Tesla Cybertruck Review: Already Iconic?

- The most dangerous thing about the Tesla Cybertruck is not the sharp edges and corners. It's not the fact that it weighs more than three tons and goes from zero to 60 miles per hour faster than a Corvette. It's not even about reflections dazzling off stainless steel and potentially blinding people on the road. No, the most dangerous thing about the Cybertruck is the way it makes the people around you behave on the road. (rhythm music) (music continues) (music continues) (music continues) Well, I can't really say whether the Cybertruck is attractive or not, and I'm completely serious about that.

For example, if you just check the comments section online, it's actually mostly negative. Most people say it looks horrible. It looks like a refrigerator on wheels. It's a design disaster. But once you start living with this thing, you drive around with it and you talk to people about it who have never heard of it, and they say things like, "This is crazy. It's like a movie prop. It's science." . Fi, it looks kind of alien." So there's a lot to say. Here, first of all, stainless steel and black plastic. That's mainly what you're working with here. And the front, I think it has a good angle.

To be honest, I'm a fan of light bars, but the actual headlights are down here so they stay out of people's eyes. Overall, it's like a square jaw, no curves, just angles. But the back, the back not so much. You know, technically it's still a bar, yes, but in my opinion it's a little worse. And also tons of black plastic in the back. Very high tailgate. I don't think it's getting dump truck vibes from back here. be the only one. I just don't think the back is its best angle. But if I had to narrow it down, I'm pretty sure the most

iconic

profile is the side.

And the two elements of this truck that really stand out are this slope, these. high shoulders and then the sharp corners on the other side. Look, most pickup trucks basically have this general shape. It is the traditional look of a truck. That's why we're not used to seeing this angle here and this huge slope here. It is unusual, strange and very interesting visually. I've been living with the Cybertruck for about a month, over 1,500 miles. And you notice a couple of things. First of all, people, every time you go to park somewhere, always want to come up to you and talk about it.

Naturally, I have entertained many of these conversations because they are fun. And they usually say two things. First, you'd be surprised how many people have never heard of the Cybertruck. I know that we, the people online, the people who watch this video, think: how come someone hasn't heard of the Tesla Cybertruck? But you would be surprised. And two, most people just want to know how much that costs. And I was asked that so many times that eventually people started to guess. And 100% of the people who guessed were too tall. People were guessing $250, $300,000, $180,000, $150,000. They're all gone. But you know, how would they know?

They don't know what the rest of the truck is. They have just seen something they have never seen for the first time. So I guess the bottom line is that the look really distracts people from the rest of what makes the Cybertruck the Cybertruck. Okay, let's play a little game. I'm going to name a characteristic and all you have to do is think about it for a second and think about whether you think it's overrated or underrated. And then I, someone who has been driving this truck, will tell you the real answer. First feature: steering by wire.

I've seen some good pieces that cover what's really going on here, talking about the complete physical disconnect between the steering wheel you're holding and the wheels moving underneath the truck. Instead, they're a bunch of sensors that react to your input like a video game controller. But combined with the variable steering ratio and all-wheel steering, this is the most nimble and agile-feeling truck you've ever driven. And I don't think many people realize that. So they are underestimating me. It's one of those things where Tesla definitely didn't have to do this. They have

already

made headlines with their appearance.

Underneath it could just be a Model 3. But they took extra steps and extra engineering to ship a full steer-by-wire system and all the redundancies that come with making it safe. I think they are the first to do this. But the variable steering ratio is really what gives it all its usefulness. So at low speeds the ability to turn very quickly increases. It is a steering wheel with a much more responsive feel. So if I want to turn right here, I just have to turn it half a turn, a quarter turn and I'm completely maneuvering. The way you can park and make 90 degree turns and everything is a total game changer.

But then, at highway speeds, that relationship softens a lot. Then you have a bit of steering input to slide left and right between different lanes. It's much more subtle. You need that. But on top of that, add four-wheel steering. So four wheel steering is not new, many vehicles have done it. But the amount of steering you get from these rear wheels is quite dramatic to the point where you can look in the mirrors and see those wheels spinning. And this can also be adjusted with software. But that really allows this huge truck to basically rotate around a much smaller axis.

