Tesla Cybertruck megathread: Performance, towing capacity, US pricing and more revealed

December 1: Cybertruck headline details revealed at Delivery Event

The Tesla Cybertruck offers a near-5000kg towing capacity, a one-tonne-plus payload, and performance that the US tech company says makes it "faster than a Porsche 911 while towing a 911".

Tesla boss Elon Musk revealed the first key details of the problem-plagued electric truck, which was first shown in prototype form more than four years ago.

"Once in a while, every five to 10 years or so, a product comes along that is rare; so rare that it seemingly is impossible," said Musk in Tesla's live Delivery Event broadcast on the X social media platform he owns.

"[This is] a car that experts said is impossible, said would never be made. I think it is our best product, the most unique thing on the road. It will look like the future.

"It's more truck than a truck, and it's a better sports car than a sports car - all in the same package."

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UPDATE: Cybertruck pricing and specs

You might be glad, or you might've hoped it wouldn't happen – but Elon's teenage wet dream, the Cybertruck, is actually real and finally in customer hands.

Musk claims the Cybertruck's Tesla-designed steel alloy construction will have no corrosion, doesn't need paint, and helps give the truck greater torsional stiffness than a McLaren P1 supercar.

This time there was also a successful demonstration of the Cybertruck's Tesla Armor Glass, with no windows shattering when struck by a baseball as they did in a 2019 demonstration.

Tesla also showed a video of a machine gun firing bullets at the Cybertruck, leaving only dents in its side.

"Why did we make it bulletproof? Why not?!" said Musk with a smile.

Tesla revealed several new details to prove it is more than just a show truck.

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It is quoted with a towing capacity of 11,000Ibs (4990kg) and a payload capability of 1134kg. A "super-tough composite" tray dispenses with the need for a bedliner, says Tesla, and is big enough to handle 1.22m x 2.44m construction loads.

In another video, Tesla conducted a 'Truck Pull' comparison test that involved a 40,000Ib (18,144kg) truck-sled and two key electric rivals: the Ford F-150 Lightning and Rivian R1T.

Tesla says the Cybertruck pulled the sled to 317.75ft compared with 257ft for the Rivian and 207ft for the Lightning.

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In a final, cheeky video, Tesla showed the Cybertruck beating a Porsche 911 in a drag race - while towing a 911.

A 0-60mph (0-97km/h) time of 2.6 seconds is quoted for the Cybertruck, with the quarter mile covered in 11 seconds (while towing the 911, Tesla said).

This performance is specific to the flagship Cyberbeast model, which is priced from US$99,990 ($151K).

Cybertruck prices start at US$60,990 ($92,000) for the base, RWD model, while a mid-range AWD costs from US$79,990 ($121K).

The longest estimated electric range is 340 miles (547km) for the mid-range AWD model. Tesla estimates 250 miles (402km) for the base RWD and 320 miles (515km) for the Cyberbeast.

Musk claims the Cybertruck will provide "off-road performance" with features including adaptive air suspension with auto-adjusting dampers and 300mm of travel, ground clearance of up to 432mm, and locking differentials.

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Other features include torque vectoring and a steer-by-wire system that varies how much the front wheels turn based on speed.

The Cybertruck's turning circle is tighter than that of the Model X large SUV, according to Tesla.

Tesla concluded its Delivery Event by handing over the first production Cybertrucks to the first owners.

Proper deliveries won't begin until 2024 for the AWD and Cyberbeast models, with the RWD entry model due in 2025.

The Cybertruck is not currently expected to be offered for sale in Australia.

Our original story, below, continues unchanged

October 20: Cybertruck release date confirmed

Tesla chief executive Elon Musk has confirmed Cybertruck deliveries will start from December 1 (Australian time).

The delivery launch event at the company’s Austin, Texas ‘Gigafactory’ will mark four years and one month after the controversial electric ute first debuted in prototype form.

At the company’s latest quarter three 2023 earnings call [YouTube ↗], Musk told investors and analysts: “We dug our own grave with Cybertruck.”

