Ever since the Tesla Cybertruck hit the market, many folks wondered why it hadn’t been crash-tested. For months, there’s been no rating by the U.S.’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and nothing from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety — what gives? As it is the internet in 2025, many voiced that there might be some kind of conspiracy at hand, and that maybe the truck isn’t as safe as Tesla says. But now we have official government crash test results from NHTSA, and they’re good. Very good.
The truth is that, even though NHTSA doesn’t physically crash test every car, automakers have to prove that their vehicle will meet minimum requirements. Per NHTSA:
Even though a vehicle may not have been rated under the New Car Assessment Program, all vehicles sold in the United States are certified by the vehicle manufacturer as complying with all applicable Federal motor vehicle safety standards (CFR Title 49: Chapter V, Part 571). These standards cover a broad range of safety issues, from windshield wipers and brakes to crashworthiness and fuel integrity.
Interestingly, NHTSA regularly puts out a list of vehicles it plans to test, but neither the document “NHTSA Announces Model Year 2024 Vehicles To Be Included In 5-Star Safety Ratings Tests” nor “NHTSA Announces Model Year 2025 Vehicles for 5-Star Safety Ratings Testing” mentions the Cybertruck. And yet, here we are, with a Cybertruck crash test in the books. Interesting.
Let’s get straight to the results:
Five star frontal, five star side, four star rollover, five star overall — that’s pretty good! How does it compare to other pickup trucks like the F-150 or Chevy Silverado?
The same ratings as the F-150, a bit better than the Silverado. How does it compare to the only other electric pickup truck rated thus far, the F-150 Lightning?:
By star-rating, it looks like the Cybertruck performs a little better, though the overall score is the same.
I’d have liked to see a five-star rollover score from a vehicle whose 1600-pound battery pack acts as a floor, but hey, the Cybertruck’s factory 35-inch tires and the general shape of its steel body probably made that tricky. Still, it’s worth noting that the Cybertruck scored a 12.4% “Rollover Risk” score from NHTSA. That’s 0.2% lower than the F-150 Lightning’s rollover risk (and that doesn’t have nearly as large tires), and way lower than the gasoline F-150 and Silverado (which each scored over 19%). To put that into context:
- 5 star rating: 10% Rollover Risk or less
- 4 star rating: Between 11% and 20% Rollover Risk
- 3 star rating: Between 21% and 30% Rollover Risk
- 2 star rating: Between 31% and 40% Rollover Risk
- 1 star rating: Over 41% Rollover Risk
So the Cybertruck got close to a five star rollover rating, but not quite.
Overall it’s a good result that puts the Cybertruck up there with the safest pickup trucks ever tested. But before I go any further, I should note that this crash test doesn’t address concerns related to pedestrian safety, nor does it address concerns about how the Cybertruck’s overall structure could — in a crash with a perhaps-less-armor-like vehicle — compromise the safety of the other vehicle’s occupants. We just don’t have the answers to those questions at the moment; all we know is that, in front, side, and rollover crash testing, the Tesla Cybertruck scores five stars, five stars, and four stars, respectively, with an overall safety rating of five stars out of five stars.
Let’s dig into that a bit, shall we?
Front Barrier Impact Test: 5 Stars
NHTSA has reports on the front and side crash tests, and my god are they long. The side impact pole test is over 130 pages, while the front rigid barrier and side deformable barrier crash test documents are over 180 pages each. I’ll take a quick look through each and give you a few of the highlights; let’s start by talking about what the frontal crash test even is; from NHTSA:
The frontal barrier test simulates a head-on collision between two similar vehicles. The test vehicle is crashed into a flat, rigid barrier at 35 mph.
You could call this a fairly mild crash test. It’s conducted at 35 mph and involves hitting the front of the vehicle against a flat wall; IIHS, on the other hand, conducts its crash tests at 40 mph (that means 30% more kinetic energy), and its Small Overlap crash involves only a quarter of the vehicle’s frontal area hitting a rigid barrier. It’s no wonder some have criticized federal crash testing as being a bit too easy, even if recent reforms rewarding driver-assist features are a step in the right direction.
Anyway, let’s hop into this absurdly long report showing a “2024 TESLA CYBERTRUCK BEAST 4-DOOR TRUCK” getting its face smashed in. It’s dated January 14, 2025, so it appears this crash test was put into motion by the previous administration, for those who are curious.
You can see some of the results of the 35 mph crash test here in this table. For both the driver anthropomorphic test device (ATD) and the passenger ATD, there are the classic HIC values (Head Injury Criteria), there’s chest compression in millimeters, there’s a neck injury predictor figure (NIJ), and you can see some forces on the neck and femur, all compared to threshold values.
