Tesla performed its in-house crash testing of the Cybertruck, and because it was in compliance with Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards, the car can be delivered to customers. However, it does not have official safety ratings from the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA), and the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety (IIHS) has no plans to test the vehicle.
There’s an explanation for all of it, however.
The Cybertruck’s Situation with the NHTSA
The NHTSA does not “approve” new vehicles, but it establishes performance requirements that comply with FMVSS. Manufacturers certify compliance with these standards when they crash test internally. Some vehicles are crash-tested directly by the NHTSA, but the Cybertruck is not one of these vehicles. At least not yet.
According to a 2020 report from Consumer Reports, “97 percent of all new vehicles sold are crash-test rated by one or both of the independent organizations.”
However, as the Cybertruck’s preliminary safety ratings have been added to the NHTSA database, they do not include any specific ratings in terms of crash ratings. The only ratings are safety features, such as Front Collision Warning, Lane Departure Warning, Crash Imminent Braking, and Dynamic Brake Support, which all meet performance criteria.
The Cybertruck is not mentioned on the 2024 list of vehicles to be included in the agency’s five-star safety ratings tests.
This means the Cybertruck will not have official ratings from the NHTSA until the truck is tested by them directly, per the agency, which clarified its plans to Teslarati on Monday.
The Cybertruck’s Situation with the IIHS
The IIHS also has no plans to test the Cybertruck, the organization told us.
“Automakers do perform their own crash tests to ensure compliance with federal regulations and for internal purposes,” Joe Young of the IIHS said. “Regardless of whether the [Cybertruck] is ever tested by IIHS or for NHTSA’s NCAP program, it will still need to meet federal motor vehicle safety standards, which require certain crash test standards.”
The Cybertruck has done this, and the recommendation from the NHTSA and IIHS is more or less another nod of confidence for any vehicle that is tested. Tesla has received five-star ratings for its vehicles from the NHTSA in the past.
Young also said the Cybertruck could be tested by the IIHS in the future. However, that decision will be made after it can assess “the level of general consumer interest in the vehicle.” If it is popular enough, the IIHS may test it.
Tesla ‘highly confident’ Cybertruck is safer than other trucks: Elon Musk
Additionally, Tesla could reach out to the IIHS and nominate the Cybertruck for testing:
“The testing nomination process allows automakers to essentially reimburse us for the cost of the vehicle(s) to get it tested more quickly than we might otherwise do so. Either scenario would require vehicle availability, however,” Young said.
The IIHS also has a verification test program, which allows automakers to submit in-house data and results of crash testing. Due to limited funding and time, the IIHS cannot independently test every consumer vehicle on the market, so it can use OEM data to do so. The program is regularly audited to ensure accuracy.
However, the Cybertruck is not currently able to be a part of the verification test program. Young explained, “As a new model, the Cybertruck wouldn’t be eligible for this program in our driver-side small overlap test, and we don’t accept verification data for our updated moderate overlap frontal crash test program. It’s possible it could be eligible for a verification rating in one or more of our other tests, but that would be at the discretion of our crashworthiness team.”
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News
Tesla Sweden maintains Trelleborg port deal despite union blockade
As noted in a report from Dagens Arbete (DA), Tesla was able to maintain its storage agreement with the Port of Trelleborg.
Tesla Sweden is still storing vehicles at the Port of Trelleborg despite the ongoing blockades against the company from the country’s labor unions.
Tesla still at Port of Trelleborg
As noted in a report from Dagens Arbete (DA), Tesla was able to maintain its storage agreement with the Port of Trelleborg. This allows the company to keep vehicles at the port while imports into Sweden continue. This was despite the Transport Workers’ Union’s blockade, which was aimed at halting the loading and unloading of Tesla vehicles in the area.
Local union leader Jörgen Wärja, chairman of Transport and an employee representative on the port company’s board, confirmed that the agreement was still active. “The agreement has not been terminated. You want to have the money instead of having empty warehouses. I understand the reason, but I do not support it,” Wärja said
The local union leader also noted that he visited Tesla’s storage area earlier this week. “There were a lot of cars. I was surprised that there were so many, actually,” he said.
Tesla had been able to bring vehicles into Sweden via passenger ferries at Trelleborg, a method that unions said allowed the company to bypass the blockade, DA noted. According to estimates from IF Metall, the workaround enabled Tesla to deliver thousands of cars to Sweden each year.
Port defends decision
The Port of Trelleborg did not issue a comment on its current agreement with Tesla, but said it had complied with union sympathy measures. Documents reviewed by Swedish media showed that the contract with Tesla was being extended in six-month intervals.
Port CEO Malin Collin noted that the port would not discuss individual customer arrangements. “We do not go into details regarding any customer agreements. We have continuous dialogue with potential tenants, and this is not unique to any location,” Collin wrote in an email.
