The Tesla Cybertruck was designed to crash the internet, not the way we think about pickup safety. Stainless-steel armor, a wedge profile straight out of dystopian sci‑fi, and eye‑watering acceleration all raise the same question: is this thing actually safe to live with in the real world?
The short version
As of 2025, the Cybertruck has earned a five‑star overall rating from NHTSA and a “good” rating in IIHS’s key moderate-overlap crash test. That’s elite company. But the same rigid exoskeleton that protects people inside raises ethical questions about what happens to everyone outside the truck in a crash.
Cybertruck safety at a glance (2025)
Cybertruck safety snapshot
How to read these scores
Five stars and “good” ratings mean the Cybertruck protects its own occupants extremely well in the standardized tests. They do not mean it’s the safest thing for everyone else on the road. With vehicles this heavy and stiff, context matters.
Crash test results: NHTSA and IIHS
By early 2025, the Cybertruck had run the federal crash‑test gauntlet and walked away with the headline Tesla wanted: a five‑star overall rating from NHTSA across frontal, side, and rollover assessments. Frontal driver protection scored five stars; the front passenger and rollover resistance slipped to four, but the composite score is still the agency’s top tier.
On the insurance‑industry side, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) added the Cybertruck to its test roster in 2025. In the updated moderate overlap front test, which now scrutinizes rear‑seat protection as well as the driver, Cybertruck models built after April 2025 earned a “good” rating, putting them in the same safety neighborhood as conservative, utterly un‑viral vehicles like the BMW i4 and Chevy Blazer EV.
Pay attention to build dates
IIHS’s rating applies to Cybertrucks built after structural tweaks Tesla made in April 2025. If you’re shopping used, check the build month on the driver’s door jamb; earlier trucks may not perform quite as well in that specific test configuration.
How the stainless ‘exoskeleton’ actually behaves in a crash
Cybertruck’s calling card is its stainless‑steel exoskeleton, 3 mm cold‑rolled 30X steel panels that are both bodywork and structure. Traditional pickups hide behind deformable sheet metal and sacrificial crumple zones; they’re designed to fold gracefully so you don’t. The Cybertruck’s body is more… obstinate.
What’s good about the exoskeleton
- Huge global stiffness: The rigid shell and structural battery pack resist twisting, helping the cabin hold its shape when you really don’t want it to change.
- Excellent intrusion control: Crash footage shows minimal deformation around the passenger cell in front and side impacts.
- Corrosion and dent resistance: From a long‑term safety angle, that means fewer rust‑through issues in critical areas compared with an old‑school steel frame and body.
Where it gets complicated
- Less natural energy absorption: What doesn’t crumple has to send that energy somewhere, into your restraints, your internal organs, or the other vehicle.
- Harsh on smaller cars: In a mismatch collision, the Cybertruck’s stiff, tall nose can ride up and over the crash structures in compact cars.
- Edge case concerns: The origami styling creates sharp bends and edges that don’t behave like soft stamping dies when they meet human bodies.
Hidden softness under the armor
To make the exoskeleton street‑legal, Tesla quietly buried energy‑absorbing foam and internal crash members behind that stainless nose. Think of it as a steel hammer with a foam pad epoxied to the face, better than bare metal, but still a hammer.
Protecting the people inside: strengths and limits
If you’re the one sitting in the thing, the Cybertruck is a fortress. The crash‑test scores aren’t a fluke; they’re the product of three factors working together: mass, structure, and electronics.
Inside the Cybertruck: why occupants fare so well
Mass and software team up with the metalwork.
Brute mass advantage
Rigid safety cell
Software bodyguard
The weak spots? Rear‑seat protection has historically been a pain point across many EVs because their stiff structures dump more energy into the belts. IIHS’s updated tests focus specifically on back‑seat chest forces, and early Cybertruck builds needed structural tuning to get up to “good.” Even now, if you regularly carry kids or adults in the second row, you want them in properly adjusted belts or child seats, not lounging under the shoulder strap.
Family‑use best practices
For kids, use high‑quality child seats and boosters rated for the Cybertruck’s weight class and follow LATCH instructions to the letter. For adults, raise the seatbacks, set head restraints level with the top of the head, and keep the lap belt low over the hips, not across the stomach.
