The Tesla Cybertruck is increasingly turning out to be the vehicle of broken promises. Not only does the spread of cars in the USA regularly reveal new weaknesses, the many marketing tricks surrounding the stainless steel pickup truck also repeatedly prove to be a joke. Probably the most spectacular demonstration of driving skills: a race against a Porsche – with a trailer with a Porsche on it.
Elon Musk boasted about this during a presentation broadcast worldwide when the Cybertrucks were first delivered. Musk showed footage of a quarter-mile race – Cybertruck against Porsche. The pickup won, but then things got even worse: There was a trailer attached to the rear of the pickup with another Porsche on it. The message was clear: “The Cybertruck can pull a Porsche over the quarter mile faster than the Porsche itself can drive it,” said Musk proudly.
This quickly attracted doubters. The YouTube channel “Engineering Explained” calculated that there was something wrong with the Tesla video shown – and even got Wes Morrill, currently lead engineer for the Cybertruck at Tesla, right. He gave safety reasons why the video does not show a quarter-mile race, but only an eighth-mile race (you can find out more here).
That wasn’t enough for the trade magazine “Motortrend” – they wanted to provide proof in the real world that Musk was cheating without unnecessarily badmouthing the truck. That’s why the experts declare right from the start: “With an acceleration of just 2.5 seconds to 60 miles per hour, Tesla’s three-motor electric truck in the test beats every Corvette, every McLaren and all but one Lamborghini that we have ever tested in an industry-standard acceleration test And that without a trailer, of course.”
But is that enough to pass the trailer test in the real world? The short answer: no.
For the test setup, “Motortrend” strictly adhered to the vehicles specified in the Tesla video. So the only possible Porsche was the 911 Carrera T, which can also be seen in the manufacturer’s material. The Carrera T is the “slowest” (still fast) 911 you can currently buy. The Cybertruck was given a light aluminum trailer and another 911 T on it.
The result: The Cybertruck lost six of six quarter-mile races. Not once did the electric pickup pose a threat to the Porsche as it headed towards the home straight. If you compare the Cybertruck’s best time and the 911’s slowest run, the difference is at least 0.229 seconds.
And what about the eighth of a mile? Here, too, the Porsche won four out of six races – even the significantly shorter distances are rarely covered by the truck with a trailer faster than the sports car without an additional load.
“Motortrend” concludes: “Here’s the truth: A Tesla Cybertruck can’t pull a Porsche 911 Carrera T over a quarter mile faster than the 911 Carrera T alone. Add this to the long list of broken Tesla promises .”
Small consolation: “Motortrend” states that the Cybertruck without a trailer would have no problem outclassing a Porsche 911 Carrera T. But that was not mentioned at the manufacturer’s presentation.