When Elon Musk launched the Tesla Cybertruck, a brutalist stainless steel monstrosity doubling as an electric pickup truck, there were plenty of signs that things were not, um, going well. First and foremost were its ridiculous 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 low-poly truck to the realm of “concept” and not “reality.”
Despite that absurdist debut, the Tesla Cybertruck has somehow managed to not only make it into production, but to also make it into the hands of buyers hungry to praise Musk’s latest brainchild. To no one’s surprise, plenty of screw-ups have followed. Today, we’re going to run through all of Tesla’s Cybertruck tomfoolery since the truck finally started hitting the driveways of keen buyers on November 30, 2023.
December 6, 2023: Visibility Fails
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?
December 11, 2023: Not Meant For Off-Road Use
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 Cybertruck in Southern California’s Stanislaus National Forest. To add insult to injury, the truck needed to be towed to freedom by a Ford Super Duty.
December 11, 2023: Maybe Don’t Crash One
Thanks to a lack of crumple zones, the Tesla 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!
December 14, 2023: Repairs Will Cost You
With all of its fancy, one-of-a-kind pieces of equipment and technology, the Tesla 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 $US75 wholesale.
December 26, 2023: Slow Battery Production
At its current production rate, Tesla 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.
December 28, 2023: Corolla Collision
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 Corolla in Redwood City, California, was particularly concerning. All occupants were unharmed, but both cars were totally demolished.
January 3, 2024: Tesla’s CCS Adapter Doesn’t Work For The Cybertruck
Tesla’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.
January 8, 2024: Nope, Still Can’t Drive On Snow
The Tesla 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.
January 16, 2024: No, Tesla Can’t Beat A Porsche 911 While Hauling A Porsche 911
Elon Musk and Tesla 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.
January 17, 2024: Road Trip Hell
YouTuber Dennis Wang shared a video of a cross-country road trip he completed in his Tesla 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.
January 23, 2024: Oops, Poor Mileage!
Independent testing quickly confirmed that the Tesla 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.
January 25, 2024: Out-Trekked By A Crosstrek
You know how the Tesla 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.
January 31, 2024: Good Luck Selling
Let’s say you bought yourself a brand-new Tesla 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 $US76,000 for the nearly-new $US120,000 pickup. That’s not great!
But maybe don’t think about flipping it. Sure, a Cybertruck managed to net $US244,000 when it was sold to a Porsche dealership in Atlanta, then was sold by that dealership for almost $US300,000. But Tesla will blacklist you if you’re out here trying to make a quick buck flipping its trucks.
February 2, 2024: Abnormal Wear And Tear
You know those nifty aerodynamic wheel covers on the Tesla Cybertruck? Turns out they’re chewing away at the truck’s tyres, which wasn’t a known concern until Tesla YouTuber Brian Reese brought it to the world’s attention.
February 2, 2024: Baby’s First Recall
In February, Tesla 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.
February 3, 2024: Apple Vision Pro-h No
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’s Full Self-Driving beta in his Cybertruck while wearing Apple Vision Pro VR goggles. What a goober.
February 6, 2024: Who Needs Wheels?
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.
February 16, 2024: Yep, That’s Rust
Tesla 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 $US5,000 Tesla-made wrap. That seems like something that maybe should have been disclosed previously!
March 1, 2024: No Power
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.
March 3, 2024: Catastrophic Failure
In a now-deleted Tweet, Matthew Chiarello shared his love of Tesla 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.
March 5, 2024: No Day At The Beach
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.
March 6, 2024: Beverly Hills (Not Where You Wanna Be)
Rapper 2Rare crashed his Tesla 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.
March 7, 2024: Cybertruck vs. Silverado HD
Have you ever wanted to watch a Tesla 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.
March 7, 2024: Goodbye, Resale Value
The Tesla Cybertruck has really been dominating the resale market, with examples running for more than $US200,000. Now, there are so many of these trucks in the market that no one is quite that interested, and efforts at lucrative flips have fallen short.
March 8, 2024: WTF Is That Tent?
Okay, alright, fine. So the Cybertruck hasn’t been a super stellar hit. Surely that can’t mean that Tesla’s promised accessories would at least be worthwhile!
Well… wrong. Tesla offers a $US3,000 “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.
March 8, 2024: Nope, Not Bulletproof!
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.
March 9, 2024: Locked In? Too Bad
What happens if you get locked in the back of your Tesla 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!
March 10, 2024: Critical Steering Issue Detected
Ben, a Texas-based EV enthusiast, shared a fairly harrowing post on Twitter 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.
March 19: Cybertruck Vs. Puddle
This won’t be the last time a little bit of water foils the supposedly tough, Cybertruck. In this video, a bit of water caused the wheel liner to come loose on the truck, creating a grinding noise—a common problem for the trucks.
March 29: Cybertruck Hungers For Finger Meat
It turns out, the very sharp edge of the Cybertruck’s frunk doesn’t have pressure sensors to prevent what could be a pretty gnarly injury to its owners.
March 28: Customer Led Quality Control
There are so many problems with the Cybertruck that one enterpenure created Tesla-branded checklist for owners to keep track of defects.
April 4: Owners Take To The Internet To Complain
Even Tesla’s most faithful and ardent believers—Cybertruck owners themselves—can’t help but notice the crummy quality of their $US100,000+ trucks.
April 15: Stop-Sale On Cybertruck Due To Unintended Acceleration
Oh yeah, this problem will definitely come back to haunt Tesla.
Tesla Model X Beats The Cybertruck At Towing
This is supposed to be the do-everything truck, yet Tesla’s own SUV beats it in the towing department by a country mile.
April 17: Cybertruck Bricked By Car Wash
Nothing says Apocalypse-ready like needing a five-hour reset after slogging through a car wash.
April 20: Cybertruck Recalled For Soapy Accelerator Pedal
Every single one of the less than 3,000 trucks delivers so far were recalled in the second week of April for the unintended acceleration problem.
The fix? Bypassing the “unapproved” soap on the bottom of the accelerator pedal altogether and riveting the damn thing in place. It takes 35 seconds to fix, so it’s not totally clear why this wasn’t done at the factory, but c’est la vie.
April 22: Gear Shifter Gives Up
Nothing like having to update a post! This problem hit social media on April 21.
We’ll be sure to update this article if (when) more problems arise.