Honestly I’m a real human. I also posted some limitations of the F150L and the fact I’m getting rid of it. I’m not expecting everyone to agree with me, I felt I needed to post my experience based the number of polarized reviews I’d watched/read. I guess I ended up just contributing to the pile. ?
They are making somewhere around 2000/day. People see FUD like this and think they are all just pieces of junk, which is just simply false. The actual number of trucks with issues is likely in the 1-3% range, which is completely on par with anyone else.
Its an awful lot of words for some viable but minor critiques. Good luck going forward.
TL;DR
I really wanted to like the Cybertruck, I love my Model S Plaid. I can also forgive a lot of quality control issues because Tesla’s ecosystem/software stack is just that good. However, my experience during my 6-hour test drive was so bad that I cancelled my order when I got home. This is a product that a lot of smart people weren’t given enough time to finish and is screaming out for a Gen2 refresh already.
Background
- It’s not better at being a truck than the competition
- Build & interior quality is sub-par (lower than competition and certainly lower than the Model 3 Refresh, S or X)
- Foundation Series Value
When the Cybertruck was announced I was super pumped, who wouldn’t want a truck made from spaceship metal that was a ground up rethink and the ultimate definition of form following function. I wasn’t a truck person, but I figured I’d purchase an F150 Lightning Platinum while I waited. I even got it wrapped in the colour I was planning for my Cybertruck to test it out – matte black aluminium.
I had a day-1 reservation here in Canada and we’ve had an extended wait over our USA cousins. This gave me a chance to put nearly 30k kms on my Lightning so I’ve got a fairly good feel for what it’s about. A few weeks ago, I was invited to configure my Cyberbeast and as I’ve read so many polarising reviews I wanted to be sure trading my much-liked F150 Lightning in for the Cybertruck was the right call.
I made two reservations for Cybertrucks, one in November 2019 and a second in December 2023. Interestingly they both got invites to order within a week of each other. This tells me along with the USA switching to no reservations required for Foundation Series it is likely that Canada and Mexico will soon exhaust people willing to pay a premium for what is very little value (to me at least).
Testing a Cybetruck
I found the closest Cyberbeast available on Turo and booked a day with it ($770 USD). Turns out it was north of Detroit so it was a 3.5 hour drive for me. I’d seen them driving around in San Diego and had a chance to sit in one at Sherway Gardens here in Canada but this would be my first opportunity to drive the truck – I ended up going for a 6 hour round trip test drive.
I’m not a car reviewer so there’s no science to this. I’m just a dude who really likes cars and motorcycles. I do a lot of track days and since owning my F150 Lightning I also like trucks (two kids and a dog). As an EV driver I’ve also owned a 2018 Model 3 Performance, 2020 Taycan Turbo, 2022 Model X LR, 2022 Model S Plaid, 2023 F150 Lightning Platinum, 2024 Rivian R1S PDM.
It’s not better at being a truck than the competition
I’m only two years into being a “truck owner” so feel free to discount my opinion here if you want. However, I would say this… the F150 Lightning Platinum is very good at being a truck, so much so I can give it a pass on it not being so good as an EV in some areas:
Now conversely, I can’t say the same for the Cybertruck. As a truck it’s compromised, so much so that Tesla’s software and ecosystem doesn’t make up for its short comings:
- Software updates – almost non-existent
- Dog/Pet Mode – they still have the concept of “ignition” so you can’t leave your pet safely in the truck
- Outlets – while more convenient than the Cybertruck (think electric cooler in the frunk) you can’t have them on without the ignition. The Rivian does a good job here with automated outlets on and timers to turn them off.
- Efficiency – my F150 Lightning Platinum has better range in the summer than the Cybertruck with a slightly bigger battery however without the heat pump in the winter it can suffer if you don’t pre-condition the vehicle before departure
- Other EV trucks in the market have better range and towing capabilities
- The bed sail design is form over function. It’s hard to access the bed from the side and it makes the truck less usable for truck things.
- The tailgate is remote mechanical release but not power open/close, why? Cheaper EV trucks can control the tailgate with mobile app/center screen. This is useful!
