TL;DR: At least three Cybertrucks have caught fire after crashes involving fire hydrants or other strikes beneath the truck. Tesla now sells owners a battery shield for $3,500. Call it shrinkflation, because when the same basic thing happened in 2013, Tesla offered owners additional battery armor for free while under investigation by the NHTSA.
Tesla famously designed the Cybertruck to survive the apocalypse. Well, unfortunately, your mileage may vary.
Twice now, Cybertrucks have struck fire hydrants and burst into flames. A third Cybertruck drove over a highway cable barrier, lost a wheel, and burned for hours despite the fire department’s best efforts on-scene.
Don’t worry, Tesla offers a solution to this incendiary problem: the aptly named Cybertruck Terrestrial Armor Package, which costs $3,500 as a retrofit or slightly less as an option at purchase.
You know, in case you plan to drive your stainless-steel survival vehicle… on Earth.
A Fire Hydrant Ruptured a Cybertruck’s Battery Pack
The easiest to see example happened in Harlingen, Texas, in August 2024. A Cybertruck struck a fire hydrant outside a mall, damaged its battery pack, and caught fire.
Take a look, a fire captain explains the mechanics of the accident:
There was some early speculation that water from the hydrant started the fire, which would have been extremely funny in a sorta concerning way. But that’s not what the chief says happened.
Harlingen Fire Chief Rafael Balderas told local news station KRGV that the collision “broke loose” the battery pack and started the fire. He specifically said the hydrant water did not ignite it.
The resulting battery fire took firefighters more than an hour to control. The people inside escaped without reported injuries.
So, the lesson is not that Cybertrucks catch fire when wet (they typically just drop dead). The lesson is that running over plumbing can damage the battery, and the tremendous geyser conveniently provided by that same plumbing may entirely ruin your day.
Another Hydrant, Another Burning Cybertruck… in California This Time
In April 2025, another Cybertruck crashed into a fire hydrant and tree in California. Video shows the fiery aftermath here.
According to a Los Angeles Fire Department report obtained by The Guardian, the Cybertruck’s battery caught fire and ignited other components. The battery then caught fire again after the wreck was taken to a tow yard.
In this total nightmare scenario, the doors would not open, and the driver couldn’t break the Cybertruck’s “armored” windows from inside. Bystanders ultimately rescued him by grabbing a partially open window and peeling it downward by hand.
We have written before about Tesla owners installing DIY escape cords because the normal electronic door releases may stop working when the vehicle loses power. Evidently, the 18-year-old driver didn’t know where the emergency release was on a family member’s truck, probably because it isn’t labelled (!!!).
A Highway Cable Barrier Makes Three
Then, in June 2026, a Cybertruck collided with a Chevy Silverado on State Route 167 in Washington. The Cybertruck left its lane, struck the center cable barrier, and caught fire.
[ Click to watch the local news report with photos of the crash. ]
Firefighters fought a knock-down drag-out bout, and the freeway remained closed for more than two hours. The trooper’s initial social-media post said nobody was injured, although later State-Patrol-based reporting says the two Cybertruck occupants suffered minor injuries.
The burned Cybertruck after its encounter with the SR 167 cable barrier. Note the visible damage to the stock battery shield. Photo: Washington State Patrol (an individual trooper on Twitter, oddly).
Look underneath the truck. The stock under-body looks to have a solid penetration, and the exposed center section is thoroughly fire-blackened.
We cannot determine from one photograph whether the shielding gave out before the fire, or whether the collision and ensuing inferno destroyed it afterward. We can confidently say that whatever protection was under there is not under there anymore, and it 100% did not prevent a fire.
That is exactly the vulnerable spot that Tesla’s upsell armor package is intended to protect.
Here Is the Cybertruck’s Soft Underbelly
The underside of a 2024 Cybertruck. Note how those high voltage electrical connectors are just free-balling and exposed to the road and the elements from below. Screenshot from Munro Live’s underbody inspection.
That is a whole mess of high-voltage components, orange cabling, cast housings, connectors, and warning stickers sitting beneath the truck. It is not difficult to imagine why a ruptured hydrant or cable-barrier post arriving from below could cause trouble.
Tesla’s new armor package adds a broad aluminum shield over the battery area, plus coated-steel rock sliders along both sides. The whole arrangement weighs 185 pounds, so it is a beefy shield.
Tesla charges $3,000 when the package is selected on a new Cybertruck order. Existing owners buying the retrofit through Tesla’s shop pay $3,500, including installation.
Apparently, having an apocalypse truck that can survive a fire hydrant costs extra, after delivery.
Don’t Forget the Cybertruck Flip-Flop Package
One more, for the road, just because it’s funny.
A Cybertruck owner, Supercar Ron, drove his truck through a decorative plastic fence. Plastic pieces penetrated the cooling equipment underneath the front of the truck and gutted the Cybertruck.
But, Ron’s a dumbass and had removed the factory bumper and aluminum skid plate before mowing down his fence, so technically, this one isn’t Tesla’s fault. This Cybertruck just had the exact opposite of the Terrestrial Armor Package.
Call it the Cybertruck Flip-Flop Package. Lightweight, breathable, and offering absolutely no protection from pointy yard decorations.
But, because Tesla is a terminally online company, after that video circulated, Cybertruck lead engineer Wes Morrill announced that battery armor and rock sliders were coming. Tesla has now delivered on that promise, although later than planned and with a fairly substantial invoice attached.
Tesla Used to Give Battery Armor Away for Free
Now, you could be forgiven for expecting a truck that is ruthlessly marketed as *the toughest* to be resistant to lawn ornaments and impervious to being soaked with water. Or if it weren’t, that Tesla would fix it for free. That is, after all, the precedent.
In 2013, two Tesla Model S sedans suffered battery fires after striking road debris from below. One reportedly ran over a trailer hitch, which punched through the existing aluminum battery protection. The fires resulted in an NHTSA investigation.
Tesla responded by adding a three-part underbody shield to newly manufactured Model S vehicles. It included an aluminum deflector, a titanium plate, and another solid aluminum extrusion intended to absorb impacts and force stubborn debris underneath the car.
Importantly, existing owners could receive the additional protection for free.
NHTSA subsequently closed its investigation into the fires, explaining that the revised ride height and additional underbody protection should reduce both underbody strikes and the resulting fire risk.
That was a perfectly reasonable response. Tesla treated additional battery armor as a safety fix and gave it to existing owners for free.
This time around, Tesla is selling the additional protection as an optional $3,500 accessory.
