Weeks ago, the Tesla Cybertruck came into conversation thanks to unfavorable videos – because the large pickup truck got stuck in the snow several times and had to be rescued by significantly cheaper cars. But a look at the tires revealed why this had to happen: the Cybertruck is currently not equipped for extreme weather conditions ex works (you can find out more here). But how does the car perform under optimal conditions off the road? The YouTube channel “VoyageATX” recently investigated this question and put the vehicle through its paces in an off-road park in Texas.
The driver emphasizes that he has no experience driving on rough terrain. Nevertheless, he really wanted to see how well his Cybertruck performed against two of his friends’ vehicles, a Subaru Crosstrek Wilderness and a Toyota 4Runner. Spoiler: Not so good.
While the Cybertruck coped easily with the uneven road and showed no weaknesses there, the wheat was separated from the chaff on a small hill. After Subaru and Toyota had started up quite easily, the stainless steel SUV took off. Once, twice, with less tire pressure, with different settings – no chance.
The Cybertruck refused to climb said hill. According to the driver, there was apparently a specific reason for this: Although the Tesla truck has locking differentials on both axles, these have not yet been activated. When you click on the corresponding function on the display it just says: “Locking differential controls coming soon”. Or to put it another way: The Cybertruck is apparently not yet finished.
This is bad news for a car that, according to the manufacturer, can “go all ways”. A limited slip differential is one of the fundamental features of off-road vehicles. Essentially, it ensures that the wheels of an axle or drivetrain rotate synchronously. This technology supports traction on smooth surfaces, which is why many off-road vehicles have it on both the front and rear axles. This is also the case with two-engine Cybertrucks, while three-engine variants, i.e. the “Cyberbeast”, only need one on the front axle because the rear tires are independently driven by each other.
During his many attempts to heave the Cybertruck over the small hill, the driver also broke off a few pieces of plastic from the car. He admits that it’s his own fault – because the instructions say in the shallows that you should remove the now damaged splash guard before off-roading. But: The link to which the car refers in the digital manual leads nowhere. There are currently no instructions that Tesla says customers should find there.
An additional problem for the driver was that the off-road mode was switched off every time he left the vehicle – and then had to be switched back on again. The conclusion is that when clearing obstacles, which can often happen off the road, it is extremely annoying. Because it’s obviously not done with a single button.
Ultimately, the off-road newcomer comes to the conclusion that the Cybertruck didn’t do badly at all – with the few exceptions in which the defective software took its revenge. When he bought it, he was aware that the car was not 100% finished and is now waiting for updates.
But he really liked two things: Firstly, he couldn’t find any damage to the stainless steel after cleaning and secondly, the very good front camera helped him enormously to keep an overview while driving. Further excursions are already planned, he emphasizes. Again with Cybertruck.