The CEO added that the port was following legal requirements related to the labor dispute. “We have taken note of the Transport Workers’ Union’s decision on sympathy measures and are of course following applicable legislation and the requirements placed on us as employers,” Collin said.
Jörgen Wärja, for his part, stated that the issue was not whether Tesla’s imports into Sweden could be fully stopped, but whether the port should provide logistical support to the electric vehicle maker during an active conflict. “The port shouldn’t have anything to do with Tesla at all, we believe,” he said. “It’s purely moral. Whether you honor a conflict or not. If you say you support Transport’s sympathetic actions against Tesla, it becomes a double standard.”
Elon Musk
Elon Musk shares insights on SpaceX and Tesla’s potential scale
In a pair of recent posts on X, Musk argued that both companies operate in domains where growth is not linear, but exponential.
Elon Musk outlined why he believes Tesla and SpaceX ultimately dwarf their competitors, pointing to autonomy, robotics, and space-based energy as forces that fundamentally reshape economic scale.
In a pair of recent posts on X, Musk argued that both companies operate in domains where growth is not linear, but exponential.
Space-based energy
In a response to a user on X who observed that SpaceX has a larger valuation than all six US defense companies combined, Musk explained that space-based industries will eventually surpass the total economic value of Earth. He noted that space allows humanity to harness roughly 100,000 times more energy than Earth currently uses, while still consuming less than a millionth of the Sun’s total energy output.
That level of available energy should enable the emergence and development of industries that are simply not possible within Earth’s physical and environmental constraints. Continuous solar exposure in space, as per Musk’s comment, removes limitations imposed by atmosphere, weather, and land availability.
Autonomy and robots
In a follow-up post, Elon Musk explaned that “due to autonomy, Tesla is worth more than the rest of the auto industry.” Musk added that this assessment does not yet account for Optimus, Tesla’s humanoid robot. As per the CEO, once Optimus reaches scaled production, it could increase Earth’s gross domestic product by an order of magnitude, ultimately paving the way for sustainable abundance.
Even before the advent of Optimus, however, Tesla’s autonomous driving system already gives vehicles the option to become revenue-generating assets through services like the Tesla Robotaxi network. Tesla’s autonomous efforts seem to be on the verge of paying off, as services like the Robotaxi network have already been launched in its initial stages in Austin and the Bay Area.
News
Tesla Cybercab undergoes winter testing as Elon Musk reiterates production start date
CEO Elon Musk confirmed the timeline in a recent post on X, while Tesla’s official social media accounts separately revealed that Cybercab prototypes are now undergoing winter testing in Alaska.
Tesla has reiterated that production of its fully autonomous Cybercab is set to begin in April, even as the company continues expanding real-world testing of the vehicle.
CEO Elon Musk confirmed the timeline in a recent post on X, while Tesla’s official social media accounts separately revealed that Cybercab prototypes are now undergoing winter testing in Alaska.
Musk confirms April Cybercab initial production
In a post on X, Musk reiterated that Cybercab production is scheduled to begin in April, reiterating his guidance about the vehicle’s manufacturing timeline. Around the same time, Tesla shared images showing the Cybercab undergoing cold-weather testing in Alaska. Interestingly enough, the Cybercab prototypes being tested in Alaska seemed to be equipped with snow tires.
Winter testing in Alaska suggests Tesla is preparing the Cybercab for deployment across a wide range of climates in the United States. Cold temperatures, snow, ice, and reduced traction present some of the most demanding scenarios for autonomous systems, making Alaska a logical proving ground for a vehicle designed to operate without a human driver.
Taken together, Musk’s production update and Tesla’s testing post indicate that while the Cybercab is nearing the start of manufacturing, validation efforts are still actively ramping to ensure reliability in real-world environments.
What early Cybercab production might look like
Musk has previously cautioned that the start of Cybercab manufacturing will be slow, reflecting the challenges of launching an all-new vehicle platform. In a recent comment, Musk said initial production typically follows an S-curve, with early output constrained by how many new parts and processes are involved.
According to Musk, both Cybercab and Optimus fall into this category, as “almost everything is new.” As a result, early production rates are expected to be very deliberate before eventually accelerating rapidly as manufacturing processes mature.
“Initial production is always very slow and follows an S-curve. The speed of production ramp is inversely proportionate to how many new parts and steps there are. For Cybercab and Optimus, almost everything is new, so the early production rate will be agonizingly slow, but eventually end up being insanely fast,” Musk wrote in a post on X.
Tesla Sweden maintains Trelleborg port deal despite union blockade
Elon Musk shares insights on SpaceX and Tesla’s potential scale
