Update, August 18, 2026: IIHS still lists the 2025 Tesla Cybertruck crew cab as Top Safety Pick+ — and still limits that award to trucks built after April 2025. Tesery’s next-day note covers what Tesla changed: Wes Morrill said the April 2025 front casting change was for manufacturability, while Tesla’s own tests were used to argue the later trucks earned the plus. This article is the award itself, not the casting debate.
On December 16, 2025, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety posted ratings that put the 2025 Cybertruck crew-cab pickup at Top Safety Pick+, the institute’s top 2025 award. Tesla’s @cybertruck account wrote: “Cybertruck earns IIHS Top Safety Pick+.” A later post said it was “the highest-rated by both IIHS & NHTSA.” Forbes reported the same day’s IIHS round also gave the 2025 Model 3 a (plain) Top Safety Pick — one step below the plus.
Read the IIHS page before repeating Tesla’s marketing line. The plus applies only to vehicles built after April 2025. Earlier Cybertrucks are not this award. And IIHS did not rate Full Self-Driving. Crashworthiness and headlights are not unsupervised driving.
Key facts
- Who rated it: IIHS, not Tesla and not NHTSA (NHTSA stars are a separate program).
- What: Top Safety Pick+ for the 2025 Tesla Cybertruck, large pickup / crew cab.
- Which trucks: Built after April 2025. IIHS repeats that limit on the small-overlap pages for 2025–26 models.
- Official listing: iihs.org/ratings/vehicle/tesla/cybertruck-crew-cab-pickup/2025
- What it is not: An FSD approval, a “safest car in the world” claim, or a rating for every Cybertruck ever delivered.
Cybertruck earns IIHS Top Safety Pick+
— Cybertruck (@cybertruck) December 16, 2025
Open Tesla’s original Cybertruck X post.
What IIHS actually tests for the plus
Top Safety Pick+ is a package award. A truck has to clear IIHS crashworthiness tests at the required level, plus front crash prevention (including pedestrians) and headlights that meet the 2025 plus bar. Tesla’s original Tesery draft said the later Cybertruck scored Good in the moderate-overlap front test and in updated side impact, and Good for pedestrian front crash prevention, with high-beam-assist headlights in the mix. Confirm each row on the live IIHS vehicle page — institutes update tables — before quoting a letter grade in a sales brochure.
IIHS also flagged why April 2025 matters. Later trucks got changes in the front underbody / footwell area aimed at small-overlap front crashes. That is why the award is date-gated. Tesla’s chassis lead later described a front-casting change as a manufacturing change; Tesery already walked through that in the April 2025 casting story. Do not collapse “casting for the factory” and “IIHS plus for later VINs” into one slogan.
What this award does not say
It does not say Cybertruck drives itself. IIHS does not score FSD (Supervised) or Robotaxi. A Good pedestrian AEB score is automatic emergency braking in IIHS’s staged tests, not citywide unsupervised driving. The original magazine copy treated FSD as part of the trophy. That is a category error.
It does not cover every Cybertruck. If the build date is on or before the April 2025 cutoff, this plus is not the truck’s award. Buyers should read the door-jamb date and the IIHS footnote, not the @cybertruck clip alone.
It is also not NHTSA’s five-star program. Tesla’s same-day “highest-rated by both” line mixes two labs. NHTSA stars, if you need them, live on NHTSA’s own Cybertruck page — not inside the IIHS plus graphic.
Pickup-class context
IIHS’s last 2025 award drop included other EVs. Forbes listed the Volvo EX90 at Top Safety Pick+ beside the Cybertruck, and the Model 3 at Top Safety Pick. Tesla called Cybertruck the highest-rated pickup in that conversation. “Only full-size pickup with FSD” is a product claim, not an IIHS finding. For how some buyers later used the safety numbers, see Tesery’s Krassenstein Cybertruck purchase note. Crash-test awards for a future two-seat taxi are a different program; Tesery’s Cybercab crash-test teaser is that track.
FAQ
Does every 2025 Cybertruck have Top Safety Pick+?
No. IIHS limits it to crew-cab trucks built after April 2025.
Did IIHS endorse FSD?
No. The plus is crash structure, crash prevention, and lights.
Is Top Safety Pick+ the same as NHTSA 5 stars?
No. Different tests, different agencies. Tesla cited both; look each one up.
Where do I check a specific truck?
IIHS vehicle page plus the vehicle’s build date. Tesla’s X post is not a window sticker.
For owners: if your Cybertruck was built after April 2025, this is the IIHS plus that applies. If it was built earlier, do not paste the December 16 trophy onto that VIN. The award does not change how you use FSD (Supervised): you are still the driver.
Featured photo: a 2024 Tesla Cybertruck Foundation Series (file photo of the crew-cab pickup IIHS later rated). Image via Wikimedia Commons.
Related: April 2025 Cybertruck casting change vs IIHS plus · Critic buys a Cybertruck citing IIHS/NHTSA · Cybercab crash-test safety claims · NHTSA ADAS tests on Model Y
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