If you’d like to see similar tables for the F-150, Silverado, and F-150 Lightning, here they are:
As I said, the crash report is insanely detailed; if you want to know the exact test conditions — the tire specs, the temperature, the seatback angle, the weight of the truck, and on and on — that’s all in there. Check out this description of the driver’s position in the cab:
But that’s not what you’re here for. You want to see the crash imagery, so let’s just throw those out there. Here’s a look at the front before the crash:
And here’s the front after the crash test:
Here’s a view from the passenger’s side before the crash:
And here’s the passenger’s side after the crash:
Here’s the driver’s side, pre-crash:
Here’s the driver’s side, post-crash:
Here’s a three-quarter view of the front passenger’s side before the crash:
Here’s that same right front three-quarter view after the crash:
Here’s the frunk before the crash:
Here’s the frunk after the crash (you can see a number of cooling system components):
Here’s the high voltage battery and front subframe pre-crash:
Here’s the battery and front subframe post-crash:
Here’s the dummy in the driver’s seat before the crash:
Here’s the dummy after the crash:
Here’s the windshield view of the two front-seat dummies before the crash:
Here’s the windshield-view of the two front crash dummies after the crash (you’ll notice localized cracking in the windshield ahead of the passenger; I think this resulted from airbag deployment):
To get an idea for how much the front end crushed, NHTSA breaks the frontal area into zones C1 through C6 (also called “Damage Profile Distances”). NHTSA measures the distance from a certain datum to each zone before the crash, and then after, noting the difference as the “crush”:
As you can see, maximum crush was 445mm, or about 17.5 inches, and it happened at DPD 5, on the right front of the Cybertruck.
Anyway, that’s enough for now about frontal crash test results; for fun, here are some photos of the Cybertruck strapped down to the static rollover device for better under-vehicle viewing:
OK, let’s move on to the side crash tests.
Moving Deformable Barrier Side Impact Test: Five Stars
Here’s NHTSA’s description of the Moving Deformable Barrier Side Impact Test:
The side barrier test simulates an intersection collision between two vehicles. A moving non-rigid barrier, angled at 27 degrees, is crashed into the driver’s side of the test vehicle at 38.5 mph.
Basically, you’re driving at 38.5 mph and some car hits you at a bit of an angle through an intersection — that’s what this test is supposed to emulate. Here’s the abstract showing driver and passenger dummy HIC, thoracic rib deflection, and other forces on the dummy:
Since I’m sure some of you are curious, here are the F-150, Silverado, and F-150 Lightning’s deformable barrier side crash test results:
I’ll spare you any info on the test setup/conditions and instead just get straight into the pictures:
If you’re curious how far the side of the truck was pushed in by the deformable barrier, NHTSA’s datasheet breaks the side of the truck into four “levels,” with the first being the rocker panel and the fifth (and last) being the roof/window top:
If you look at the photos of the test vehicle, you’ll see that this area of the truck is pretty well outlined by the black and yellow tape. In the image above, the X-axis’ “Zero” is where the barrier hits the car on the left side (towards its front), while the increasing numbers represent distance from the left side of the barrier-impact. 
The plot above shows displacement of the five different levels at various distances along the side of the Cybertruck. You can see that there’s lots of displacement at the sill and at the occupant’s H-point. The H-point displacement rises, then drops, then rises again, telling me that the B-pillar is probably at about 1200 mm from the left side of the barrier impact, as the pillar adds stiffness that would explain the drop in displacement. It looks like maximum crush was about 90 mm (less than 4 inches), and that was about in the middle of the rear door.
Anyway, here are some static rollover images post-side barrier crash, along with an action shot at the end:
Side Impact Pole Test
Let’s talk about the side pole test a bit. Here’s NHTSA’s description:
The side pole test simulates a vehicle colliding into a fixed object like a tree or utility pole. The test vehicle, angled at 75 degrees, is crashed into a rigid pole at 20 mph.
Here are the Cybertruck’s results:
All Images: NHTSA
Maybe this is a little tinfoil hat of me, but I wonder how recently that testing was conducted. Because given Elon’s… “close” relationship with the government in the last few months, I did have a brief thought that these results may have been fudged a bit.
Jan 14th, so before the change.
Fair enough, so it’s probably legitimate. I do wonder what the pedestrian safety tests and tests against other vehicles will look like, if they’re ever conducted.
NHTSA doesn’t do pedestrian testing iirc; if the cybertruck is ever sold in Europe the EuroNCAP will do pedestrian tests but that’s a big ‘if’.
I say they are totally fudged, the test dummy driver isn’t wearing Oakleys and a giant gold tone watch.
Don’t forget the black MAGA hat (they think they’re being stealthy with it).
Impressive work by Tesla engineers, as usual. And I still kinda like how these trucks look. (ignoring safety to pedestrians, but it’s not really unique in that respect compared to other vehicles in its class.)
But, owning a Cybertruck at this point is identical to still openly supporting Ye West after his recent “crashout” on the website formerly known as Twitter.