- Tailgate offers the user no additional features to aid in the access of the bed (eg. F150’s tailgate stepand Silverado Multi-Flex). If this was a ground up rethink how come it’s so basic?
- No bed camera – most entry level trucks come with a bed camera to ensure your load isn’t doing something it shouldn’t be. This could have also fixed the fact that the primary rear camera is mounted so low.
- Front camera washer but no rear camera washer – why? Especially given that you have a non-functional cheap plastic interior mirror. This seems like a designed in California problem (e.g. Model X falcon wing doors in a cold climates act as a wind tunnel when they are both open) - as soon as it gets dirty, you’re in heavy rain or snow you’ve got zero rear visibility this is compounded by how low the camera is mounted. Snow and heavy rain visibility are times when you need rear visibility, particularly if someone has lost control behind you – this setup robs you of this.
- Frunk is a joke size, not only for a Tesla but also for other EV trucks that cost less. Plus there’s zero power outlets meaning even less functionality than the competition. (I’ve come to enjoy having my Dometic electric fridge in the F150L frunk on road trips).
- Interior cabin space – head and legroom aren’t things you should ever think about in a truck. I was surprised to find that my head was touching the glass in the rear seats of the Cybertruck. The seats were also bolt upright and not very comfortable. (Shout out to Snazzy Labs for speaking the truth again)
- Lack of a spare tire or more specifically a spare tire as an afterthought
- Side mirrors – these are larger than other Tesla’s but smaller than most trucks. Sure, they are workable but most trucks have larger mirrors to give you better rear visibility – this is not offset by the cameras because you have to look in more than one location
- Steering wheel is really small and I found it twitchy (albeit without FSD) on the highway. Trucks are meant to be big and stable mile eaters, I didn’t get this feeling driving at highways speeds. Yes, being nimble is good but if you are towing or just relaxing into a long drive in your truck you want it to be smooth. I agree with Kyle’s comments
Build & interior quality is sub-par
Ok, hear me out. My first Tesla was a 2018 “built in a tent special” Model 3 Performance and I loved that car. It suffered from road and wind noise but around town it was perfect. We ended up trading that for a Model X LR refresh and I later bought a Model S Plaid. Suffice to say I know Tesla build quality and interiors. I later traded the Model X for a Rivian R1S PDM and my wife loves it. To be fair she liked the Model X a lot but I couldn’t put up with the falcon wing doors sounding like someone was making balloon animals in the back any longer.
My immediate take on the Cyberbeast was that the interior was cheap and plasticky. It’s obvious that the interior design was designed to meet a low price point and that this truck is going to come down in price significantly after the Foundation Series is over. It’s 100% cheaper inside than the Model 3 refresh, Model X and Model S which further smarts for the people who bought into the FS journey. Having lived with the F150 Platinum I’d say that this is about on par with the XLT/Lariat trim. I won’t harp on here but watch the Snazzy Labs video and know that I agree with him 100% on the amount of plastic used in this truck.
Issues I found on my test drive
- Frunk rubber trim squeezes out of the sides of the front and looks bad (noted by Out of Spec Reviews)
- Giga Wiper – twitched at highway speeds and was distracting
- Rear passenger door was misaligned so when I looked out of the side window all I could see was the break in the boxy lines
- The metal trim above the front and rear doors on both sides was badly misaligned – as much as I disagreed with WhistlinDiesel’s “durability” test, for an apocalypse machine I couldn’t believe that this piece was just glued on!?!
- The wireless phone charger overheated my iPhone 15 Max three times over a six-hour drive! How the hell do we go from having the best wireless charger I’ve ever used in the Model S/X refresh to having a barely functional phone charger in the Cybetruck – what’s going on in Tesla that they have this odd regressive behaviour?
- Front drivers and passenger’s doors made a funny groaning noise under acceleration. (noted by Out of Spec – however Kyle did not do justice to just how load this groan is in the cabin)
- Squeaks and rattles – this is easily the most squeaky and rattly Tesla I’ve ever driven. This coming from a rattly Model X refresh that previously owned the crown. Everything seems to rattle or squeak. I found a cacophony of rattles/groans or squeaks either getting into it or under breaking/acceleration – Kyle covers it better. I agree!
