Tesla Cybertruck

Tesla Cybertruck at a glance

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Concept and body

In November 2019 Tesla took on the heart of the American car market — the pickup segment. Its team did not copy the structure that the Ford F-150, Chevrolet Silverado and Ram 1500 had refined over almost a century; it went its own way, and the result surprised everyone.

The Cybertruck has no separate frame. Its wedge-shaped look recalls a stealth aircraft such as the F-117. All exterior panels are flat, and for good reason: the load-bearing body, which Tesla calls an exoskeleton, is made of unpainted stainless steel. On the production truck the panels are about 1.4–1.8 mm thick and are laser-cut and bent along straight lines rather than stamped. At the reveal, Tesla said the steel could withstand sledgehammer blows and even 9 mm pistol rounds, and Musk said the truck used materials from SpaceX rockets. He compared it to a futuristic armoured vehicle from the film "Blade Runner".

The flat windows use what Tesla calls Armor Glass. During the presentation, metal balls were thrown at the side windows, and although the glass cracked badly — Musk later explained that an earlier sledgehammer blow had weakened it — the balls did not pass through. The doors were struck with a heavy sledgehammer and survived.

The cargo bed has a fold-down tailgate with a ramp and a powered, lockable hard tonneau cover. The production bed is about 1.8 m long and 1.2 m wide. A front trunk under the "bonnet" provides extra storage. Instead of conventional exterior mirrors, the 2019 prototype used cameras, and the door handles are flush with the body; sensors for the driver assistance systems are built into the body.

Interior

Pickups are traditionally designed for farms and building sites; today some focus on comfort, and Tesla tried to balance both. The cabin follows Tesla's minimalist style and is roomy. The prototype had six seats in a 3+3 layout, a dashboard that looked like a slab of marble and a large touchscreen, plus 120/240 V power sockets and a yoke-like rectangular steering wheel. The production Cybertruck seats five — two in front and three on a rear bench — and has an 18.5-inch front touchscreen; the AWD and Cyberbeast add a 9.4-inch screen for rear passengers.

Powertrains

In 2019 Tesla announced three versions:

• a single-motor rear-wheel-drive model with 0–96 km/h (60 mph) in 6.5 seconds, a top speed of 177 km/h and about 400 km of range;
• a dual-motor all-wheel-drive model with 0–96 km/h in 4.5 seconds, 193 km/h and about 480 km of range;
• a tri-motor model (one motor at the front, two at the rear) with 0–96 km/h in 2.9 seconds, 209 km/h and about 805 km of range.

The production line-up differs. The dual-motor AWD has 447 kW (600 hp) and reaches 96 km/h in 4.1 seconds, with an EPA range of about 523 km. The tri-motor Cyberbeast has 630 kW (845 hp) and 1,396 Nm, reaches 96 km/h in 2.6 seconds, has a top speed of 209 km/h and an EPA range of about 515 km. A rear-wheel-drive version with up to 235 kW (315 hp) was added later. All use a 123 kWh structural battery pack with 4680-format cells and a nominal voltage of 816 V, which can charge at up to 350 kW on 800 V chargers.

Chassis and capability

The 2019 prototype was presented with adaptive air suspension, up to 406 mm of ground clearance and approach and departure angles of 35 and 28 degrees; the flat underbody helps off-road. On the production truck, adaptive air suspension is fitted to the premium AWD and Cyberbeast, which offer up to about 442 mm of clearance, while the standard dual-motor version uses coil springs. The Cybertruck also introduced a 48-volt electrical architecture, steer-by-wire steering and rear-wheel steering of up to 10 degrees, which reduces the turning circle of this large vehicle.

The prototype was announced with a payload of 1,588 kg and towing capacity of 3.4 to 6.35 tonnes; the production truck carries roughly 0.9 to 1.1 tonnes and tows about 3.4 to 5.0 tonnes, depending on the version.

Reception

The Cybertruck attracted enormous attention, but sales have been lower than many expected: about 39,000 were estimated to have been sold in 2024, and commentators have described the results as disappointing. The truck has also been subject to a series of recalls, covering issues such as a sticking accelerator pedal, wiper motors and a detaching trim panel.