“You’ve run out of “but he made Graduation””
Tesla Cybertruck has higher rate of fire fatalities than the Ford Pinto
https://www.chron.com/culture/article/cybertruck-ford-pinto-20160527.php
Just saw this…
I saw at a while ago, surpring but I suspect sample size and the unfortunate case of product demographics. They have been crashed alot. It cell and pack unique to the CT and they are recalling it so definitely could be something there. Maybe idiot proofing to an extent
Unfortunately we are at a point where we are not sure we can really trust the data coming from our government due to the intrusion of someone with no clearance, no vetting, no legal authority, and no accountability into our government systems. Were the results published now as a result of all the otherwise bad press about the owner of this company? And with the owner such a big advocate of AI, were any of these results concocted using AI?
Computer says no.
Wait…there was a time when we could trust data from the government?
On certain topics, yes!
Source: (state, not federal) government auditor who works to help increase trust in government, which is sort of the point of government.
It’s when you get into anything involving NSA, CIA, DoD that I start getting suspicious, seeing as they literally haven’t been able to successfully audit the DoD for years (last I checked and I doubt it’s changed).
Fair enough 🙂
There were agencies that used to be considered the top of the heap worldwide for their integrity and honesty.
These are great results, but I still don’t think we have enough data.
They should run this test a few thousand more times just to be sure.
COTD
I know where there are plenty of them- the dealerships.
I’m just guessing here, but I think the reason it wasn’t on any upcoming tests lists is that they were waiting for the results before deciding whether to publish the data or lose the data.
Yeah but where’s the pedestrian kill data?
Unfortunately, the researchers walked to work that day.
Advocating vandalism, wishing death or injury on people, it would be more depressing if it wasn’t quite so predictable in these comments.
Yeah wowza that solid comment community the site really did foster well tanked real quick!
I was just about to write something similar. It’s gotten to the point where the boilerplate, copy and paste virtue signaling (of what, I have no idea) from “The Squad” is no more than static noise.
Nothing to see here, move along.
Hey, I’ve got a book for you: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rise_and_Fall_of_the_Third_Reich
I’ve owned it for decades. Have you not read at least the link you have posted or seen the ABC mini-series based on it?
Nowhere in my comment suggests anything involving the Nazis or Nazism. Are you trying to imply differently?
Yeah yeesh just scrolled down further and read some of those. Do people really not read or think about they are about to post and think huh this just seems really mean and hateful? Epically over a choice of vehicle.
You should totally read this book:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rise_and_Fall_of_the_Third_Reich
I think we’re seeing a range of responses here, many of which are obviously snarky and taking shots at the Cybertruck (and Tesla in general) some fair, some unfair.
There’s a certain amount of frustration that’s going to be present among a community of people wishing to drive their quirkmobiles in relative peace without one of these vaporizing their existence. And I think it’s fair for people to be frustrated with the premise that the Cybertruck’s mission is to protect it’s occupants and lay waste to anything in it’s path. It’s anti-social design, being met with an anti-social response.
That being said, we could stop well short of wishing death and dismemberment.
At the same time, is the Cybertruck not the foremost quirkmobile on sale today?
The Cybertruck is like the Snakes on a Plane of vehicles. Something that was designed to mimic other bad movies that became cult classics. Essentially, it’s trying way too damn hard. This is why The Room endures, where Snakes on a Plane does not.
But that’s just my opinion. It certainly isn’t without quirk, that’s for sure.
I’ve seen it compared to the Delorian before Back to the Future came out.
woah woah lets not drag Snakes on a Plane into this.
Sorry it caught a stray lol. I enjoy Snakes on a Plane just fine. A lot more than I enjoy the Cybertruck anyway.
That comment was too venomous for you?
I have had it with these monkey flippin comments on this monday to friday plane
There’s certainly a case to be made for that given that supercharger kits for Mirages and Versae aren’t available as factory options or even authorized accessories from your friendly Nissan-Mitsubishi dealer. Hell, even a new Prius is too pretty to be quirky now.
At the same time, a Cybertruck’s presence does convey a certain aggressive posture. It’s distinct and even interesting, but it’s not quite the same as the Autopian’s brand of quirk, which is more the guy down the block who corners you at the neighbors’ holiday open house to extol in detail about every facet of, I dunno, the mechanical four-wheel-drive systems of Jeeps throughout history and the distinct ways in which each individual model can rust. There is something intimidating about a vehicle whose symbolic creator describes its crashworthiness with the phrase “you will win” without differentiating between opponents such as a utility pole, a Jersey wall, a family crossover or a cargo bike with a parent and two kids heading off to daycare either in its design or construction and that looks as if it should be used in combat against some imperial forces (or by them) on some distant and dusty planet. It’s not a warm and fuzzy 2CV or even a harmlessly immobile BMC or British Leyland product (I apologize for the redundancy.)
