When Elon Musk launched the Tesla $TSLA Cybertruck, there were plenty of signs that things were not going well. First and foremost were its looks, but then came the claims that this truck would be a bulletproof off-roading legend designed for the end times — claims that were quickly debunked when lead designer Franz Von Holzhausen hurled a steel ball at the window and shattered it. Perhaps that should have been our cue to relegate this truck to the realm of “concept” and not “reality.”
Despite that debut, the Tesla Cybertruck has somehow managed to not only make it into production, but to also make it into the hands of buyers. Plenty of screwups have followed. Check out the slideshow above for all of Tesla’s Cybertruck tomfoolery.
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Nothing says “I feel comfortable and safe in this vehicle” quite like a complete lack of visibility! That’s exactly what one Tiktokker found within days of the Cybertruck’s rollout. Who needs ergonomics or safety or intuitive functions?
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There’s something uniquely uncomfortable about watching a so-called off-roader struggle so desperately on a fairly minor snowy incline, but that’s just what happened to the Tesla $TSLA Cybertruck in Southern California’s Stanislaus National Forest. To add insult to injury, the truck needed to be towed to freedom by a Ford $F Super Duty.
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Thanks to a lack of crumple zones, the Tesla $TSLA Cybertruck looks set to disperse the energy of any impacts into the passengers, which is not ideal. You can read the expert opinions on the dangers of that situation here.
Oh, and great news — both the National Traffic Safety Administration and the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety say there are no plans to crash test the truck any time soon!
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With all of its fancy, one-of-a-kind pieces of equipment and technology, the Tesla $TSLA Cybertruck kind of exists on its own in the automotive universe. Unfortunately for buyers, that means repairs will be extremely costly; the big, floppy windshield wiper alone will cost $75 wholesale.
Check out our full story on it — and the ridiculous prices — here.
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At its current production rate, Tesla $TSLA will only be able to make enough batteries to supply one-tenth of its projected Cybertruck production. That’s not exactly great when you consider Tesla’s high hopes for this beast. You can read all about it here.
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Every car model in the market has inevitably faced its first big crash, but this particular collision between a new Cybertruck and a 2009 Toyota $TM Corolla in Redwood City, California, was particularly concerning. All occupants were unharmed, but both cars were totally demolished.
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Tesla $TSLA’s own factory-produced CCS charging adapter doesn’t fit on the Cybertruck. Maybe that won’t be a big deal when we all convert to Tesla’s NACS charging ports, but until then, the wheel arch cladding fender flare prevents the CCS1 adapter from making contact with the truck. Read all about it here.
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The Tesla $TSLA Cybertruck was supposed to be the do-everything truck. The reality seems to be that it can’t really do all that much of anything at all — including drive on snow, a hazard that surely no one could have foreseen.
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Elon Musk and Tesla $TSLA really rely on grandiose claims and cool visual tricks to keep us all interested in the capabilities of its vehicles, and this was no different. Tesla showed off a video that claimed a Cybertruck hauling a Porsche 911 could actually beat a Porsche 911 in a drag race. That’s not true, and Jason Fenske at Engineering Explained gave us all the details as to why.
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YouTuber Dennis Wang shared a video of a cross-country road trip he completed in his Tesla $TSLA Cybertruck. On the 1,340-mile trip, he had to stop 12 times to charge, and also faced more than his fair share of technical glitches on the road. You can check out our full story on this road trip for more details about how it all went wrong.
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Independent testing quickly confirmed that the Tesla $TSLA Cybertruck was not going to be making its promised 320 miles of range back in early January, when Out of Spec Motoring could only manage 254 miles of driving on a full charge.
Things only got worse when, a few weeks later, several owners began to complain that their trucks were barely even reaching 200 miles of range. You can check out our full story about it here.
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You know how the Tesla $TSLA Cybertruck is supposed to be the best at everything, including off-roading? Well, it can’t do that “off-roading” thing very well, and it definitely got its ass beat by the humble Subaru Crosstrek.
Read our full story on the Crosstrek vs. Cybertruck battle here.
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Let’s say you bought yourself a brand-new Tesla $TSLA Cybertruck, only to find yourself disappointed by the whole affair. Let’s say you want to sell it. Well, good luck — because CarMax decided it would only offer $76,000 for the nearly-new $120,000 pickup. That’s not great!
But maybe don’t think about flipping it. Sure, a Cybertruck managed to net $244,000 when it was sold to a Porsche dealership in Atlanta, then was sold by that dealership for almost $300,000. But Tesla will blacklist you if you’re out here trying to make a quick buck flipping its trucks.
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You know those nifty aerodynamic wheel covers on the Tesla $TSLA Cybertruck? Turns out they’re chewing away at the truck’s tires, which wasn’t a known concern until Tesla YouTuber Brian Reese brought it to the world’s attention.