What about people outside the truck? Pedestrians and other drivers
Here’s where the Cybertruck’s safety story gets morally crunchy. For its own occupants, it’s a fantastic crash room. For everyone it hits, the calculus is less flattering.
- The hood and nose are tall, flat, and stiff compared with most modern pickups that use more rounded, deformable structures for pedestrian safety.
- The truck’s ride height and weight mean smaller cars can under‑ride or be shoved aside rather than absorb impact in their own crumple zones.
- Those crisp panel edges look cool in parking‑lot reflections; in a collision with a cyclist or pedestrian, the geometry could concentrate forces in ugly ways.
The elephant in the room
A five‑star Cybertruck hitting a three‑star compact at an offset angle at city speeds is not a fair fight. If you buy one, understand that your personal safety margin partly comes at the expense of other road users. How you drive, and where, matters more than usual.
That doesn’t make the Cybertruck uniquely evil; it joins a whole class of oversized pickups and SUVs that have quietly shifted risk outward for the better part of two decades. The difference is that the Cybertruck is unapologetic about it, wrapping the tradeoff in brushed stainless and LED theatrics.
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Battery, fire, and EV‑specific safety in the Cybertruck
Under the floor, the Cybertruck carries a large high‑voltage pack integrated into the structure. Like other Tesla products, it uses multiple layers of physical shielding, electronic monitoring, and automatic shut‑off to keep crashes from turning into chemistry lessons.
EV safety layers baked into the Cybertruck
What’s going on under the stainless skin.
Structural battery pack
Thermal management
High‑voltage shut‑off
Fire risk in context
Dramatic EV fire videos get views, but statistically, EVs, including Teslas, catch fire less often per mile driven than gasoline vehicles. What’s different is how they burn: slower to ignite, harder to fully extinguish, and more likely to reignite hours later.
If you live in an apartment or park in a shared garage, Cybertruck ownership comes with the same responsibilities as any large EV: use properly installed charging equipment, avoid sketchy extension cords, and pay attention to recalls or software updates that mention charging or the battery pack. A good home‑charging setup is a safety feature, not an accessory.
Real‑world issues: recalls, quirks, and legal cases
No vehicle this radical launches without teething problems, and the Cybertruck has had its share, some cosmetic, others more sobering.
- Early recall campaigns addressed problems like loose accelerator pedal covers and trim issues, the sort of launch‑year chaos Tesla owners have come to expect.
- Owner reports have flagged inconsistent panel gaps and water sealing. That’s annoying, but over time it can become a safety issue if moisture reaches wiring or critical corrosion points.
- In 2025, families filed lawsuits alleging that Cybertruck door handles failed in a crash, complicating escape and rescue. Those cases will take years to resolve, but they underline a larger theme with Tesla: cutting‑edge hardware sometimes gets paired with just‑good‑enough basic ergonomics.
Check the basics, not just the headlines
When you evaluate a Cybertruck, don’t get hypnotized by the crash scores and stainless cosplay. Test the doorhandles. Make sure windows, wipers, lights, and seat controls all work consistently. In an emergency, it’s the low‑tech interfaces that matter most.
There’s also the uncomfortable social‑safety angle. In some cities, Cybertrucks have become political Rorschach tests on wheels, targets for vandalism, social‑media stunts, or just garden‑variety resentment. That isn’t the truck’s fault, but if you live in a dense urban area, it’s part of the lived‑experience risk profile.
Buying a Cybertruck new or used: safety checklist
Safety checks before you sign for a Cybertruck
1. Verify build date and recall history
Look at the build month/year on the driver’s door jamb and cross‑check it against known recalls and IIHS notes. Trucks built after April 2025 have the latest structural updates; earlier builds should show completed recall work in their service records.
2. Inspect the exoskeleton carefully
Stainless steel hides its sins well. Get the truck up on a rack and look for evidence of previous repairs, kinks in structural members, or discoloration from amateur welding. On a vehicle this stiff, minor structural damage can have major consequences in a future crash.