I think the steering ratio now gives it the same steering circle as a Model S, but it feels really impressive just because of how big the actual vehicle is. It definitely takes some getting used to. You can't ignore that fact. But once you get used to it, you literally feel like when you go back to an F-150 or any other truck where you have all this manual steering to do K-turns, that feels strange, that feels archaic. It sounds like you shouldn't have to do that. So, again, Tesla definitely didn't have to do that, but the way you can drive it like a smaller car and really point it forward, I don't know, it's definitely underrated.

Alright, next feature, bulletproof stainless steel, overrated or underrated? I'm going with, you probably saw this coming, I'm going with overrated. Now look, first of all I understand. Obviously, having a very durable truck is very helpful, of course. But bulletproof up to nine millimeters? (Marques hits the truck) (sledgehammer hits) Yeah, I'm not going to try that. But you know, there are other YouTubers who will totally do it. And apparently it can literally stop smaller bullets without being pierced. But also, glass windows are not bulletproof, they are more resistant than normal glass. And then it's the normal wheels and tires that can still suffer cuts.

So don't get any ideas that this thing is invincible or anything like that. But it is clear that the cold-rolled stainless steel alloy will be much stronger than the normal exterior of the vehicle. So that's the shopping cart in the back of the parking lot, that's the fender benders. Or if someone hits you, you'll be fine. You'll be fine. But guess that? It also means that your truck is now made of a material that leaves fingerprints. And it doesn't have normal door handles either, so you can't keep it clean if you use it daily. And it turns out that steel is very difficult to manipulate.

Apparently, Tesla had to create new machines strong enough to stamp this material. There's a reason there aren't many other cars rolling around that look like this. So when I say in the Auto Focus

review

that low VIN Cybertrucks will have low VIN production issues, that's not really new for Tesla. They've had to rush manufacturing different types of vehicles before and usually the first few thousand of them aren't pretty. But then they learn from those problems and then a year or two later they are making millions of the product and its quality is much better controlled. So this particular Cybertruck has dual-motor all-wheel drive.

This was taken from Ridge. By the way, shout out to Ridge. I'll leave a link below if you're not aware of my association with them. But at the time of delivery, this one had a fairly large panel gap on the driver's side door. And you know, I never really mind panel gaps, but this one in particular started to grow and get worse. It literally seemed like the door was open and then it started making strange noises as it closed. Until one day it really broke. Turns out it wasn't a gap in the panel, it was actually a manufacturing issue where the bolts holding this latch in place weren't tight enough and loosened over time and it fell out.

And then Miles had the bright idea to simply tape the latch back into place. And now when you close the door, it lines up perfectly. Then Elon Musk addressed this on Twitter after my video. Apparently only 15 vans had this problem, so I guess I got lucky. So if you are one of the few, apparently you can take this to a Tesla service center and they will be able to fix it in no time, as long as you get an appointment. The Cyberbeast I received under my name has been flawless so far. But I guess what I'm trying to point out is that these early Cybertrucks, like any other early Teslas, will encounter, I guarantee you, more problems like this.

And they will work on them and fix them. But yeah, this Foundation Series badge right here, kind of influenced by the Tesla community because it basically means you got one of the first ones. But it also means, in a way, a willing beta tester. So you know, these materials and this new stamping technique and all of this should make vehicles much easier to mass produce and cheaper. But that will be eventually, eventually. Alright, next feature, truck stuff. I'm talking about the theoretical reasons why someone would logically buy a truck instead of any other vehicle like a truck, SUV, or car.

And that would be for towing, hauling, and off-roading. And I know this truck seems like it would be amazing at all those things, but I'm going to say this one is overrated. It's overrated here and I'll tell you why. Now, don't get me wrong, the Cybertruck, very capable. Obviously, it's much more capable than any other Tesla. I can confirm that it withstands winter weather very well. Just as it has heated windshield wipers and heated mirrors, the door can be opened in icy weather. They added a wading mode that raises the suspension all the way and pressurizes the battery so you can drive in very deep water.

