Tesla Cybertruck and new Model 3 miss the top marks in latest crash tests

Tesla Cybertruck and the new Model 3 have both fallen short of the top marks in IIHS’ latest round of crash tests.

Over the years, Tesla has consistently earned top safety ratings from various agencies, but this time it could get it from IIHS.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) released its latest batch of safety ratings following a new wave of crash tests.

Two Tesla vehicles were part of the batch: the 2025 Cybertruck and 2025 Model 3.

Advertisement – scroll for more content

They both received “good” safety ratings from IIHS, but they fell short of being considered “top safety picks” due to some smaller issues.

For the Cybertruck, its headlights were rated “poor”:

The Cybertruck’s headlights were also downgraded because the low beams created excessive glare.

The overall crash test performance was almost entirely “good”:

Here’s a video of some of the Cybertruck crash tests:

IIHS mentions that this crash test is only relevant for the Cybertruck starting in April 2025 due to Tesla having made “changes to the front underbody structure” after that.

For Model 3, IIHS’ crash test concluded that there’s an elevated risk for rear passengers due to the seat belts:

 In the case of the Model 3, however, measurements taken from the rear dummy indicate a somewhat elevated risk of chest injuries due to high belt forces.

The rest of the results from the crash tests were good:

Here are videos of the crash tests for the 2025 Tesla Model 3:

Earlier this year, Electrek reported that Tesla’s top crash safety architect left the company.