Tesla‘s Cybertruck became one of only two large pickup trucks to earn the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety’s highest safety designation this year.
Additionally, it became the only fully electric model to achieve the distinction, after the Austin, Texas-based company made structural improvements to vehicles built after April.
The Cybertruck earned “Good” ratings — the highest possible score — in all three crashworthiness evaluations and both crash avoidance and mitigation tests, qualifying it for the IIHS Top Safety Pick+ award alongside the 2025 Toyota Tundra.
The designation applies only to 2025 models manufactured after April 2025, when Tesla implemented changes to the front underbody structure and footwell to improve occupant safety in small overlap front crashes, according to IIHS.
The achievement comes after IIHS raised its standards for the Top Safety Pick+ designation this year, requiring “Good” ratings in categories where “Acceptable” scores previously sufficed.
“For 2025 IIHS increased the requirements to achieve ‘Top Safety Pick Plus’ (their highest award) from ‘acceptable’ to ‘good’ which is why Cybertruck is one of only two truck models to achieve TSP+ this year,” Wes Morrill, Lead Engineer of the Cybertruck and Reliability, Test, and Analysis for all Tesla vehicles, wrote on X.
Morrill noted that IIHS testing protocols have become more demanding in recent years.
“In 2022 IIHS added a 5th percentile dummy (a child) in the rear seat of the moderate overlap front crash test which challenged manufacturers to improve restraints for the rear occupant and not just focus on the front occupants,” the executive said.
“Thanks to the design, analysis, and crash teams who labored over the details to continue Tesla‘s focus on Safety,” he added.
The Cybertruck outperformed the 2025 Rivian R1T, its closest electric competitor, which received “Acceptable” ratings in two key categories.
Rivian‘s pickup scored “Acceptable” in the moderate overlap front crash test, where rear passenger restraints and dummy kinematics received a “Marginal” rating after the lap belt moved from the pelvis onto the abdomen during testing, increasing the risk of abdominal injuries.
The R1T also received “Acceptable” marks for headlights.
In the updated side crash test, part of the Rivian dummy’s head moved beyond the rear portion of the side curtain airbag and contacted the C-pillar, resulting in an “Acceptable” rating for rear passenger head protection.
The IIHS noted that “the head protection is inadequate.”
The Cybertruck’s pedestrian crash prevention system avoided collisions in all test scenarios, including crossing child tests at 12 and 25 mph during daylight and crossing adult tests at night using both high and low beams.
In the most demanding parallel adult night test at 37 mph, the vehicle avoided collision and issued warnings 2.2 seconds before impact with high beams and 1.3 seconds with low beams.
The Rivian R1T’s pedestrian detection system performed less consistently. While it avoided collision in the 12 mph crossing child test, it only reduced impact speed by 9 mph in the 25 mph test rather than avoiding the collision entirely.
The Cybertruck received “Marginal” ratings for seat belt reminders, where the alert duration was deemed too short at 8-89 seconds, and “Acceptable” for child seat anchor ease of use, with testers noting hard-to-find tether anchor locations.
The Rivian scored “Good” in both categories.
The IIHS ranked the five safest large pickup trucks based on 2025 ratings as follows: Tesla Cybertruck, Toyota Tundra, Rivian R1T, Ford F-150, and Ram 1500.
The Cybertruck and Tundra are the only models to achieve Top Safety Pick+.
Morrill said Tesla teams conduct data-driven research to improve real-world safety through both over-the-air updates to existing vehicles and in future models.
