From the outside, the Tesla Cybertruck is innovation incarnate. It is a form-shifting, rule-breaking rejection of everything internal-combustion automakers have told you a pickup truck should be. It promises a new world, an unbounded horizon, a fundamental shift. On the inside, it is a Tesla, a recognizable evolution from the 2013 Model S. And from the driver’s seat, it’s an electric pickup, like all of the others on sale.
It is Tesla’s most revolutionary-looking product and simultaneously its least disruptive to date. It is competitive, not dominant. It does not punt the ball down the field, it inches it forward. And its defining feature isn’t any particular spec or feature. It is the unfathomable, oppressive amount of attention it gets.
If that’s what you want, you can’t beat the Tesla Cybertruck. The rest is about on par with the Rivian R1T, a truck that’s been on sale for years, offers a lower entrance price, and more fleshed-out off-roading features.
Gallery: 2024 Tesla Cybertruck Review
(Full Disclosure: I rented this Cybetruck All-Wheel Drive Foundation Series off of Turo, a rental app that allows you to borrow private vehicles. Turo discounted the rental by $1,500.)
Driving Experience
The jarring part of driving a Cybertruck is that, while everything about its marketing, styling, and usability suggests revolution, its driving experience feels largely familiar.
This isn’t a knock on Tesla. It’s a natural result of the brand’s success. When the Model S hit the field over a decade ago, the fundamentals of electrification—linear power, effortless acceleration, and utter quiet—felt revolutionary. Now we're all used to that.
So if you’ve driven a Tesla, and you’ve driven a pickup truck, you’re going to feel at home. If you’ve driven one of the four other electric trucks on sale, you know exactly how this feels. Smooth, easy acceleration. Plenty of power. A comfortable ride with occasional reminders of the pure mass the truck is managing. Tesla-specific details include an excellent one-pedal driving mode and horrendous outward visibility, forcing you to rely on cameras—either side-view monitors or a rear-view one on the central screen, but never both at once—or Autopilot, which isn’t enabled yet.
Our tester was a Cybertruck All-Wheel Drive Foundation Series, so it wasn’t as neck-snapping as a Cyberbeast or a Hummer EV. Zero to 60 takes 4.1 seconds in the 600-hp dual-motor version, which is plenty quick for a truck.
You could upgrade to the tri-motor, 845-hp Cyberbeast if you want to hit 60 in just 2.6 seconds, but I wouldn’t recommend it. A decade into the age of electrification, quick 0-60 times have lost their novelty.
The steering system is the only part of the Cybertruck driving experience that feels new. It’s one of the genuinely revolutionary parts of the Cybertruck. There is no physical connection between the steering wheel and the front wheels. Or the rear ones, for that matter, since the Cybertruck comes with four-wheel steering. Steer-by-wire is nothing new.
Other companies have tested it out before. The Infiniti Q50 had steer-by-wire only on certain trims and had a conventional steering shaft disconnected via a clutch. If the system ever lost power, the shaft would lock into place, offering a mechanical failsafe to comfort early adopters. Toyota has big plans for it in the near future. The difference is that, like in all things, Tesla has fully dove into an area where others have merely tested the waters.
Tesla has no interest in comforting people with the old ways. The Cybertruck does not offer a conventional steering shaft on any trim, and there’s no mechanical backup. There is supposedly redundancy built in, including a second motor to operate the steering system and backup communication lines, but Tesla does not make any information about the system available to outsiders, does not respond to questions from journalists, and does not typically allow engineers to speak to the press.
There is no inherent problem with by-wire controls—throttle by wire has been the standard in cars for a long time, and by-wire controls are the norm in aviation—but the lack of transparency for such a new safety-critical system is discouraging.
