Featured Image Credit: Tesla
Topics: Cars, Electric Cars, Tesla, US News, Elon Musk
Kit Roberts
Experts have raised safety concerns with Tesla's Cybertruck.
The latest release from Tesla has been touted by Elon Musk as safe, with the billionaire saying that if the car 'had an argument' with another vehicle then 'you will win'.
But experts on car safety have raised concerns about the potential danger that the Cybertruck could pose, not to the occupants but to people outside the vehicle.
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In particular they expressed concerns about the material used in the body of the car, which Tesla describes as 'ultra-hard stainless-steel'.
Many modern cars have a safety feature called a 'crumple zone'. This means that a portion of the car is designed to collapse in the event of a crash.
This might sound counterintuitive, but in practice it means that the force of the impact is absorbed by the crumple zone, instead of the occupants.
But the Cybertruck does not appear have this feature and given that it's a very large vehicle that can travel very fast, this means that if it hits another car, it's likely not stopping.
David Friedman, former acting head of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, told Reuters: "If you're in a crash with another vehicle that has a crumple zone and your car is more stiff, then their cars are going to crush and yours is resistant."
So, the occupants of the Cybertruck will be probably OK, but not the other vehicle.
Experts also raised concerns about a Cybertruck being involved in an accident with a pedestrian. Essentially, the metal is very heavy and very stiff, which is bad news for anyone who's unlucky enough to be in the way.
Adrian Lund, the former president of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) said: "The big problem there is if they really make the skin of the vehicle very stiff by using thick stainless steel, then when people hit their heads on it, it's going to cause more damage to them."
Crash tests by the IIHS are used as an industry standard in vehicle manufacturing.
Tesla's chief engineer told European motoring magazine TopGear that the vehicle might prove difficult to sell in Europe due to EU safety rules which limit external protrusions on vehicles.
Non profit organization the European Transport Safety Council has also expressed concern about the safety of the Cybertruck, saying in a statement: "We hope Tesla don't bring this vehicle to Europe. A vehicle of this size, power and huge weight will be lethal to pedestrians and cyclists in a collision."
UNILAD has reached out to Tesla for comment.