The electric pickup’s angular design and stainless steel body material could cause injury to others.
Safety experts are concerned that the Tesla Cybertruck’s too-stiff body could hurt pedestrians and cyclists on the road. Even an electric pickup can cause damage to other vehicles.
Opinions regarding the Cybertruck’s safety level were raised after Reuters asked a number of experts who viewed crash test videos conducted by Tesla with the pickup truck.
Crash test videos were streamed online by Tesla on November 30 – the first day the company delivered cars to customers after 4 years of waiting. Debate immediately broke out on social media channels. Experts say they need crash test data to come to a firm conclusion about safety.
Video: Carscoops
“The biggest problem is that if they really make the car’s body really strong using stainless steel, and then when someone hits their head on the car, it will cause major damage,” said Adrian Lund – former president of the Institute of Conservation. Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) – says.
Tesla promotes that the pickup’s structure absorbs impact in the event of a collision. CEO Elon Musk said in a social media post on December 5 that he is “very confident” that Cybertruck will be safer than other pickup models for people in the vehicle as well as pedestrians.
The car is designed with long flat surfaces and many angles. This is also the first car model with a stainless steel body since the launch of the DeLorean (1981-1982). This material even breaks down the stamping machine – which creates the body panels themselves – according to Musk when talking about the car’s rigidity.
During the launch event at its factory in Austin, Texas, Tesla said the car’s cold-rolled stainless steel body panels are designed to absorb impact during a collision. The structure of the front and rear of the car has energy-absorbing bars that help dissipate energy during a collision, and if there is a side collision, the car door will be responsible for most of the impact.
Samer Hamdar – a professor of auto safety at George Washington University – raised concerns about limited “crumple zones”, but added that other features could improve this. . The crumple zone is a part of the car that deforms in the event of a collision in a way that safely absorbs external energy impacting the vehicle.
Starting at $61,000, the Cybertruck won’t be a high-volume product like Tesla’s other models, but Musk said Tesla could reach production of 250,000 Cybertrucks per year by 2025.
While safety concerns about the Cybertruck have begun to arise in the US, where the vehicle is already on sale, Tesla has not mentioned that it will sell this product in Europe. But recently, the company’s technical director told TopGear that safety regulations in Europe are different from the US, limiting the vehicle’s exterior protrusion, which could make Cybertruck difficult to sell in the old continent. Not to mention other obstacles.
“We hope Tesla does not bring this car to Europe. A car of that size, power and weight could be deadly to pedestrians and cyclists,” Transportation Safety Board Europe (ETSC) said in a statement.