The good news is the system responds predictably in everyday driving. Precision at around-town speeds is good enough to be thoughtless, and there’s feedback from the rack to tell you about the road surface underneath you. The downside comes at low speeds. Tesla seems proud of the fact that the Cybertruck’s full steering range is accessible in less than one full rotation of the wheel, but I can’t say that’s an improvement. Because the amount of steering seems to build exponentially as you move away from the center, it is easy to make small inputs but difficult to modulate the difference between 90% of maximum lock and 95%, for instance.
Not going hand-over-hand is nice, I suppose, but I’d rather have real confidence when parking my giant tank with limited outward visibility. The steering system also occasionally emits concerning, loud creaks, especially if you try to turn the wheels while the brake is depressed.
This is one of the many places where the benefit to the company outweighs the benefit to the consumer. It’s useful for Tesla to cut out the steering hardware, simplifying its design and manufacturing process while setting up a lower-cost and more efficient by-wire future. In the long term, it’ll pay off for the consumer. But given that the only versions of the Cybertruck currently available cost far more than an F-150 Lightning or Rivian, that’s little comfort here.
I wasn't allowed to test this example off-road, but one of our contributors did a brief off-road test of the Cybertruck and came away impressed.
Range, Battery Size, Observed Efficiency
Tesla says the Cybertruck All-Wheel Drive can cover up to 340 miles on a charge. That figure is with standard tires, though, and the Foundation Series is only available with all-terrain rubber. That means all the current trucks available have a maximum range of 318 miles in the EPA cycle.
We'll have our own highway range test available shortly, but for now, our friends at Edmunds were able to narrowly beat the Cybertruck’s EPA range estimate. Its claimed range puts the Cybertruck ahead of the F-150 Lightning (up to 320 miles of range) but behind the Rivian R1T (up to 410 miles) and Chevy Silverado 4WT (up to 450 miles).
The rear-wheel-drive model will likely be more efficient, but thanks to a smaller battery will only cover 250 miles before needing a charge. Tesla offers a range extender battery that fits into the Cybertruck’s bed, but it isn’t available yet.
Tesla does not list a battery size for the Cybertruck All-wheel drive. Most estimates put the battery in the 120-125 kWh range, though without technical documentation take that with a grain of salt.
I averaged between 2.34 mi/kWh (427 Wh/mi) and 2.2 mi/kWh (455 Wh/mi) over roughly 500 miles of driving in and around San Diego, with 75% freeway and 25% city driving. I did drive through some snowy mountains, but the temperature never dropped below 50 degrees. We'll have more range and efficiency info once we complete our 70-mph range test.
Charging Experience
Tesla’s charging experience remains far ahead of its competitors. It is one of the main reasons to buy a Tesla over any other EV. Superchargers are more reliable, easier to use, and more available than any other charging system. Though the nearest Supercharger to me was temporarily closed when I had the Cybertruck, the next-closest one had over 20 working stalls.
The Cybertruck itself is the first Tesla to use an 800-volt architecture. That allows for faster charging with less heat buildup, a huge leap for EV technology. Unfortunately for Tesla, though, in the time between the Cybertruck’s announcement and its launch we have seen the launch of two other EV pickups that can charge at 800 volts: the GMC Hummer EV and the Chevy Silverado EV.
Those two technically have a parallel 400-volt architecture, which means they run at 400 volts but can accept 800 volts of charging. The downside is they aren’t as efficient when driving, but they’re just as good at charging.
My charge from 11 to 80 percent in the Cybertruck peaked at 210 kW but quickly tapered to 150 kW. It slowed down considerably as it approached 80%, but the total session took 45 minutes. That’s acceptable, but right in line with what you’d get for the Rivian R1T, which can also accept about 220kW. The GMC Hummer EV can charge at 350kW, though its bigger battery may take longer to top off. My next session took the Cybertruck from 16 to 90% in 50 minutes. Again, roughly in line with expectations.
Tesla and Rivian have plateaued around the same level because this is what’s possible with modern battery and charging technology. Those 18-minute 10-to-80% times you see on things like the Hyundai Ioniq 6 just aren’t possible with batteries this big. It’s a triumph that charging a Cybertruck doesn’t take much longer than charging a Model 3, but the bigger payoff will be when the Model 3 or the affordable Tesla goes 800-volt.
