Tesla will have to try again next year for Cybertruck and Model 3 Top Safety Pick awards
The 2025 TeslaCybertruck and Model 3 have missed out on Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) Top Safety Pick+ and Top Safety Pick awards due to Acceptable, Marginal, and Poor ratings across a handful of categories. Tesla’s Cybertruck received Good ratings in the moderate overlap front updated test and the front crash prevention (pedestrian) system evaluations, but scored an Acceptable rating for its LATCH ease of use, which evaluates how easy it is to install a child restraint using the vehicle’s built-in Lower Anchors and Tethers for Children (LATCH) system. The Tesla Cybertruck also received a Marginal seat belt reminder score and a Poor rating for its headlights, which falls under the crash and mitigation category.
Regarding the Model 3, the IIHS rated the sedan’s side crashworthiness, front crash prevention system, and front crash prevention (pedestrian) system as Good. However, the Model 3’s moderate overlap front crash test and LATCH ease of use received Acceptable scores, and seatbelt reminders were deemed Marginal.
IIHS
While the Cybertruck’s headlights feature high-beam assist, the IIHS noted that there’s no curve-adaptation. The IIHS described the Cybertruck’s low beams as providing good visibility on the straightaway on both sides of the road. With curves, the IIHS rated the Cybertruck’s low beam visibility as good on the sharp left and both right curves and fair on the gradual left curve. Still, the low beams were said to produce excessive glare. The IIHS described the high beams as “On the straightaway, visibility was good on the right side of the road and fair on the left side. On curves, visibility was good in all four tests. High-beam assist compensates for some limitations of this vehicle’s low beams on the gradual left curve.”
The Cybertruck and Model Y didn’t score Top Safety Pick awards, but at least they weren’t the F-150 Lightning
While Tesla’s Cybertruck and Model 3 missed the mark in a handful of areas during IIHS testing, other electric vehicles (EVs), such as the 2025 Ford F-150 Lightning, scored a Poor overall evaluation in the moderate overlap front crashworthiness test. Specific subcategories contributing to this rating included Poor chest and rear passenger restraints and dummy kinematics. The IIHS wrote that “In the F-150 Lightning, measurements taken from the rear dummy showed a high risk of not only chest injuries but also injuries to the head or neck. In addition, the rear dummy’s lap belt moved from the ideal position on the pelvis onto the abdomen, which increases the risk of internal injuries.”
IIHS
Final thoughts
IIHS officials noted that almost all of today’s vehicles offer quality front-seat crash protection, but clarified that backseat performance, which the organization started testing in 2022, is what differentiates vehicles. While the Model 3 received a “Marginal” rating for rear passenger chest injury within the moderate overlap front test, the sedan scored “Good” designations for the remaining three rear passenger injury evaluations, which include head/neck, thigh, and rear passenger restraints and dummy kinematics.
Additionally, despite receiving a “Poor” headlights rating under crash avoidance and mitigation, the Cybertruck secured a “Good” label for its moderate overlap front crashworthiness test. While automakers like Tesla hurt some by losing out on IIHS Top Safety Pick awards, evaluations for EVs like Ford’s F-150 Lightning should raise more eyebrows, considering that the pickup’s Poor overall rating was for the moderate overlap front test, which, as the IIHS said, has become the X factor differentiating crashworthiness.