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“Cybertruck is one of those special products that comes along only once in a long while [and] are just incredibly difficult to bring to market, to reach volume, to be prosperous,” Musk said.

According to the CEO, Tesla has had to invent how to bend hard stainless steel, large 9000-tonne castings and stampings, and a new low- and high-voltage architecture to produce the Cybertruck.

However, the American company admitted it could face “enormous challenges” in ramping up production for the Cybertruck to make a return on investment.

Tesla claimed it can produce more than 125,000 Cybertrucks per year, potentially increasing to 250,000 by 2025.

Musk also teased the upcoming affordable Tesla ‘Model 2’ electric car will be the opposite of the Cybertruck by being “much more conventional in terms of the technologies we’re putting into it”, and expects it to ramp production faster to meet anticipated high volume demand.

Henry Man

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October 6: Interior leaked ahead of launch

A new unverified video has revealed what appears to be a near-production version of the Tesla Cybertruck’s interior.

Posted by Russian content creator vlad vein [YouTube ↗], it depicts the electric ute’s unique cyber-themed user interface on its central touchscreen, with a row of app shortcuts and the climate control positioned on the driver’s side for easier reachability (instead of the bottom as per current Tesla vehicles).

The ‘floating’ centre console also features dual Qi wireless charging pads – slanted more than the Model 3 sedan and Model Y SUV – and angular-shaped cup holders.

The front windscreen sun visors appear to be attached ahead of the glass itself – reminiscent of the Model X, though the fixed panoramic glass roof doesn’t extend into the windscreen – and the hazard light button is mounted on an angular piece housing the front camera and rear-view mirror.

The rear passenger armrest also folds down the entire middle seat and headrest, similar to the upcoming 2024 Model 3 facelift.

As per previous photos, the futuristic electric truck features a closed-yoke steering wheel with touch-sensitive turning indicators and a drive selector via the touchscreen in lieu of physical stalks.

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Courtesy IsraeliPM YouTube

The video is unconfirmed, and it appears the person filming wasn’t meant to be in the vehicle. Even though pre-production examples have only been seen testing in North America, the content creator is based in Russia.

Last month, a Tesla factory tour with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also showed off the interior with full-width ambient lighting strips across the dashboard and door cards [YouTube ↗].

The controversial Cybertruck electric ute is expected to start deliveries in North America later this year – four years after its debut – but an Australian launch isn’t expected, with original reservations refunded to potential customers in 2022.

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Courtesy IsraeliPM YouTube

Henry Man

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September 11: Rollover crash test leaked

Five months after Tesla released the most frustrating crash-test video of all time (watch it below, if you like), it seems the Cybertruck has actually been crashed. And this time, we get to see the aftermath.

A video of a banged up Cybertruck has been posted to TikTok by Chicago company CTL Logistics, with a sticker on the truck’s door seeming to confirm it had been subjected to a ‘ditch rollover’ test.

The video has since been taken down but not before it was saved by some savvy members of the Cybertruck Owner’s Club.

While we don’t actually get to see the Cybertruck being crashed, the video does provide some new details. We get a look inside the rear of the cabin, for example, which shows a tablet touchscreen on the back of the centre console (similar to the updated Model 3) and twin octagonal cupholders inside the centre arm rest. The video also shows just how narrow the rear glasshouse is, so don’t expect much in the way of outward vision if you’re a backseat passenger.

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The Cybertruck’s airbags have deployed in the rollover and the angular exterior is pretty secondhand, with the roof, windscreen and exterior panels all showing visible damage. We also get a brief look inside the Cybertruck’s tray which is loaded up with broken bits of bodywork.

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The video is the latest bit of news to suggest that Tesla is finally gearing up to put the Cybertruck into production. Videos of other, less crashed, Cybertrucks on the back of trucks, cruising the streets and even being filmed in Iceland have all been published.