But calling for harm to life and limbs (I didn’t see much of that) or vandalism (oh yeah, that was there) is overreacting. Chalk it up to the tendency of Internet commentary to lurch into hyperbole and the erosion of polite or even humane restraint. Everyone we disagree with is an enemy to be defeated by any means necessary. Political discussion, which began its nosedive well before AOL popularized mass Internet use with its own “win at any cost” ethos that capped off forty-some years of relative accord in America, leached into popular discourse. And, well, ick.
I suspect that the vast majority of Cybertruck drivers are more likely to corner you at that holiday open house than they are to bulldoze other road users intentionally (we won’t talk about when they have FSD engaged, and that wouldn’t narrow it down to just them or even just Tesla drivers anyway), and even if they aren’t, they haven’t earned a preemptive tire-flattening. (If you do it because you saw them charging at pedestrians in the supermarket parking lot, that’s a little different.) I truly believe that most keyboard warriors are just typing metaphors for their frustrations anyway, and while that’s not ideal – too much of it normalizes the ideas and widens the window of acceptability – it’s not really that much of an immediate threat.
But yeah, it needs to be called out
It is, IMHO, today’s equivalent of the AMC Pacer. AMC sold the Pacer for five years and shipped 280,000 of them, which are numbers I doubt Tesla will attain.
That said, I wrote in a comment in these pages I doubted Tesla would ever produce a CT, so I’ve been wrong about this vehicle before.
My CT skepticism as a viable vehicle is it’s bad at truck things. It’s a Burning Man art car without a wet bar.
Well said. I also don’t think anyone wished death or dismemberment. Just expressed a lack of concern for the owners and occupants. Which, as you stated, is largely due to their clear admission of their anti-social nature.
Buying a “statement” vehicle and then crying when people react to your very clear message is beyond ridiculous.
I suppose you were first in line calling Prius owners snobby douches in the 00s, then? Snipping their valve stems was A-OK?
Or do “statement vehicles” only apply to people you disagree with?
If you think there is any rational equivalence between the statements made by a Cybertruck and a Prius, I don’t know if further discussion is warranted. It is like claiming that flat-earth theory is equivalent to physics theories that underpin orbital mechanics simply because they both exist.
They both project(ed) the owner’s politics loudly and publicly.
I don’t think there’s any more to it than that, other than which political side you come down on and/or which vehicle you personally prefer.
But that isn’t or shouldn’t be the basis for wishing violence on someone else.
I’m quite sure you wouldn’t agree with snipping valve stems or rolling coal on Prius drivers.
“I want an appliance car that’s good on gas, especially in slow commuter traffic” is politics?
Am I the only one here who remembers the mid 00s?
A Prius was 100% a political statement, at least as much as a Cybertruck is now.
If you wanted an anonymous hybrid, you bought a Civic.
If you wanted people to notice you, to know you had *The Right Kind of Thoughts* you bought a Prius.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smug_Alert!
Yeah, I remember the “Prius repellent” bumper stickers on diesel pickups and all the other crap that came from jerkwads projecting their own “everything I do is political expression” crap on people who just wanted to drive a nice car that was good on gas.
“A Prius was 100% a political statement, at least as much as a Cybertruck is now.”
This is 100% true. They were the official vehicle of the smug environmentalist for years. Obviously, not everyone who drove a Prius in the ’00s was doing so for political reasons (they were/are great cars for commuting), but some people certainly drove them to signal their virtues.
As an aside, am I the only person who sees massive irony in people simultaneously hating the Cybertruck and loving the Prius for its fuel efficiency? The CT may not be the most efficient EV, but it uses less energy per mile than a Prius and can be charged using clean energy sources. I’m not saying people should trade in their Prii for Cybertrucks for environmental reasons, but maybe they should?
The Civic Hybrid totally sucked though. Even if it did have really neat blue upholstery inside.
I remember. Movie stars were making a point to arrive at award shows in Prii to seem environmentally friendly.
Anyone who doesn’t remember should watch the hybrid episode of South Park, which was pretty accurate for the time.
I remember insecure right wingers screaming that was the case, because somehow someone making a point of saving gas was seen as a personal attack on them.
You bought the Prius because you bought the better car…
Thank you for letting us know that you are just taking all statements as equally true and consider them equivalent.
You’re welcome.
If you think you’re insulting me by saying I think all violence directed at political opponents is illegitimate and wrong, then I welcome your insult.
“Illegitimate” is doing a lot of heavy lifting in that statement. The point is that you refuse to acknowledge that there is a difference between legitimate and illegitimate.
Remember when we were recently mad about giant pick up trucks “icing” out EV chargers?
I guess I’m failing to see any difference between the CT and any other large vehicle in this regard, other than the CEO of the company. I’m fully aware that some here want to ban all trucks or at least would be happy if that happened, but even F350 articles don’t inspire the depths of pure rage we see here.
