Tesla has proven that the Cybertruck can protect its occupants in the United States, but meeting Europe’s far stricter standards for everyone outside the vehicle is a very different challenge.
Whether you admire it, despise it, or still can’t decide what to make of its sharp-edged stainless-steel design, the Tesla Cybertruck has just added another major achievement to its résumé.
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has awarded it a Top Safety Pick+, the organization’s highest possible distinction. That puts the Cybertruck among a very small group of vehicles that meet the IIHS’s toughest criteria.
Unsurprisingly, Tesla has seized on the moment to fire back at critics. Now comes the harder test: proving the Cybertruck can survive Europe’s more demanding safety standards, which focus not only on occupants but also on pedestrians and cyclists.
There’s no denying that earning a Top Safety Pick+ is a real accomplishment. The IIHS regularly tightens its testing requirements, often on an annual basis, making the award increasingly difficult to secure. Notably, the accolade applies to Cybertrucks built after April of this year.
Those post-April Cybertrucks received a number of structural revisions, including changes to the underbody and footwell areas. Thanks to those updates, the truck earned Good ratings in both driver- and passenger-side small overlap front crash tests.
Performance in the moderate overlap frontal test was also rated Good, with the only blemish being an Acceptable score for rear passenger chest protection.
Side-impact testing, updated in 2024 to better reflect crashes involving heavier, taller vehicles, also resulted in a Good overall score. Combine that with Good-rated LED headlights, effective pedestrian crash prevention, and strong child seat anchor performance, and the Cybertruck successfully checks every IIHS box.
Many skeptics once argued that Tesla’s angular design would struggle with crumple zones and energy absorption. Those concerns haven’t materialized. Tesla even celebrated the milestone on social media, poking fun at Matt Farah after his earlier claims that the Cybertruck would never pass safety testing at all.
While earning top safety marks is significant anywhere, the way safety is evaluated in the U.S. differs sharply from how it’s approached in Europe. In America, both the IIHS and NHTSA place the overwhelming emphasis on occupant protection.
Across Europe, UNECE regulations and Euro NCAP testing devote much more attention to pedestrian and cyclist safety. Exterior impact mitigation, vehicle compatibility in urban settings, and injury reduction for vulnerable road users all carry substantial weight.
This is where the Cybertruck’s challenges begin. Its rigid stainless-steel panels, sharp angles, and uncompromising geometry clash directly with European pedestrian protection rules, which require deformable front ends and energy-absorbing surfaces designed to reduce harm in vehicle-to-person collisions.
Tesla’s Grünheide plant manager André Thierig has effectively ruled out a European rollout, saying he doesn’t expect the Cybertruck to be “driving on European roads in significant numbers.”
Although a single Cybertruck reportedly exists in Germany under a special permit, it required modifications, and Tesla leadership has cautioned against assuming broader availability.
In simple terms, sometimes yes, and sometimes they’re just different. US testing arguably does a better job accounting for collisions involving large vehicles, which makes sense given how dominant trucks and SUVs are on American roads.
Europe, by contrast, excels at protecting vulnerable road users, an area that U.S. safety testing largely overlooks.
The Cybertruck has now demonstrated that it can protect the people inside it extremely well. What it has not shown, and likely cannot show in its current form, is the ability to meet Europe’s external safety requirements without a fundamental redesign.
For now, the Cybertruck stands as a safety success story in the U.S. market. Tesla would undoubtedly like to sell it more broadly, and many European fans would welcome it, but under today’s rules, that remains highly unlikely.
Also Read: 5 Cars Best for Charlotte Suburban Life vs 5 That Cost More to Service
