vulnerable road users. There were questions whether the Cybertruck’s crumple zone, which helps prevent or reduce injuries to the occupants of the vehicle during a collision, was enough to mitigate the effects of a crash. A stiffer vehicle, like one made from stainless steel, could complicate this process.
The government’s NCAP program was recently updated to include pedestrian safety for the first time. This new assessment is designed to evaluate the ability of a vehicle’s front end to mitigate pedestrian injuries and fatalities in vehicle-to-pedestrian impacts. But there’s no mention of the Cybertruck’s pedestrian safety rating in NHTSA’s evaluation.
The Cybertruck has been subject to seven recalls since its release, including for a slow-to-appear rear camera display, faulty windshield wipers, loose trim, jammed accelerator pedal, and undersized font on its warning lights.
Sales of the Cybertruck have also been slowing down in recent months, forcing Tesla to begin offering discounts in order to juice demand.