Snipping the valve stems of a Cybertruck because you don’t like the owners’ perceived politics to me is no different than a diesel owner rolling coal on bicyclists or Prius drivers for the same reason.
It’s 100% the CEO of the company. And the premise that more than likely the sort of person handing Tesla nearly 100k to someone whose sole mission appears to be at best a shitty troll and at worst a raging fascist sort of riles people up in a way that doesn’t quite rival the sometimes justified hatred for GM (those Saab killing bastards).
I do not endorse vandalism, violence, or whatever other deranged method of retribution that may be levied towards Cybertruck owners. But if everyone is being told that they should take the existence of the Cybertruck and Elon with a grain of salt, then it’s probably only fair to take the responses to those things less seriously as well.
You should some history if you think this is about politics! Start here
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rise_and_Fall_of_the_Third_Reich
I would never snip the valve stems on a CyberTruck.
If they can’t drive it, they can’t leave. I really want it to leave.
There’s no need to snip the valve stems of a Cybertruck.
They already can’t get underway by themselves in the snow without any intervention.
Agree, I think these are silly vehicles, but I certainly wouldn’t wish harm on anyone who had bought one, they’re still human beings. They attract a certain type of buyer, but I don’t know that it’s any better/worse than the folks that buy a giant lifted trucks with 40″ tyres I see driving around here.
Yeah, I’ve calmed down a lot on the giant truck thing, even though the aggressive behavior I’ve dealt with from said giant trucks still seems like a stereotype that gets reinforced at least once a week around here. I ask all large vehicle drivers just to please do two things:
1) Really love your truck. You had to have it. Please do not complain the expense of owning one. It should not be up to others to make your lifestyle of large vehicle easier on you.
2) Please for the love of God drive that thing responsibly.
I see loads of huge trucks where I live, and honestly they just scare me from the point of veiw of safety for those around them. Some of them drive like dicks, but I occasionally drive like a dick as well, so pot and kettle etc. It’s more just that I drive a small wagon, by wife drives a small Mazda, and some of these things are too massive to fit through the back alleys to the driveways, and a lot of them drive though the neighbourhood quite quickly. I don’t really hate on any decisions people make about what they do to modify their vehicles, because if it’s your thing then have fun with it, it’s more just about being safe when you’re driving something that big around.
I truly believe the it’s not the existence of gigantic, poorly piloted vehicles that’s the issue. It’s the prevalence.
And that’s one of the reasons I’ve become less and less incensed about the Cybertruck, it’s just not going to sell in the numbers that should impact me too much (especially in my region).
I for one wish nobody gets in an accident this year… Insurance prices are too high.
Good Lord y’all are thin-skinned. Cry more.
I won’t touch on the politics surrounding this right now other than to note that if you’re aware of the anti-American and inhumane crap Elon Musk is pulling right now and not angry about it, I have nothing civil to say to you.
Believe it or not, it’s possible to disagree with someone politically and not wish for their injury, vandalize their truck, or insult them in comment sections.
I don’t own a Tesla, I have less than zero interest in a Cybertruck, I don’t support many of the things the current administration is doing, and yet I do not find myself compelled to go yell on the internet about how I wish more Cybertrucks were crashed, share tips on deflating tires, or whatever behavior unbecoming of this site happens to be next.
Be well.
Ah man, that is so well considered, it’s almost as if you’ve been ignoring the dude posting the Nazi book over and over again
Stuff like that makes me sad, because this really is/was a great place to get together and discuss cars and it really seems like that’s fracturing right now.
I don’t pay for very many websites, but I do pay for this one, and if it no longer provides an escape from loud political screeching (distinct from respectful and thoughtful political discussions or arguments) then I will question the value of continuing to pay.
Is it too much to say something like “maybe don’t read the comments on Tesla posts”? Honest question and no offense meant. I made a political comment a while back and it really pissed someone off. That wasn’t my intent, so I’ve avoided saying anything else political since then, but I also know that if there’s anything on here about Tesla/Elon/Trump etc it’s going to get political because that’s just how people work. But I’ve also not really seen that creep into any other threads like it did on the old site.
Yes, it is my fault for getting involved in this one today.
And this post is red meat for the haters obviously.
But every Morning Dump, whether there’s an explicit connection to politics or Tesla or not, inevitably devolves into “I hate Elon the most” contest in the comments. I’m not sure how that can be fixed.
I’m not sure what’s to be done about it honestly. I tend to get worked up about a lot of the political stuff because I grew up in a very liberal country and moved to a very conservative state and so much of what I see is crazy to me. But I also don’t want to shove opinions down people’s throughts or be a dick to them because they may see things differently than I do, so I’ve taken the path of just shutting up and keeping my acerbic comments contained to cars. We don’t all do that, and I don’t know that we can, but it would be nice for us to at least try.
Well, he could stop being shitty. That’s not likely.
I assume it will run it’s course and settle down in the comments. This place has been relatively tame compared to others.