It's crazy. And you also have off-road driving modes and towing modes right here in the settings. There is also only one wheel and tire option at this time with the Cybertruck. Every Cybertruck ships with the same Goodyear Territory Wrangler RT tire, whatever. It's a pretty popular tire and they ship them on, you know, Jeep Grand Cherokees and F-150s all the time. And it's reinforced and capable of light off-road touring. But I think if we're honest, most people will drive this vehicle primarily on the street, as a glorified SUV. So here's a number to think about: 63. 63% is the percentage of truckers who admit they rarely or never tow anything.

And those are only the ones who admit it. For example, look at this graph. This comes from a survey of F-150 owners, making it the most popular truck in the country. People almost never tow these things. So before you leave a comment that this sucks to tow, yes, they know it, we know it. Everyone who buys it should

already

know this. If you are purchasing a truck specifically for towing, then you have a short list of trucks you are considering and none of them are electric. But I think what I've noticed most about this is that there are millions of pre-orders for this right now.

Since it is Tesla, it will be very popular. This will be the first truck for many people and will come with all the first truck versions. Like many people, the Cybertruck looks absolutely huge, but it's actually smaller than an F-150. And these people, when they get the truck, will think that they are invincible and that they can drive off-road and go wherever they want without even thinking about taking certain routes strategically or inflating the tires that literally come at 50 PSI from the factory. They will start to get stuck in all sorts of embarrassing situations, which means of course countless articles will be written about them because of course no other truck has ever gotten stuck in the snow before.

And I'm sorry, I'm definitely getting ahead of myself. But look, we'll be using a Cybertruck in our video production studio for the same reasons we use an R1T. It has a trailer hitch, it's roomy, it carries a lot of gear, it's fast, quiet and fantastic. But I guess what I'm trying to say is that most of the millions of people who will end up with these CybertrucksThey will eventually use them on the street as a glorified SUV just because they think this one looks cool. And that's fine. Very good, next category, performance. Overrated or underrated?

Well, you may have seen this little video that Tesla made on the YouTube channel of him racing the Cybertruck against a Porsche 911 while towing a 911 and beating that 911. And that, that was a very clever video. It's an advertisement, of course, but it also takes advantage of the fact that all EVs have this commoditization of this huge straight-line performance and great acceleration. Anyone can get it. But you know, I'd never normally compare a truck to a sports car, right? But hey, we're here now. (energetic music) (music continues) (music continues) (car accelerating) (truck whirring) (race signal beeping) (car roaring) (music continues)(music continues) (music continues) So, Like most drag races, this one was just for fun.

But even though we have some time at this race track, we did a lot of these, we did back-to-back races. And it shed a lot of light on the Tesla video and on the Cybertruck in general. First of all, electric vehicles are fast, right? We've known this for years. Ridiculous mode, plaid mode, beast mode. This is not new information. But cars with gears can be faster. So there is a difference between quick and fast. So when you go to a real race track with timing equipment and all that, you get one of these afterwards. This is a temporary slip.

It breaks in both lanes, not just at the end of the 1/4 mile but at multiple points throughout the race. And that's why I've expanded it here. So this was the best race of the triple-engine Cybertruck, one of the first races. It runs a 1/4 mile in 10.9 seconds, which, if you don't know, is absolutely ridiculous. There are bona fide sports cars that don't run in the 10s. And for a 7,000-pound truck to do it on all-terrain tires is kind of funny. But when you really look and break down each of these times, this shows the difference between fast and fast.

So, first of all, after launch, from zero miles per hour, the Cyberbeast with its triple motors and with its 1000 hertz traction control that manages rear wheel slip basically in real time is capable of exploding out of the line for the first 60 feet of the run faster than the 911 Turbo S, one of the fastest takeoff cars ever made. Now, from there, it maintains that lead and continues to generate all this power out to 330 feet. So you can see that at 330 feet, 4.4 vs. 4.5, it's still ahead. But by the time you get to 660 feet, which is about halfway through the stroke, that's when the 911 has changed gears twice and continues pulling.

And that's when he changes gears and overtakes the truck mid-race. Physics simply takes over and the lighter car with many more gears keeps changing. The truck passes. Crazy enough, the Cybertruck reaches its electronically limited top speed of 114 miles per hour, probably due to the tires, well before the end of the 1/4 mile, while my son, I mean car, keeps hitting 140 .No, it is not stock. Now Tesla made this video that I've talked about and they wanted to show the Cyberbeast against a Porsche 911. And they know all this, so they had to be smart, I'll say. So if you haven't seen it, I'll link it below.

