We now have a full year of data for the Cybertruck, and a strange preponderance of headlines about Cybertrucks exploding into flames, including several fatalities. That’s more than enough data to compare to the Ford Pinto, a car so notoriously combustible that it has become a watchword for corporate greed. Let’s start with the data…
Alright, boss.
If you can’t believe a PHD holder on their subject of expertise, and you won’t run your own analysis, I guess you’ll believe whatever you like no matter what anybody else says. Ok! I’m fine with that if you’re fine with that.
I should probably explain: I do find it acceptable to include all the deaths in the Cybertruck… simply because 100% of the fatalities have been in Cybertrucks that burned. Isn’t that absolutely AGGRAVATINGLY ridiculous? That alone is worth the headline. Car fires are not common in 2025. Every single car built in 2025 should be safer than the Ford fucking Pinto!
…When you have such low numbers of cases you need to individually review each case because the risk of bias is exorbitant.
They seem to be more common in EVs, so if you want to make a statement on the CT youcompare it to other EV trucks and if you spot a difference, THEN you can make the case about the CT being unsafe.
Perhaps excluding 99.7% of Pinto deaths makes this conclusion slightly less valid…
You literally couldn’t be more wrong.
https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/environment-energy-coordination/climate-matters/EV-less-fire-risk
I know people just google stuff without looking into references, but let me do it for you:
Reference: Kelly Blue Book, Study: Electric Vehicles Involved in Fewest Car Fires by Sean Tucker, January 28, 2022 Points to AutoInsuranceEZ.com which appears like the worst kind of EV slop: https://www.autoinsuranceez.com/gas-vs-electric-car-fires/?_cl=aC559XZjJUWkUEucak9lPfNY
I.e. this reference is useless and surprisingly low quality for a .gov site.
Your best data is from Sweden and that also doesn’t provide rate of fatalities so this whole thing isn’t settled when it comes to fires with injuries (the rate for that is about 0.6%)in ICEV dominated data: https://www.nfpa.org/education-and-research/research/nfpa-research/fire-statistical-reports/vehicle-fires)
I do think that EVs are safer, this is why I drive one (not a tesla…), but if an EV burns, that a huge issue. And again, drawing conclusions from 2 accidents over a year vs. 10 years of pinto data is well…not a good comparison.