It’s also worth noting that F-150 Lightning owners have started to get their CCS to NACS adapters, giving them access to Tesla’s supercharging network. Rivian owners will receive theirs shortly, long before Tesla starts delivering the more affordable versions of the Cybertruck. This will represent the first time that a Tesla product has not had charging superiority in terms of speed or network over its closest competitor.
Interior
The interior is more of the same from Tesla. Despite the Cybertruck’s more premium positioning, it doesn’t get a gauge cluster, a la the Model S, X, or nearly every other car on sale.
Instead, all information flows through the central touch screen, like in a Model 3 or Model Y. There’s little else to say about the interior design, as there isn’t much going on. The main things you notice are the strange driving position with the long windshield and the lone wiper that doesn’t do a great job of clearing up heavy rain without streaks.
Seat comfort may be acceptable to taller drivers, but it’s a dealbreaker for me. I’m 5’ 6”, and the protruding part of the headrest rested right against the back of my skull, rather than fitting into the nook of my neck. It pushed my head forward and down. My options were to deal with my neck being pushed down or adjust the seat so my head didn’t touch the headrest. In that case, not only did I have to support my own head, but because the angle is fixed I had to have my backrest far further back than normal. That meant awkwardly leaning off the seat, with no head, neck, or shoulder support.
It was deeply uncomfortable for anything more than a short drive. I don’t know if Tesla failed to test this seat with any shorter man or average woman, or if it didn’t care about the feedback they provided, but the driving position was completely unacceptable. If you’re under 5’ 8”, make sure you can get comfortable in the seat before you pull the trigger.
Tech Features
The Cybertruck has the usual slate of Tesla goods, but not all of the features you may expect are available. Phone-as-a-key functionality works great, but adaptive cruise control is the only Autopilot function currently available. There is no regular Autopilot lane-keeping or Full Self-Driving, though Tesla says those are coming. Our policy is to review what’s available, not what’s promised, so unfinished features are a disappointing mark on a $100,000 truck announced in 2019.
Heated and cooled seats are standard on our Foundation Series, as is a great stereo. There’s a heat pump for more efficient heating and cooling, side view cameras that pop up when you activate the turn signal, a rear-view camera view that can work while driving, and a powered tonneau cover so you can lock cargo in the large bed.
There are also two household-style 110-volt outlets and one 240-volt outlet in the bed. Air suspension is standard on the Cybertruck All-Whell Drive Foundation Series and boasts an impressive 12 inches of overall travel. Maximum ground clearance in off-road mode is 17 inches, which is exceptional.
If you care about tech, then, Tesla remains ahead of legacy automakers in terms of integration and software features. If you can deal with unfinished details and key features being in beta, you won’t be disappointed by the Cybertruck’s technology.
Infotainment & UX
The Cybertruck uses the same basic infotainment system as any Tesla. Mirror controls, wiper speed settings, trip information, range, battery info, lock controls, settings, gear selection, and nearly everything else lives in the main, 18.5-inch display.
It works far better than most automaker’s infotainment systems, but the insistence on putting every control in a touch screen feels a little user-hostile. I would also love it if the lock control had separate lock and unlock buttons, rather than a toggle switch that made it hard to unlock rear doors without first re-locking the fronts.
It’s also peculiar that, despite its $100,000 price tag, this Cybertruck Foundation Series’ system has less memory and storage than a Model S or Model X. That means there’s no support for Steam Gaming. I don’t particularly care, it’s just weird to have the flagship hardware in the older, cheaper products while the flagship vehicle has no Steam Gaming, no Autopilot, and locking differentials listed as “coming soon.”