It’s funny because I think you’ve made it pretty clear that you’re not exactly exuding praise for EVs, Tesla, or Musk, at any time on this website.
Nothing besides explicit hatred in every comment and outright Nazi comparisons, however fraught, are enough for some loud voices.
Maybe we should have a per-blog comment thread Nazi limit. Once we’ve hit three Nazis (let’s include Hitler and other Nazi related terms in that count) the comment gets edited automatically.
This would still allow for classics like “I did Nazi that coming” The Producers related jokes while reducing the Nazi comparisons considerably.
Honestly, getting rid of likes for comments is probably for the best.
I’m as guilty as anyone of refreshing the page to see that number go up when I’ve made one I’m proud of. But too many people craving that ultimately hollow feedback leads to the increasingly over-the-top comments, until we arrive here.
Whoa whoa whoa, let’s not get carried away here! /s
You’re probably right. But I imagine The Autopian wants that incentive baked into the comments section for the sake of engagement. Which is fair. It’s tough to strike that balance.
Credit where credit is due though, I still find this to be the most positive corner of the entire internet.
Take your smiley.
(It’s almost a mental illness)
Standing against vehicular vandalism is not making a pro-Musk statement.
So Musk is allowed to actually condemn people to death by randomly and without warning cutting off medical funding for the poor, US aid to overseas doctors and care organizations, and the CDC disease trackers to name a just few…. but condemning him and his supporters for it is being a meany?
Is saying it here going to change any minds?
Is anyone here (or anywhere) still undecided on what they think of Elon Musk?
Is the 1000th comment saying the same thing adding anything to the discourse here?
Or is it needless provocation that belongs elsewhere, not on a site many of us pay for because of the quality of the comment sections?
I’m pretty sure there are more comments by you whining about this than there are comments advocating harm to cybertrucks or their owners.
Why are you so bothered by Musk being called out for his role in an attempted fascist takeover of the United States? He is fair game because the cybertruck is his creation and his wealth is tied to Tesla.
Hiding your head in the sand because the truth hurts does not help anyone.
DOH!
Careful, looks like freedom of speech is only for those that think like him.
You know what would be really useful? Putting those numbers from the tables on the results next to each other for each truck so you can easily compare the numbers. Since they’re almost all 5* then it’s getting into the minutiae of the results that makes the difference.
I didn’t see the results frim the IED resistance test in Vegas listed here.
“we don’t know if the stainless steel Cybertruck is disproportionately more dangerous than others when it comes to the safety of the passengers in vehicles it hits”
Most passenger trucks aren’t made of knives, 7000 pounds and faster than a boxter so I can hazard a guess, I think
I’d like to think the initial smashy-smashy (looks like 17 December) was the result of a particularly good office Xmas party and things escalated from there.
Once everyone sobered up, they realized the only way out was to document everything and call it “testing”.
“The difference between screwing around and science is writing it down.”
― Adam Savage
(I think he said in an interview that he got that quote from someone else.)
One down, many thousands left to smash.
Snipping the valve stems is quite entertaining and doesn’t approach the value where the boys in blue start to care.
Valve core removers can be had for a dollar and don’t do any damage. While, theoretically, leaving a vehicle stranded with tires that won’t hold air. THEORETICALLY.
I don’t care about this dumb thing. It saddens me to see the effort put into this article. Effort that could have been better spent elsewhere.
I know it’s not a perfect sliding scale, but I do magically wish we could have double the volume of articles at half the length. Sometimes it gets a little too into the weeds.
Not a paying member, so my vote is like 3/5 or something 🙂
I would agree
Where are the in-depth massive-scroll reviews of crash test data for Porsche 911s, Miatas, Chevy Equinox EVs, Jeep Wranglers, Ford Broncos, etc.?
Oh – but this one is SPECIAL.
Further proof the United States needs comprehensive pedestrian and “other vehicle” crash test standards. Elon did say that, in a crash “you will win.” But that’s because a Cybertruck will turn pedestrians into chunky marinara and other cars will arrive at the scrap yard pre compacted.
I mean, it weighs close to 7000lbs, it’s going to go through any human being or any other car that isn’t another Cybertruck like it’s nothing. The only way to get hurt in this moronic thing is to hit a fixed object like a wall or a large oak tree.
Last I checked, there are still people who can’t afford such gawdy monstrosities who drive things like Civics, Miatas and Versas–you know, cars. Heck, I think there may even be motorcycles and bicyclists out there too.
I used to get bent out of shape when 5000+lb SUVs were showing up on the road–and now we have these. The only thing I can hope for is that these will be a short-lived fad much like the H1s and H2s we all saw 20 years ago. They came, they flamed out and largely disappeared except for the small clatch of uber-douches who insisted they were somehow still a good thing.
Anything over 5000lbs should require a CDL. If you need a heavy truck that bad, then you can pop for better insurance and some demonstrable driving skills.