- Cabin noise when compared to the Model S and F150L
- Wind noise – this is yet another weird regressive thing like the wireless phone charger. Tesla got good at minimising wind noise and yet they don’t seem to have applied this to the Cybetruck. I highway speeds it’s really bad.
- Motor whine – I believe Tesla are replacing the front motor under warranty for some people. At 18k kms the front motor whine on this truck was loud, very loud.
- Rear camera – I’m going to call this out here as well. I found the tiny/cheap interior mirror a weird add. I also found the solution to the rear-view camera the most glaring issue with the design of this truck. Some really smart people (who likely weren’t truck people) were not given enough time to finalise this design – it’s patently obvious after driving it. If you are living in colder climates, I think this is a plain dangerous approach to rear visibility. The camera is too low and has no washer function associated with it. As a secondary source of information this may have worked but as a primary source of valuable driver information it’s just not good enough.
Foundation Series Value
At 190k CAD for the Cyberbeast in Ontario I was expecting something special. As you probably gleaned, my expectations were too high for this product, and I was left disappointed. As someone who has lived through Tesla depreciation (my Model S Plaid cost me $200k CAD when I purchased it, and you can now get one for $160k) and is somewhat immune to it when the product is good/novel enough I found this lacking in the Cybertruck.
Wrap this up with the fact they are charging an extra premium to early adopters for a truck that has a budget interior and some significant design/build issues, and you have a recipe for disappointment. Much like the initial “Signature” series Model S/X there was no residual value on resale for these models and conversely, they were just a marker of poor build quality.
The Foundation Series will be wrapping up shortly the value of a use FS will very rapidly depreciate to that of whatever the equivalent featured model becomes. Rich Rebuilds covers this with a used Tesla dealer, having been around the brand for a while I must agree with their discussion.
Final Thoughts
The vehicle delivered has deviated a lot from launch day and there are various reasons for this. We were all promised a ground up rethink on what a truck could or should be. Elon himself described this vehicle as the best product that Tesla has ever built, and that they could deliver micron level precision in the manufacturing process.
As a Tesla fan I’ve got to either think that he’s either totally in the dark as to what has been built, he’s in denial or he’s actively misleading people. This vehicle is screaming out for a 2nd generation model that closes all the gaps that the team couldn’t plug before it was rushed out.
As a long-term Tesla owner (and shareholder) the most concerning thing to me here is that there’s weird regressions in quality, functionality and safety over their other models. This was meant to move Tesla forward in terms of build quality, but it hasn’t. As a company that prides itself on making the safest vehicles on the road there’s been some odd compromises in the name of the design which I find disturbing.
Why did I take the time to write this review? I usually do a lot of research during my purchasing cycles. I found the Cybertruck to be a bit of an enigma. To some this is the future of automotive and others a WankPanzer. It was always going to be polarizing, and I expected Tesla to overcome the haters as usual with something that was so good that it didn’t matter -- unfortunately I didn’t find that personally. To all those people who have bought a Foundation Series, I hope you enjoy it in good health. To all those people who chose to wait for the non-Foundation Series – take a test drive before you buy!
For me I’ll be exercising my deposit on the 2025 Quad Motor Rivian R1T when it ships next year. The F150 is great but a little too big for me and a little too legacy in terms of software. Their 2027 truck will be worth a look if it doesn’t get pushed back any further.
Other reviews that are worth a watch and congruent with my experience:
- Out of Spec - Tesla Cybertruck 3 Month & 15,000mi Ownership Review
- Snazzy Labs - I Sold My $100,000 Cybertruck After 50 Days
- Rich Rebuilts - Cybertruck: The Embarrassing beginning of Teslas Demise
Agreed!! 2024 F-150’s are noisy compared to the quiet luxurious Cybertruck. The RWS and SBW are game changers for sure. It took Elon Musk and Tesla to bring it back one of those from the dead that no other OEM ever attempted. It’s an amazing machine.
Hola ? Gen X reporting for duty.
