Image: NHTSA
Tesla has pushed back on false claims about the safety of its cars publicly after being accused of having “horrible quality and safety ratings”.
In a post on X, where Tesla highlighted independent results outlining the most American-made vehicles that have the most locally sourced parts, one observer replied by saying that the company’s products had poor quality and safety ratings.
Tesla countered this and replied to that X post: “False. Our vehicles consistently achieve top safety ratings from independent agencies worldwide.”
This is consistent with Tesla vehicles safety rating scores across multiple safety agencies, including NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) in the US, Euro NCAP in Europe and locally in Australia with ANCAP safety.
In Australia, all high-volume models Tesla has sold have received a 5-star ANCAP safety rating.
The Tesla Model S received a 5-star ANCAP rating back in 2015, followed by the Model 3 and Model X receiving it in 2019.
More recently, the Model Y, when it was first introduced in 2022, also received a 5-star ANCAP rating.
In Europe, Tesla also received a 5-star Euro NCAP rating for the updated Model S sedan back in 2022. At that time, it scored the highest overall safety score of any vehicle ever tested by Euro NCAP under the stricter testing 2022 protocol.
Over in the US, the 2025 Tesla Model Y has also received a 5-star safety rating along with the latest being the Cybertruck, which, despite what many industry experts saying that it would not pass safety tests, received 5 stars in the overall safety rating from NHTSA last month.
According to NHTSA, the Cybertruck had the lowest overall probability of injury & lowest chance of rollover of any pickup truck tested by the NHTSA in the US.
In recent years, Tesla has put an even bigger focus on safety with the rollout of multiple over-the-air software updates to improve safety.
Features such as automatic emergency braking enhancements, cross-traffic alerts, auto-steer, blind-spot monitoring and others have been added to the existing fleet.
It’s good to see the leading EV maker call out false claims about the safety of its EVs with factual evidence, which will help reduce the misinformation around EVs, driving further adoption.
Riz is the founder of carloop based in Melbourne, specialising in Australian EV data, insight reports and trends. He is a mechanical engineer who spent the first 7 years of his career building transport infrastructure before starting carloop. He has a passion for cars, particularly EVs and wants to help reduce transport emissions in Australia. He currently drives a red Tesla Model 3.
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These tests only measure occupants safety. Not the safety of all road users, so they are pretty worthless.
The safety of a vehicle should include, what its top speed is, weight, acceleration and impact on cyclists, pedestrians and other vehicles.
Show me those figures for the Cybertruck.
An unfair test in singling out the HeilerTruck though. It is a massive ute and they are far more dangerous for other road users by default.
Correct. Not much difference for a pedestrian being hit by a Shark or CT at 40km/h! 🫨
Hi Leroy, yeah, I think that's a shortcoming of these tests- their bias towards occupant safety and away from pedestrian safety.
Is there someone out there that can confirm/clarity this?
Thank goodness this site has Riz, the only writer here that is not also a SJW.
I see you're fond of labelling people. What's the one for people who lack empathy?
The Cybertruck already has 8 Safety Recalls listed, not sure how the screenshot above says zero? Some problems have been fixed OTA, but the majority have required physical fixes.
From a safety perspective the Y and 3 seem pretty good, although FSD & EAP seem a bit oversold so am glad it's not available in Oz..
Bear in mind the Cybertruck is a brand new vehicle, built in a new way, so recalls for build issues are expected and not alarming. Tesla has recalled nearly all Cybertrucks, specifically those built between November 2023 and February 2025, due to a potential issue where a stainless-steel exterior trim panel can detach, posing a safety hazard when it falls onto the road.
Here's a summary of the Cybertruck recalls:
Recall 1 (March 2025): A recall of nearly all Cybertrucks (46,096 vehicles) due to a potential issue with the stainless-steel exterior trim panel detaching, which could become a road hazard.
Recall 2 (April 2024): A recall of nearly 4,000 Cybertrucks due to a faulty accelerator pedal where rubber padding around the pedal could come loose and potentially cause the vehicle to accelerate dangerously.
Recall 3 (June 2024): A recall due to malfunctioning windshield wipers and improperly attached trunk bed trims.
Recall 4 (January 2024): A recall for warning lights with a font size that may make critical safety information difficult to read.
Recall 5 (June 2024): A recall for rearview camera issues.
Recall 6 (November 2024): A recall for a potential issue with a drive inverter that could cause a loss of drive power to the wheels.
Recall 7 (September 2024): A recall for back-over prevention issues.
Recall 8 (December 2024): A recall for tyres
However, this pales into insignificance compares to the recall numbers other brands have. Tesla does not make it into the top ten.
Top 10 Car Brands with the Most Recalls (According to NHTSA):
General Motors
Ford
Chrysler
Forest River
Volkswagen
BMW
Daimler Truck
Mercedes-Benz
Honda
Nissan
I was onboard with this comment clarifying recalls for the Cybertruck when you diverted to telling us the BRANDS with the most recalls. A better listing would have been MODELS with the most recalls in the same period since the Cybertruck release
Your wish is my command. Most recalled models here : craftlawfirm.com/news/nhtsa-vehicle-recall-data/
No Tesla models on list
According to nhtsa.gov, there's 246 pages of models listed for 2024. Sort by # of recalls and the Cybertruck is on the 2nd page! That means the Cybertruck is in the top 1% of recalls only exceeded by the Jeep Grand Cherokee, Ford Maverick, and Mazda CX-90 and some actual Trucks & Buses like Kenworth.
And note that your answers look very AI assisted, so maybe take a break from that for a bit?
Tesla complaining about fake news is about as hypocritical as it's possible to imagine. The CEO of Tesla is the very definition of disingenuous fakery.
Recent studies indicate that Tesla vehicles have a higher rate of fatal accidents compared to other car brands, with a fatal crash rate of 5.6 per billion miles driven, according to Road & Track.
It found that Tesla drivers are involved in more accidents than drivers of any other brand. Some of these accidents involved Tesla's self-driving system. Nationally, Tesla drivers had 26.67 accidents per 1,000 drivers. This was up from 23.54 last year. (Source: LendingTree insurance)