The protection may be needed since there’s “full self driving.” It might run into a semi, tree or other object bigger than itself thinking it’s an apparition.
I think the 5k lbs requirement of a CDL is a little excessive that would say you need a CDL for some 150/1500 trucks and all 250/2500 trucks. That would also mean you need one for things like the Sequoia and other full size SUV’s.
I don’t think that’s a horrible idea though, because a lot of the trucks I see every day are large enough that the hood it taller than the roof on my car, and I can’t imagine that the visibility of things directly in front of you is particularly great. I work at a school, and seeing some of the parents pull through the carpool lane to try to pick up thier kids in these massive trucks is a daily comedy, with tthe exception of the constant worry that one of the kids will walk in front of one of them and get hit because the driver couldn’t see them.
Ok, sure it might be a bit heavy handed, but maybe some intermediate step license.
There is a 16 year old kid at my son’s school who has been driving for a few weeks. Shows up in a brand new lifted, F350. What could possibly go wrong?
Oh for sure but the same can be said if the parents bought him a brand new Dark Horse mustang or some other 400+ hp car. We don’t require and special licenses for cars like that.
My other concern with requiring a CDL for light duty style vehicles we already have a shortage of CDL drivers in the country and requiring CDLs for things like pickup trucks or delivery vans would really affect businesses in a bad way.
Why is it not a good idea to have higher requirements for a vehicle that weighs this much with an increased stopping distance?
If this weighed the best 10k the Hummer EV I can understand it but this thing weighs roughly the same as most 250/2500 trucks. As I posted above requiring CDL’s for light duty trucks or delivery vans would cause a lot of issues with businesses due to there already being shortages of CDL drivers. Also I work for a truck manufacturer and have seen some of the drivers getting CDL’s today it does not mean someone is a good or safe driver just because they have a CDL.
Also stopping distance on vehicles today is much better then vehicles from 30+ years ago so are we saying we need special requirements for driving vehicles that old also?
So then, all the conditions you noted are fine? Do nothing? All is well?
Basically, yes.
If you’re going to advocate for a radical change like CDLs for 50% of the vehicles on the road, there better be an overwhelming reason why.
Not merely returning to the vehicle fatality rate of 2007-08.
I think CDL training needs to be more thorough and make sure we have good drivers out there. But that goes down the whole rabbit hole of drivers being paid crap and why would people want to be working somewhere where they cannot make ends meet. I just don’t think just throwing a CDL requirement on anything that is essentially not a car, cross over or small SUV and thinking that will just cause pedestrian deaths to go away I think is wishful thinking. Also the number of pedestrian deaths in the US is very low roughly ~7500 a year.
I think something that should be done is we should be required to retake safety test for our licenses more often. In Indiana this year since I have no arrest or any marks against my license I was able to renew my license online for another 5 years.
More testing would probably be a great place to start.
“causing a lot of issues with business”
So you don’t think drivers of commercial vehicles should get commercial driving licenses?
Old vehicles didn’t have airbags, you cannot buy a car without an airbag today. It doesn’t matter what was normal or acceptable in the past, we are talking about dangerous vehicles that weigh more than ever, with limited visibility and an increased stopping distance over vehicles that can perform the exact task people are using these vehicles for (commuting and going to Sam’s).
Again, if it’s a work truck then it is a commercial vehicle, and if it’s not a work truck it’s a lifestyle vehicle that increases danger to people others and you absolutely should be required to be certified to drive them.
No I do not think a CDL should be required as I stated above for things like delivery vehicles without other changes. If you required that that would require every UPS, USPS, FedEx, Amazon, DHL and so on delivery drivers dropping off packages to your house to have a CDL. Unless there was some major change in the economics behind CDL drivers pay then I would say yes there should be a requirement but with the way things currently are there would need to be changes across the board for this to work you cannot just slap oh all commercial driving requires CDL’s now would cause a lot of issues.
Maybe it doesn’t need to be a CDL specifically, but these vehicles are not just passenger cars and it feels like the majority of people driving them don’t realize that.
Can we bring back headlight aiming while we are at it?
Oh I agree as I also stated above it is ridiculous most states only require you to do driving test when you first get your license and not again until you are like 75+ (or if you have arrest or marks on license). But there should be some sort of driving test you are required to do with the types of vehicles you are going to be driving not a CDL level requirement but if you are mainly driving full size pick up trucks maybe you do a test for your license to allow full size pickups.
The the Hummer EV weighs 9000 pounds with a battery heavier than a 90s economy car.
I might have missed it in all this data, but how did it hold up protecting fragile egos?
Well given a wave of middle fingers is almost as common as getting stuck in mild weather for the CT, I’d wager 1 out of 5 stars
The cybertruck is that kid from high school that could barely work a door knob and fell down the same set of stairs 11 times but somehow got an A on that geometry final.
