Tesla Wins More American-Made & Safety Awards

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This is going to feel like old news for anyone who’s been following electric vehicles and Tesla for the past several years, but if you’re new to this industry, perhaps some of it will come as a shocker.

Most American-Made Cars

First of all, in the latest American-Made Index from Cars.com, we find that the two most “American-made” cars in the United States this year are the Tesla Model 3 (#1) and Tesla Model Y (#2). No other cars sold in the US have a higher percentage of their components built and assembled in the US than these two Tesla models. For people who care about such a thing, this could be a notable buying consideration.

Note that the Model S and Model X were not included in the analysis since they were discontinued this year. Additionally, the Cybertruck was not included because its curb weight is too high. It’s higher than the 8,500-pound limit set by the Cars.com team.

The analysis team considers the following in this analysis:

• Location(s) of final assembly
• Percentage of U.S. and Canadian parts
• Countries of origin for all available engines
• Countries of origin for all available transmissions
• U.S. manufacturing workforce

It then creates a 100-point scale, which Tesla has topped for 6 years straight now. A lot of this is due to how vertically integrated Tesla is, and the fact of course that it makes many of those parts in the United States.

Other EVs to make the list included the Kia EV9 at #17, the Hyundai IONIQ 5 at #21, and the Cadillac LYRIQ at #77.

Tesla Cybertruck Wins Big Safety Award

While the Cybertruck wasn’t on that list, for aforementioned reasons, it did get its own recognition recently. It was awarded a Top Safety Pick+ designation, which is the highest the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) awards. In recent evaluations, the Cybertruck is the only full-sized pickup truck to get this award. While many of us have pointed out how dangerous the Cybertruck’s body style and materials could be harmful to pedestrians and bicyclists, a key point is that the truck was superb at avoiding such collisions. It avoided pedestrians in all of the following:

• Daytime child crossing
• Nightitime adult crossing
• Night parallel adult

I still think that in cases where a driver does hit a human, the Cybertruck materials and design seem especially dangerous — not just from looking at it but from touching it. But at least the truck is safer than most in other regards.

“In the large pickup category, competitors such as the Toyota Tundra received only a standard Top Safety Pick, while the Ford F-150 and Ram 1500 did not qualify for either award,” Teslarati notes. “This positions the Cybertruck as a standout in occupant protection and crash avoidance among its peers.”

You can view the IIHS’s full Cybertruck report here. But here’s the overall safety rating breakdown:

Also, here’s a Cybertruck crash testing video, because, you know, sometimes these are just fun to watch (and also a bit interesting and educational):

The truck does seem to hold up well there.