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In February, Tesla $TSLA recalled nearly every single car that it has ever sold in America due to the fact that the font of the dashboard warning lights was too small to actually be able to read anything. The recall impacted 2 million vehicles, or about as many as Tesla has sold in the U.S., and it impacted the brand-new Cybertrucks on the market.
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Think about the worst guy you’ve ever met. Now, imagine he was rich and had horrible taste. See him? Well, he’s nothing compared to this jabroni. What we’ve got here is a man using Tesla $TSLA’s Full Self-Driving beta in his Cybertruck while wearing Apple $AAPL Vision Pro VR goggles. What a goober.
You can read our full story about the Apple Vision Pro guy here.
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King of the Hammers is a yearly desert outing that attracts all kinds of thrill seekers and off roaders — but one poor Cybertruck owner got a little too wild out in Johson Valley, and his entire wheel just... snapped off after doing some “gnarly donuts.” The truck wasn’t the only one to experience tech issues during that excursion, but it was the only truck that lost a whole entire wheel.
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Tesla $TSLA Cybertruck owners say that, upon delivery, they noticed distinct orange stains on the truck’s stainless steel body panels. An engineer tried to dispute the fact that it was rust, claiming instead that the truck was just attracting surface contaminants — which also sounds very unsavory.
Buyers can prevent discoloration or stains or handprints — but only if they also purchase a $5,000 Tesla-made wrap. That seems like something that maybe should have been disclosed previously!
You can read our full story on the rusting parts here, and learn how to clean that notoriously difficult surface here.
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Over on the Cybertruck Owners Club forum, poster Cybercar came with a unique plea: “I’ve had my truck for two days, got in this morning, everything was on. Went to press the brake to put it in reverse and everything went black. Power door button wouldn’t even let me out, had to use manual release to get out. I can not get back in either. My battery is at 40%, so no it’s not dead. Has anyone had this problem?” I’m sure that’s fine.
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In a now-deleted Tweet, Matthew Chiarello shared his love of Tesla $TSLA in a post that ultimately revealed the truck’s danger to his family: “Love @tesla and my @cybertruck but ‘catastrophe failure’ with steering and brakes while on a road trip with wife and toddler. … Pretty pretty pretty not good. Oh and service center not open today. @elonmusk.” I think I would probably love the truck a little less, if I’m honest.
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Thank you to local Monterey Bay news channel KSBW Action News 8 for capturing a fantastic clip of a Cybertruck stuck in the sand while driving illegally on Marina State Beach. The drivers couldn’t free the truck until the fire department arrived and deflated the tires.
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Rapper 2Rare crashed his Tesla $TSLA Cybertruck directly into the Beverly Hills Hotel sign within hours of taking delivery; it’s not fully clear what happened here, but it’s a very bad look nevertheless.
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Have you ever wanted to watch a Tesla $TSLA Cybertruck get creamed by a Chevy Silverado HD in a tuck of war? Well, it definitely happened, and it’s not the first time Tesla’s grandiose claims have been so brutally debunked. Read more here.
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The Tesla $TSLA Cybertruck has really been dominating the resale market, with examples running for more than $200,000. Now, there are so many of these trucks in the market that no one is quite that interested, and efforts at lucractive flips have fallen short. Check out more here.
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Okay, alright, fine. So the Cybertruck hasn’t been a super stellar hit. Surely that can’t mean that Tesla $TSLA’s promised accessories would at least be worthwhile!
Well... wrong. Tesla offers a $3,000 “base camp” tent attachment to the bed of the truck. What was promoted as quite a handsome, structured affair with windows and angles and a grill has turned out to be a shapeless tent-adjacent structure that just kinda sits on the back of the truck. You’re also supposed to activate a totally nonexistent “Tent Mode” on the Cybertruck when you install it.
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One of Musk’s biggest claims with the Cybertruck is that it should be practically invincible, and at the very least, bulletproof. YouTuber JerryRigEverything decided to put that claim to the test with his many, many guns — and it turns out that perhaps Elon exaggerated a bit here.
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What happens if you get locked in the back of your Tesla $TSLA Cybertruck? Nothing good. While most automakers include a glow-in-the-dark emergency release handle in passenger vehicles, Tesla does not include that feature in the Cybertruck. Oh, and no one is going to be able to hear you scream!
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Ben, a Texas-based EV enthusiast, shared a fairly harrowing post on Twitter $TWTR ove the weekend. He shared a video of his Cybertruck screen flashing red, with a “critical steering issue” warning. He had to pull over. Thankfully the issue was resolved by “walking away from the vehicle and coming back.” I’m sure that’s fine. I’m sure that’s nothing to worry about.