3. Test every door and window repeatedly
Open and close all doors from inside and outside, including the tailgate and frunk. Check for inconsistent latching, sticky handles, and sluggish windows. If it misbehaves in a parking lot, it won’t magically improve during an accident.
4. Drive it like you’ll actually use it
On a test drive, deliberately try sudden stops, lane changes, and low‑speed maneuvers. Note sight lines, blind spots, brake feel, and how easy it is to keep the truck centered. If it feels like work now, it will be exhausting in a snowstorm.
5. Review driver‑assist and software status
Confirm that safety‑critical software is up to date and that features like automatic emergency braking, lane‑keeping, and blind‑spot monitoring are functioning with no warning lights. Ask for documentation of recent over‑the‑air updates.
6. Get independent battery and systems diagnostics
A Cybertruck’s safety story includes its battery health and high‑voltage system. With a used truck, use independent diagnostics, like a <strong>Recharged Score</strong> report, to check pack health, charging behavior, and any stored fault codes that might hint at deeper issues.
How Recharged can help
If you’re shopping for a used Cybertruck, or deciding whether to bail on the one you have, Recharged can surface trucks with verified battery health, transparent pricing, and a Recharged Score that calls out safety‑relevant issues. You can trade in, sell, or buy entirely online and have the truck delivered to your door, with EV specialists on call to walk through the details.
How Cybertruck safety compares to other electric trucks
Cybertruck vs other electric pickups: safety snapshot
High‑level view based on publicly available crash data as of late 2025.
| Model | NHTSA Overall | IIHS Key Ratings* | Curb Weight | Notable Safety Angle |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tesla Cybertruck | 5★ | Good (moderate overlap, post‑4/25) | Very high | Outstanding self‑protection, serious questions about external risk. |
| Ford F‑150 Lightning | 5★ | Generally Good | High | Conventional, well‑understood crash behavior; big but less polarizing. |
| Rivian R1T | 5★ | Top Safety Pick+ on early trims | High | Strong mix of active safety, structure, and pedestrian‑friendly front end. |
| GMC Hummer EV | 5★ | Limited public data | Extremely high | Tank‑like occupant protection, enormous mass and footprint. |
Ratings simplify a complex reality, but they’re useful for gut‑level comparisons when you’re truck shopping.
A class of blunt instruments
Viewed against its peer group, the Cybertruck isn’t uniquely menacing, it’s part of a broader wave of very tall, very heavy electric trucks. They all trade some societal safety for individual security; the Cybertruck just wears the tradeoff like a designer jacket.
Should you be worried? A balanced take
If your only question is, “Will the Cybertruck protect my family in a crash?” the answer, based on 2024–2025 data, is yes, spectacularly so. Its crash scores are top‑tier, its structure is brutally competent, and its software safety net is better than what you find in many legacy pickups.
If your question is, “Is the Cybertruck a good citizen on public roads?” the answer gets murkier. It joins oversized pickups and SUVs in shifting some risk onto smaller vehicles, cyclists, and pedestrians. Unlike a lovingly rounded F‑150, it emphasizes that imbalance with its styling, which is precisely why it’s controversial.
- You should absolutely respect its mass and presence, this is not a casual commuter hatchback you can fling around in traffic.
- You should assume other drivers and pedestrians will react to the truck, for better or worse, and drive accordingly.
- You should treat the safety tech as backup singers, not the headliner. Hands on the wheel, attention up, ego down.
Who the Cybertruck makes sense for
If you tow, haul, or cover serious highway miles and want a rolling panic room with outrageous performance, the Cybertruck is compelling, provided you’re honest about the responsibility that comes with driving a stainless‑steel brick. If your life is mostly dense urban streets and tight parking, a smaller EV or crossover will be kinder to everyone involved, including you.
Cybertruck safety FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Cybertruck safety
Underneath the memes, the Cybertruck is a serious safety machine for the people riding inside it, and a serious responsibility for the person behind the wheel. If you’re considering buying one, new or used, make sure you’re not just captivated by the stainless spectacle. Get the data, drive it in the conditions you actually face, and, if you’re going pre‑owned, lean on independent diagnostics like a Recharged Score to see past the armor.