The American public are the crash test dummies in the test of American democracy.
I hope we fare as well as this vehicle did.
We’ll be fine, Elon Musk has already promised to return power to the elected President once the current issues are dealt with
Good one.
Thank you.
The CyberTruck is a weird contradiction when it comes to pedestrian safety. It’s got sharp edges everywhere but because (like all of Tesla’s vehicles) it has a very low nose with minimal blind spot and good cameras it’s much less likely to hit a pedestrian in the first place.
Of course, the rest of Tesla’s cars show that you can have the low nose without a juvenile ‘look at me’ design so…
The visibility out of the Cybertruck isn’t good, and cameras aren’t going to solve that issue. The Model 3 might not be bad for pedestrians, but the Cybertruck is a nightmare.
The low nose is way less likely to obstruct a pedestrian than other vehicles in its class. Compare the view over the front of the CT to, say, the GM pickups and it’s very clear that the front blind spot is way smaller.
That’s not to say the CT is good on an absolute scale, it’s on a relative one.
The lower nose is only one aspect. It helps for something right in front of you but the A-pillar monstrosity is much more likely to hide a person at a crosswalk while taking a right or left. Add in the complete lack of visibility in any rearward direction and I would be surprised if the totality gave the Cybertruck an visibility advantage over any full size truck.
Fair arguments on the A-pillars, though I think you’d be hard pressed to see anyone below 5’10” out the back of any modern pickup.
I have an extended cab Tacoma, and the visibility isn’t bad. The F150 my partner drove for work for a couple of years had a cap on the back, and it was horrendous. The smaller cab pickups tend to be better than you would think because the pillars are fairly straight up and down and close, allowing you to move your head and see around them.
Yeah, I’m comparing to full-sizers not the Taco/Ranger/Frontier/Maverick — it seems that only the pickups that exist to reinforce their owners’ masculinity are afflicted by the trend towards ever-higher bedsides for styling reasons.
In my head, the full-size pickups and the Cybertruck (really more of a ‘tweener) are designed for posing, the smaller pickups are designed for work.
Have you driven one? I was pleasantly surprised at how good the frontal and corner visibility was compared to even an F-150, forget any of the overwrought HDs. And I am not exactly 6’4 and 300 pounds of corn-fed American.
My only quibble was indeed rearward visibility, but I don’t think any modern pickup or even SUV has that either.
The sharp angle at the front of the car is going to hurt a person at speeds where a vehicle with a flat front would not.
This is a misunderstanding of what I’m saying. I’m saying that the smaller blind spot in the front of the truck will result in fewer accidents ever happening — not about the likelihood of injury in those accidents.
But also, flat-fronted vehicles are absolutely more likely to cause injury — in pedestrian-vs-truck accidents, the injuries come when the person is thrown to the ground and run over, not from the actual shapes on the front of the vehicle. Those injuries are relatively less severe compared to the ones from being run over.
Now, if you want to make the argument that the average Cybertruck driver is more likely to drive dangerously and not care when they hit a pedestrian… sure. That I’ll buy.
I would be curious what happens in a higher speed frontal crash. With the pointy roof line and the way those crash photos looked, seems like with more force the roof could be at risk of folding down/inward between the A pillar and the “point”.
I do not give a sh!t about the Cybertruck. Just an ugly stainless douchebag transportation vessel built by the emperor of douchbags. Well the company is owned by said emperor anyway. But, the level of detail about the crash test procedure in this article is glorious.
I guess the vehicle structures team is very aware of how well the FSD team is doing, and put in extra effort as a result.
Tesla has historically had some of the best safety and crash test ratings in the automotive world, like the stories passed around that the Model S broke the NHTSA crush test equipment back in 2013. For all of it’s poor design choices from layout, fragile electronics, and aluminum frame, the Tesla safety team knows what they’re doing.
I’d hate to see what the repair bills on CTs are though, I imagine so many get totaled by insurance because nobody wants to even think about repairing them.
CT owners are not going to be happy taking current market value for their totaled vehicles.
Especially that dude that had over 100k in negative equity in his without GAP insurance.
I do truly feel bad for the engineers at tesla actually trying while their boss does ketamine, says they’re primarily an AI company and tries to take over the government
The more time he spends on ketamine and fascism, the less time he spends trying to convince them that reaction thrusters are a valid means of steering a vehicle.
They tried as hard as they could to improve the looks
Meanwhile, Elon Musk is crash testing the US government and it’s not looking good at all.
I truly don’t care if anyone inside a Cybertruck is injured or killed in a crash. I am far more worried about the damage it will do to whomever or whatever it hits.
Yep, that crashed frontend is a nightmare of sharp edges
It’ll be rechristened the Assblaster or DilDozer for our upcoming rehabilitation sessions.
Add “Patriot” at the front of those and I think you have it.
Beef Supreme is interested.