A prototype of the upcoming Tesla Cybertruck made another appearance in California yesterday wearing what appears to be a lot of calibration equipment taped to the bodywork.
Spotted by the TikTok user OrangeSpiceLvr, the uncamouflaged pickup was riding on steel wheels that look identical to those seen on a similar prototype back in April. In fact, the vehicle seems to be the same one that was spotted three months ago, but we can’t say for sure as the license plate is impossible to decipher in the TikTok video.
In April, the bare metal Cybertruck reportedly had Wheel Force Transducers attached to the steel wheels, which are a “multi-axial precision measuring system that captures three forces and moments on a rotating wheel,” according to a Cybertruck Owners Club forum user.
It’s no secret that Tesla is currently conducting real-world testing on its soon-to-be-delivered all-electric pickup, with the company saying during its Q2 2023 Earnings Call that final certification and validation are underway, and that the Cybertruck “remains on track to begin initial production later this year at Gigafactory Texas.”
The Elon Musk-led marque is already assembling pre-production vehicles and a special delivery event is expected to happen sometime in the next quarter, possibly in September, with the brand claiming the Cybertruck will be “the first sub-19 feet truck (fitting into a garage) that has both four doors and a 6+ ft bed.”
For comparison, the Ford F-150 Lightning’s bed measures 5.5 ft long, while the Rivian R1T’s is 4.5 ft long. However, precise measurements weren’t provided by Tesla, so it remains to be seen how it stacks up against the competition, seeing how bed length isn’t the only relevant metric for the average truck user; bed height and the angle of the side walls are also important when loading stuff.
In related news, a leaked photo of the bare chassis shows that Tesla’s electric pickup will most likely not have a midgate, as there is no cutout for it, meaning that long items probably won’t fit in the bed. With this being said, rumors say the rear window might retract behind the rear seats, which – if true – would mean that items over 6 ft long could be transported with the rear window down.
As always, we’d like to know what you think about this, so head over to the comments section below to give us your thoughts.
