“The weight, rigid structure and sleek design of the Cybertruck have raised valid concerns,” he tells WIRED. “Any loopholes that allow these vehicles to travel on (UK) streets must be closed quickly.”
“It would be hugely disappointing if a back door were opened allowing vehicles to increase the risk of damaging UK streets and roads,” agrees Margaret Winchcomb, deputy chief executive of PACTS, the Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety, a expert body. for over 100 UK transport organisations.
“Allowing vehicles for which the safety of others seems to be an afterthought would be a big step backwards,” he adds.
Although Tesla has made bold safety claims about the Cybertruck and released its own fictional crash test images, no independent body has crash tested the vehicle. U.S. regulators rely on automakers to conduct self-tests and certify their compliance with safety standards.
The federal National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the insurance industry supported Insurance Institute for Road Safety (IIHS) perform crash tests on only some vehicles. The expense is too great for these organizations to test all vehicles, so decisions are made based on sales volumes.
“While (the Cybertruck) has generated a lot of buzz, it’s unlikely we would invest resources into testing it unless it sold in numbers comparable to other popular full-size trucks,” says IIHS media director Joe Young.
“Without testing the Cybertruck, I cannot comment on the effectiveness of its crumple zones,” he emphasizes. “For now, our concerns about its design are limited to the issues we have raised with other electric vehicles. “It’s very heavy and it’s very fast.”
Due to what it calls the Cybertruck’s “unusual design,” the U.K. Department of Transport (DfT) tells WIRED it “would not like to predict” whether the van would get a DfT-administered VAT pass.
“The VAT scheme was designed for (small and medium-sized businesses) involved in the conversion or importation of specialist vehicles,” the statement to WIRED continues, “and was created long before the Cybertruck was conceived.”
Extrapolating from the DfT’s carefully calibrated comments, Charalambous could be wasting his time and money trying to pass the VAT test. “The vehicle has advanced technology that may not be designed to meet the standards that apply in the United Kingdom,” warns the DfT statement.
In his videos, Charalambous drives around the southeast of England in his Albanian-plated Cybertruck. If a knowledgeable police officer catches him doing this, Charalambous could be fined. “A UK resident cannot drive a vehicle with foreign plates in the UK,” the DfT statement confirmed, saying that “a UK resident must not drive an imported car with foreign plates, except to and from (a annual security check) and) VAT pre-booked (appointment)”.
In his third video, Charalambous said he was legally allowed to drive his Cybertruck in the UK because the Albanian seller had provided him with a green card, an international insurance certificate issued in Albania. Again, this is a no-no, says the DfT: “Driving an unregistered vehicle would invalidate any insurance.”
Only time (and a lot of money) will determine whether Charalambous manages to legalize its UK-based Cybertruck, but the odds are against it.