Their video shows the Cybertruck approaching the line. He is racing a Porsche 911. He beats the 911 in a drag race and then it is revealed that he was towing a 911 the entire time. So they say you can beat one while towing it. And then the 1/4 mile time flashes on the screen, 11 seconds. First of all, there are about 50 different models and variations of the Porsche 911. Based solely on what we saw and the performance of the video, I'm guessing they went with the cheapest and slowest 911 possible. It would be the 911 Carrera T. It is a manual transmission. It goes from zero to 60 in about 4.3 seconds.

So now the Cybertruck with its 2.6 second 0 to 60 time has a big advantage. And then they can hurt you by having the 911 tow, like 3,000 pounds. Well, then they run the race. And if you watch the video, they take you to this yellow mark right here. Which turns out to actually be the midpoint of the race track. So let's thank Engineering Explained for doing the math on this case. I leave the video below. But it turns out that the Carrera T, thanks to its gearbox, is still faster than a Cybertruck, especially if it's towing 3000 pounds, but it's actually a 1/8 mile run they're showing here, and then they cite the 1/4 mile time at the end as if they had run a 1/4 mile race.

But as we learned today, quick, quick. People will point out that difference, but I'll let it slide. It's just a drag race, it's fun, it's no big deal. But I will say that if you can, from stoplight to stoplight, be as fast as basically any other car in a 7,000 pound truck, that's awesome, that's hilarious, that's really fun. But hopefully at least now you'll understand why I say performance is a little overrated. It's more of a one-trick pony in a straight line. That trick is very fun and very attractive to certain people. Every day there are people who choose the F-150 Raptor over the F-150 for things like this.

But you know, then you come to a bend and it's a truck again. But there's also one more thing I want to highlight: again, in our best streak we got 10.995 seconds in the Cybertruck. Is this the fastest? Is this the world record for the fastest Cybertruck over 1/4 mile? I haven't seen anything faster, so let me know if you do. But we thank Miles, the driver mod. I think we could have a world record here. Alright, the 800-volt architecture and the 48-volt low-voltage system, both new to the Cybertruck. I'm selling myself short, if only for the fun fact that this is technically the lightest all-electric truck in the world.

Which is not the highest bar to overcome. But yes, thanks to the lower weight of the cable, it is lighter than the Hummer EV. It is also lighter than the F-150 Lightning. And it's lighter than the dramatically smaller Rivian R1T. So that's an achievement. I also expected it to charge as fast or faster than other Teslas. But it seems to be online, you know, 250 kilowatts from the V3 superchargers for about the first third of the curve. You know, it seems like fewer miles per hour are added to the battery, but that includes driving efficiency. Which, thanks to the aerodynamics of a refrigerator, is not a good thing.

Now I also want to specifically mention the suspension, just the Cybertruck's suspension, which I think is underrated. Firstly, there is a lot of travel between the lower, firmer settings and the higher, softer settings. And no one's going to say this drives like a sports car, but it's impressively low and firm in its lowest setting, and it's very tall, and it can move between those low and high settings very quickly. And I was also very impressed with how little roll and yaw there was. Normally, in a big truck, you accelerate and the nose goes up a lot.

This one goes up a little. Nothing bad. But we also have to talk, even if just for a second, about Tesla's minimalism. Because it's kind of a staple of Teslas right now, especially with the Cybertruck here with the design. But also inside and with the materials and the choices they make. I think many of us would agree that a physical button is, in many ways, better than a digital button. I don't think it's a good shot. But one of the reasons Tesla has been so commercially successful over the last two years in such a competitive market is because they've figured out a way to make a profit on every vehicle and minimize all the extra parts, all the moving parts.

And they've gotten rid of a lot of buttons. They've actually gotten rid of virtually all the buttons on the Cybertruck. But because of Tesla's success, I feel like car manufacturers have started copying a lot of what Tesla does, to the detriment of some of their vehicles. I would have liked to have seen on the Cybertruck, this great special vehicle, maybe a cool key fob that has access to a button to open the front trunk, or maybe actual climate control buttons. Or maybe we all know they should have made a mirror that's actually a screen so you can see the back of the truck without looking at the screen.

