The Tesla Cybertruck’s angular design has triggered concerns among safety experts. They believe that the electric pickup truck’s hard stainless steel shell may injure pedestrians and cyclists and damage other vehicles on the road. vehicle.
Reuters spoke to six safety experts and officials who watched video of the Cybertruck’s crash test during Tesla’s webcast event and said the crash test data was needed to draw firm conclusions about the Cybertruck’s safety.
Adrian Lund, former president of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), said: “Using heavy stainless steel plates to make the vehicle shell very rigid is a big problem if people hit their heads on it. Causing greater harm.” The IIHS’s vehicle crash tests are the industry standard.
It is noted that Tesla demonstrated the ability of the truck structure to absorb impact forces in crash tests. The company’s CEO, Elon Musk, said on social media on Tuesday that he was confident that the Cybertruck would be better than other vehicles. Trucks are safer with “high confidence”, both for occupants and pedestrians.
Tesla did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment on concerns raised by safety experts.
The Cybertruck has a distinctive appearance with its flat surfaces and long straight lines. At a launch event at its Austin, Texas, factory, Tesla said the cold-rolled stainless steel body panels are designed to absorb impact in the event of a crash. Tesla said that the front and rear structures use energy-absorbing ribs to help disperse energy. In the event of a side collision, the outer skin of the door bears most of the collision load.
Samer Hamdar, an automotive safety professor at George Washington University, expressed concern about the Cybertruck’s limited “crash zone,” but added that other features might make up for it. Crushable zones are parts of a car that deform during a collision to absorb crash energy in a safer way. “There may be some kind of shock-absorbing mechanism that compensates for the limited crumple zone,” Hamdar said.
Many concerns have focused on those outside the Cybertruck, with Musk once saying: “If you collide with another car, you win.”
David Friedman, former acting administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, described the consequences of being a crash loser: “If you collide with another car that has a crumple zone, and your car is stronger, , then their car will be crushed and your car will win.”
Julia Griswold, director of the Center for Safe Transportation Research and Education at the University of California, Berkeley, said she was “shocked” by the crash test video released by Tesla. The truck’s heavy weight and rapid acceleration “raise red flags for non-occupants,” she said.
Tesla has not said whether it will sell the Cybertruck in Europe, but its chief engineer told automotive media Top Gear this month that EU safety rules aimed at protecting pedestrians would make it difficult to sell in Europe.
The European Transport Safety Council, a Brussels-based non-profit group, said in a statement: “We hope that Tesla will not bring this car to Europe, where a vehicle of this size, power and weight would be more likely to be involved in a crash.” will cause fatal injuries to pedestrians and cyclists.”
U.S. regulators rely on automakers to test themselves and prove that they meet safety standards. Musk said in an interview with automotive consultant Sandy Munro that Cybertruck has passed regulatory review and the first dozen trucks were delivered to buyers last week.
