Report: Tesla Cybertruck 17 Times More Likely For Fire Fatalities Than Ford Pinto

In an explosive report, a group claims to have studied data related to Tesla Cybertruck crashes, concluding the EV is 17 times more likely for fire fatalities in a crash than the Ford Pinto. That’s stirring up plenty of controversy since many view the Pinto as an unmitigated disaster, although some are coming to the classic car’s defense, as well as contesting claims the all-electric truck is that dangerous.  

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This controversial claim is being made by auto news site Fuel Arc. To back this up, an article on the site provides a simple table with data for the Tesla Cybertruck and Ford Pinto. One column is for total units produced, another for reported fire fatalities, and the final is a fatality rate. That all seems simple enough.

To arrive at the claim the pickup is 17 times more likely to be involved in a fire fatality, the author took the total number of units produced through January 1, 2025, which is 34,438, and the claimed number of fire fatalities of 5 people.

The author does admit the fifth Cybertruck fatality, from an incident in Las Vegas, might be controversial since there are claims that person was burned after dying. Everyone is of course free to accept that as part of the statistics or not.

Meanwhile, the Ford Pinto saw a total production run of 3,173,491 units before the exploding gas tank controversy forced the end of the model line in 1980. The total number of fatalities as recorded by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration was 27.

Using these numbers, that means the fatality rate of the Pinto per 100,000 units made is 0.85 versus 14.52 for the Cybertruck. Again, drop the one death to 4 and recalculate if you don’t agree with its inclusion, the Tesla’s final number still looks bad.

We’re sure Tesla, many Cybertruck owners, and probably some data nerds will take issue with the methodology behind the claim the EV is 14 times more deadly when it comes to vehicle fires. After all this claim assumes that as ownership numbers climb for the pickup, the fatality rate will stay fairly stable.

Some might laugh and say it definitely will, but will it? We don’t know.

Another potential flaw is the claimed number of Cybertrucks have been delivered to owners. Tesla is famously secretive about such data, so the author is left to calculate it “through a variety of means.” But a breakdown of how that was calculated isn’t provided, so draw whatever conclusion you want.

The big question which isn’t addressed in the report is why the rate for Tesla Cybertruck fire fatalities is higher than for the Ford Pinto. Instead, the claim the Pinto is a symbol of “corporate greed” is repeated a few times. Was it, or was the Pinto a symbol of bureaucratic incompetence?

And is the Cybertruck just “unsafe at any speed”? Let us know what you think.

Source: Fuel Arc

Image via Tesla