But they didn't do that. So I'm saying that Tesla's minimalism is somewhat overrated here. But I also need you to know that despite all the other cool technical stuff I've talked about in this video, this is still a Tesla under the hood, and all the things we love about it and all the other things. That comes with it. That means it works with Tesla Superchargers nationwide. That also means it has a super-heavy 123 kilowatt-hour battery in the floor. It means that the vehicle's quiet interior makes the speaker system sound much better than it probably should. And it also means that a lot of things are missing from these first trucks when they are delivered.

The extra super heavy range extension battery in the rear isn't shipping yet and no one knows when it will. The screen also doesn't have CarPlay or Android Auto, but the software is really good and super fast. But there is also no autopilot at the moment, even if you paid for it. There is no light bar at this time, even if you paid for it. There are no aerodynamic limits at this point, and you paid for them. The locking differential on the rear axle does not yet work on the dual-motor version of this truck. And there is only one tire option: for a truck!

These are all decisions that Tesla makes knowing the priorities of the likely buyers, the millions of pre-orders for the Cybertruck. They know what people will probably do with these. They know what people think they are going to do with these. And they know what people want when they buy one of these things. It's a Tesla under the hood. The other day I was driving to the studio, and on the way I came across a hill, and on the other side of the hill was a motorcyclist across the street. And when I went up the hill, he looked up and saw the truck for about two seconds.

And then he reached out and did this as he cycled past me. But later that night, I was on my way home from practicing around the bridge somewhere in New York City at night. And as I slow down in traffic, this car pulls up next to me, kind of in front of me and all four windows roll down and these super happy faces stick out and they just give me the thumbs up and they're smiling. all the time. And I'd say that's the ratio of joy to absolute disgust that you bring to the world driving the Cybertruck, it's probably like 80-20.

So what's the verdict with the Cybertruck, right? I think there's a lot going on between those four corners, a lot of options, interesting materials and technologies, steering-by-wire and 800-volt systems and all that. But frankly, a lot of it is again overshadowed by the design. So we keep coming back to the design. And I feel like we can use that word again,

iconic

. I would say that as a product person, I think this is already an iconic design. Now, that comes with a lot of baggage. I feel like when you say that word, it's like joining the weird air of like, someone's bedroom poster on some kid's wall.

It's like the Lamborghini Countach or the Bugatti Veyron or something like a Tesla Cybertruck. But the thing about those iconic cars is that they're almost always rare. And that's the thing, it's like if you see a Bugatti Veyron on the street, it's probably the only Bugatti Veyron you'll see on the street for a long time. There are not so many Lamborghini Countaches in the world. Now, the current Cybertruck is very rare. And there are all these articles about celebrities driving them. And when you see one, it's an event. That's why people react the way they do.

It's probably because it's the first time they've seen one. But the Cybertruck is planned to go into mass production. So I feel like this has to go away after a while. Obviously, it's different to see the 10th, 50th or 100th Cybertruck of the day, right? So how does that match up? I believe there are over two million pre-orders for the Cybertruck, with more to come. Only about 2,000 Lamborghini Countaches were made. Less than 500 Bugatti Veyrons were made. So it's a little difficult to find a comparison for a vehicle that starts its life as iconic, but is then mass produced.

And there was a really interesting comment in the Auto Focus video I did about this truck about owning a PT Cruiser when it first came out. And I actually wasn't old enough to remember this, so I'll just take their word for it, but apparently it was a crazy enough design to get a lot of attention when it went into production. You know, it's a weird shape, it had some weird material choices and all that. But ultimately Chrysler built more than a million PT Cruisers. But now we know exactly how cool it isthe PT Cruiser. You know, it becomes more and more humanized the more you see them on the road.

You see them get into accidents and have to maneuver in traffic, and they're normal people and normal cars, and they're everywhere. And I guess the question is: is that the arc of the Tesla Cybertruck? Like, we don't know. But it has to go from being that crazy unobtainium that it is now to being something. Only time will tell. Thanks for watching. See you at the next one. Peace. (rhythmic music)