And while Model 3 and Model S door handles can be mastered into a single motion eventually, the Cybertruck loses ergonomic points for its click-to-open doors. You press in on the button above the door and then have to wait for an electric motor to pop them out, then grab inside of the door and pull it out. They’ve turned the simplest part of the car into a two-step process. It’s a frustrating reminder that Tesla’s stainless-steel construction comes with weird tradeoffs.
Safety & ADAS
The Cybertruck will supposedly get the full suite of Tesla Autopilot features. For now, it offers only adaptive cruise control, collision braking, blind spot monitoring, and lane departure warning. Given that the F-150 Lightning offers hands-free BlueCruise driving and Rivian has a solid ADAS suite, it’s weird to see Tesla show up to play with core functionality offline.
The Cybertruck has not been crash-tested by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration or the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. Teslas typically perform well in safety tests, though this is the first stainless-steel car since the DeLorean.
Regardless, its tall nose and unyielding body are likely bad news for pedestrians or any other car the Cybertruck hits. But that’s a problem it shares with every EV pickup.
Pricing & Trims
We review what’s available, not what’s promised. That’s particularly important here, as the Cybertruck was originally supposed to be much cheaper. But that was four and a half years (and one pandemic) ago. Now, it’s available in only two specifications:
- Cybertruck All-Wheel Drive Foundation Series, All-Terrain Tires: $102,235 w/destination
- Cybertruck Cyberbeast Foundation Series, All-Terrain Tires: $122,235 w/destination
Both come with all of the same technology and equipment for now, the Cyberbeast just has a third motor, more power, and slightly less range. For reference, the cheapest Rivian R1T starts at just over $75,000 with destination, and the priciest trim starts at just over $100,000.
The F-150 Lightning starts at just over $50,000 for the Pro model, and its three cheapest trims all qualify for a $7500 federal tax credit. Its priciest trim starts at around $92,000. The GMC Hummer EV pickup starts at $98,845. If you’re at all budget-conscious, I recommend either waiting for Cybertruck prices to come down or going with a cheaper truck.
If you want to know more about how it compares to other trims of competing trucks, check out our full breakdown of EV truck prices and specs.
Verdict
The Tesla Cybertruck promised a revolution. CEO Elon Musk suggested it would reinvent the pickup truck. The reality is far less groundbreaking.
It was announced when no one was building EV pickups, but by launch, it was in a field with as many entrants as the full-size internal-combustion pickup market. It has no undeniable edge for consumers over its competitors. Sure, it has 48-volt architecture, steer-by-wire, and stainless steel construction, but those things don’t seem to provide much utility to the customer.
Its lone unique selling point may be the durability of its construction, if that bears out. It seems more scratch-resistant than the nice paint on a Rivian or Lightning. But whatever payoff you have in scratch resistance will likely be offset by the headache of trying to find a body shop that can or will repair it after an accident. After a year on sale, too, the charm of its monotone silver will likely wear off.
Well, not quite monotone, as our tester had different shades on the doors and some misaligned panels. Either way, the people who would most benefit from its tough construction—fleet buyers and hardcore DIY folks—will likely be put off by its stratospheric price, its limited configurations, total lack of third-party repair support, and clear status as a work-in-progress.
It’s not a bad product. I’m just not sure who it’s a good fit for. I think those who have waited for years for Tesla’s most exotic-looking product to date won’t be disappointed, and fanboys and first adopters alike will surely enjoy the attention it gets. I’m just not convinced there’s an argument for it as a consumer product, rather than a statement. Its software experience and app are better than the legacy OEM competition and it certainly stands out in a parking lot, but it isn’t the sort of gauntlet-throwing game-changer you’d expect from Tesla.
The result is something on par with the truck that invented the segment: the Rivian R1T. Tesla made no advancements in the areas holding back EV truck adoption—range, towing/hauling, affordability, and charging speed—and instead spent Lord knows how much reinventing their production processes to enable its futuristic, impractical stainless-steel shape.
After four years of hype, I expected more.
Email the author: mack.hogan@insideevs.com.