Alex Inwood

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May 26: New photos offer a first look at Cybertruck interior

The photos, posted to the Cybertruck Owners Club [↗] (if ever a more hopeful group existed...), shows the view from the driver's seat, snapped by a guest at a recent shareholder event in Texas.

Although not a comprehensive view, the photos show a new-design steering 'wheel' with a distinctly flat racing-like rim at the top and bottom, rather than the open-topped yoke introduced with the updated Model S and Model X in late 2021.

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Photo: Cybertruck Owners Forum [↗]

The new, vaguely hexagonal tiller – more of a munted squircle, for lack of a proper geometric term – appears to retain the switch panels of the existing yoke, flanking a new legless horn pad.

The requisite huge display dominates the centre of the dash, while an entire paddock of dashboard reaches forward into the long windscreen, potentially offering owners a cosy sleeping nook on a warm summer's afternoon as the Cybertruck charges. I mean, why not? If nothing else, there's a market here for a specialised rag-on-a-stick [↗] to clean the bottom edge of the window.

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Elsewhere, we see that the promised folding centre seat is gone, with what looks to be a fixed console between the driver and front passenger positions.

That's all there is to know, for now, but if Elon holds true to his promise of launching his big damn doorstop later this year, we should see more in the weeks and months ahead.

Mike Stevens

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April 4: Cybertruck shown in crash-test teaser video

Ahead of a full reveal later this year, Tesla has teased the Cybertruck undergoing a crash test.

The video, shared to Twitter by Tesla, shows a Cybertruck with 'Test' written on the side heading towards a wall in a crash-testing facility with four dummies on board.

The 37-second video quickly cuts between multiple angles with slow-motion and full-speed clips spliced together, though we never actually see the Cybertruck hurtle into the wall.

We're also treated to a quick brief view of the Cybertruck's underpinnings where we can see the front structure and view of the suspension.

The image appears to show a double wishbone suspension configuration – a more advanced system than the average ute's struts – for Cybertruck's promised air suspension.

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Tesla has promised a full unveiling of its electric pick-up later this year.

John Law

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March 2: Updated prototype shown at Investor Day event

The long-awaited Tesla Cybertruck appears closer to production, finally.

The electric pick-up truck – a rival to the Ford F-150 Lightning, Rivian R1T, Chevrolet Silverado EV and Ram 1500 REX – was first unveiled in 2019.

However, it has yet to enter mass production, with the initial late 2021 production forecast delayed indefinitely.

Following comments by Tesla CEO Elon Musk in 2022, the brand's design boss, Franz von Holzhausen, now claims the Cybertruck will arrive later this year.

"We knew we had to improve the [manufacturing] process further. And with Cybertruck, we designed a vehicle around a vision that actually started with the manufacturing process. In this case, the materials dictated the design," he said at the Investor Day event today.

"[Forming full hard stainless steel] forced us to think about designing something in a way that you couldn't normally stamp panels. You couldn't form them in a traditional way – so you ended up with very linear bending processes that are just not in automotive [and] manufacturing language today.

"It's a super dynamic truck and it has all the functionality you would expect out of any of the other competitive trucks. And the best thing about it: it's coming this year."

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As reported by dedicated EV publication Electrek, a "pre-production Cybertruck beta" was unveiled at Investor Day, providing our best look yet at the production-ready version.

While it retains the concept's outlandish triangular-like shape and stainless-steel construction, the latest Cybertruck prototype features a revised front design, a large windscreen wiper, and traditional side mirrors.

Inside, the Cybertruck has a new steering wheel design to replace or complement the original yoke-style wheel. While it's a more traditional shape, it isn't completely round, either.

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In addition, there appears to be a newly-designed centre console and a central entertainment screen for rear passengers, as found in the Model S and Model X.

Elon Musk has apologised for the delay in bringing the Cybertruck to market, but he has promised the pick-up will enter production in 2023.

In mid-2022, Tesla removed the Cybertruck from its global websites – including Australia – and deleted pricing and specifications for the pick-up on its United States site.

Jordan Hickey

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