Last updated on April 22nd, 2020 at 11:30 am
On 21 November, Elon Musk revealed the Cybertruck at an event in Los Angeles. The Tesla pickup truck is a radical new look for the American automaker. The vehicle, which seems to have been inspired by the films Tron and Batman, is unlike any other vehicle that I've seen before. It's got jagged edges, an Elon-gated (see what I did there?) windscreen, and just to top it off is built from a bulletproof stainless steel material.
Intrigued? Well, I've conglomerated everything you need to know about the new Tesla Cybertruck.
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Tesla Cybertruck design: How does the new Tesla look?
From the exterior, the Tesla Cybertruck breaks all modern-day trends. It's not a bubble-shaped aerodynamic vehicle that attempts to have the lowest drag coefficient. Au contraire, the vehicle is made up of harsh edges – as if someone forgot to render the car in photoshop; the headlights and taillights span across a single line at the front and rear of the vehicle, respectively; spaceship-like wheel arches sit above the outlandish rims; and to top it off, the entire chassis is made out of ultra-hard 30X cold-rolled stainless steel – the same material that'll be used for the company's SpaceX rocket ships. Although currently only available in its stainless steel form, Elon Musk has tweeted that it'll come in an all-Matte Black colour scheme, too.
Let me remind you, this isn't April Fools – #JustElonMuskThings
I want to talk a little more about the build quality. During the launch, Elon Musk invited an employee up on stage, where he proceeded in demonstrating the toughness of the vehicle's door. First, a regular truck door was used to demonstrate its weaknesses after being pommelled by a sledgehammer, then Musk invited him to hit the truck that sat on stage. The result saw the Cybertruck's door bounce the impact of the sledgehammer. Just to crank things up a notch, the vehicle's cold-rolled stainless steel will survive a shot from a 9mm gun. This thing is a batmobile.
The glass, however, didn't fare as well. Musk made a spiel about how the ‘shatterproof' Tesla Armor Glass was far superior to that of normal glass, which is used in windscreens around the world. The controlled demo, saw the Tesla glass withstand a metal ball dropped onto it from around a 3m and 6m height without shattering. The regular glass, however, cracked with a metal ball dropped from less than a 1m height. Sounds great, right? The only issue is, Musk then asked an employee to throw the same metal ball at the Cybertruck's windows. Both driver side and rear windows monumentally shattered. Slightly embarrassing, although, the metal ball could have gone through had it been regular glass.
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Tesla Cybertruck interior: How many people does the Tesla seat?
The vehicle's cabin isn't as radical as the exterior, however, there are hints of madness in here too. The steering wheel for example, is reminiscent of a racing car; its compact size and minimalistic look is unlike most road-legal cars on the market. The dashboard is finished in a stainless steel/marble colour, which also reflects the trim of the cabin. It's currently available in an all-black and silver trim colour, only.
As for the seats, there are six in total: three at the front and three at the back, which is thanks to the removal of the centre console; although, I'm not entirely sure where you'll place your coffee in the morning.
Moving onto the roof, it's made completely out of glass. It'll be a pain to clean but will provide the driver and passengers with panoramic views of the environment that surrounds them.
Finally, the 17″ touchscreen display that resides in the middle of the dashboard, provides all the regular controls that you expect from a Tesla. That includes, but isn't limited to: media, temperature controls, vehicle statistics and driving modes.
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Tesla Cybertruck performance: How fast is the new Tesla pickup truck?
Let's talk about the vehicle's specs. The Tesla Cybertruck is available in three configurations: Single Motor RWD, Dual Motor AWD and the exciting Tri Motor AWD – the latter is the first time I've seen it in action, as it'll feature in the company's upcoming Roadster, too.
| Single Motor RWD | Dual Motor AWD | Tri Motor AWD | |
| Range (miles) | 250+ | 300+ | 500+ |
| 0-60mph (s) | 6.5 | 4.5 | 2.9 |
| Top Speed (mph) | 110 | 120 | 130 |
| Payload (lbs) | 3500 | 3500 | 3500 |
| Tow Rating (lbs) | 7500 | 10000 | 14000 |
All three variants come equipped with Autopilot (it's a £5,800 option), have a ground clearance of up to 16″, a frunk, have 100 Cubic feet of storage space and have 6.5 feet (1.98m) of vault space – large enough to store the new Tesla ATV. On the inner part of the vault, you'll also find a charging port, which can be used to charge an external device.
These are some tasty specs; from 0-60mph in under 2.9s, to a 500-mile driving range – the Cybertruck has it all. As for charging, the new Tesla will support Supercharging V3, which peaks at 250kW. In other words, you can get up to 75 miles of driving range in 5 minutes.
At present, the Cybertruck is available for pre-order through Tesla's website – a $100/£100 fully-refundable deposit is required to secure the order.
The single Motor RWD will start from $39,900, the Dual Motor AWD at $49,900, and the Tri Motor AWD at $69,900. That's without any government grants or options added on top. I suspect a dollar-to-pound conversion will come into play, so expect £39,900, £49,900 and £69,900, respectively in the UK.
Production for these vehicles will be in late 2021.
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Tesla Cybertruck: Relive the launch
What do you make of the new Tesla Cybertruck? Let us know in the comments section, below.
