My Cybertruck’s Journey Across the Ocean - to Qatar

[kaa]

Just by curiosity, did you ordered using the Tesla Qatar website or showroom, or the US website?
If so, what address did you use to make the order (US address or Qatar address)?

Because when ordering in US you need to be resident of the delivery state.
I remember reading a TMC posting about a Retired Military US Citizen living in Panama
and trying to get a new Tesla to be delivered in Portland but could not do so.

Or maybe you use the Grey market using a dealer
who bought it first, or something of that nature.

I ordered my CT back in 2019 when it was first announced. Tesla hadn't opened in Qatar at the time, so I created an account, used a friend's address in the U.S, also during that time I ordered my 1st Tesla model X and shipped it to Qatar ??

I'm not really into cars or driving, but I'm very interested in autonomous driving. I wanted to try it for myself instead of just listening to what others said, especially since there was a lot of confusing information about Tesla back then. As a cybersecurity specialist and a tech enthusiast, my interest in Tesla is purely about the technology.

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[CyberTrk]

As a cybersecurity specialist and a tech enthusiast, my interest in Tesla is purely about the technology.

Beside FSD, I imagine that Starlink will be one of your first install option.

 

[kaa]

Beside FSD, I imagine that Starlink will be one of your first install option.

Honestly, what's truly fascinating is Tesla Vision and the entire transition to it. The way they managed to make it function just like ultrasonic sensors is mind blowing! ?

 

[Avez]

I traveled to the US in early June to pick up my Cybertruck, as Tesla insisted that only I could collect it in person. My stay in Irvine was amazing—I had a blast, especially driving the Cybertruck around for eight days before heading back to Qatar.

The Cybertruck was shipped from California on September 15th, as the title took 30 days to arrive by mail, much longer than expected. It’s now close to the White Sea, and I’m hopeful it will arrive by mid-October ?.

Once it’s here, as a founding member of Tesla Owners Qatar, we’ve got a lot of exciting tests lined up in the sand dunes and rough terrains of the desert. I’ll also be taking it for a spin across the Gulf countries. I’ll keep you updated on how the tests go!

Just got my Cybertruck to Doha -- was a crazy mission. Battery was completely dead on arrival and stuck in a container. Luckily, we figured it out. I heard from Tesla there are at least 20 Cybertrucks in Qatar now in personal use -- any chance there is a local Cybertruck group? A lot of lessons learned and things we could share with one another.

 

[Art138]

Just got my Cybertruck to Doha -- was a crazy mission. Battery was completely dead on arrival and stuck in a container. Luckily, we figured it out. I heard from Tesla there are at least 20 Cybertrucks in Qatar now in personal use -- any chance there is a local Cybertruck group? A lot of lessons learned and things we could share with one another.

It will interesting to learn how you managed to get it out of the container with a dead battery. It’s a tight fit to work in that tight space.

 

[baska]

Wow, respect for getting it all the way to Doha—that must’ve been a logistical headache, especially with the dead battery. I’d also love to know how you got it out of the container. Those tight clearances don’t leave much room to maneuver, especially with no power.

I heard someone mention trying to hotwire a Cybertruck just to get it to roll, but that’s obviously not straightforward with Tesla’s systems. Curious if you ended up using external power to wake it up or if there’s a workaround for cases like this.

 

[Avez]

This was a nightmare. After a shipping delay, it took 3 months for the container to arrive. I had issues with the forwarder, etc. However, finally getting the container cleared by the port and on a 40ft trailer was a big step. Little did I know that I was about to go on an adventure for the next 18hr+ to get it out. I met up with the trailer with container + flatbed truck driver behind a gas station about 30 KM out of Doha in Al Wakra. All that was around was one Waqood gas station and a small town.
The truck driver didn't have lock cutters so was hammering away to get the container seal to break off.

Keep in mind it's about 105F outside in the hot desert sun. He finally gets it off and we get the container open for the moment of truth:

Luckily, besides just some dust, it arrived intact with the freshly packed wheel covers and a wall charger I had shipped with it in the back. Now, how the hell do I get inside this thing? The area was super tight all around.

On the passenger side, they had at least lowered the window so I decided to walk/crawl very carefully overt the A-frame as it's the strongest area and it could support my weight (not a big guy). I somehow positioned myself up against the container wall and shimmied my way through the open window and into the front seat, only to find that the screen/onboard computer was completely dead.

A quick chat with GPT and some YouTubing while sweating bullets in the front seat, I found out the frunk battery was the culprit and needed to get jumped if I had any chance of getting the screen on (if you think 105F outside temp is hot -- try inside a metal canister inside another metal canister!!!) The frunk itself is electronically operated so in order to pop that, you needed to expose the leads underneath the front bumper/wheel well. All of this sounds great in theory, but how the hell are you supposed to get jumper cables to the front of a tightly packed Cybertruck on a 40 ft trailer in the middle of nowhere in the desert?

I figured if I could get my hands on one of those portable car battery charge packs with jumper cables, I could get to the front of the truck, pop the frunk, and get the battery hooked up. My thought process here was that if I could get that onboard computer on, I could use the screen to open the charge port and use the mobile charger to get some life into the truck. In my other car, I had this car charge to 12V AC Plug thing:

I knew it would take forever, but I thought that if I can even get it to 1%, I can back this thing out onto the flatbed.

As they say...

"The best-laid plans of mice and men..."

I'll continue the story tomorrow...it gets nuttier from here!!

 

[Avez]

Picking up from where I left off, I had to find a portable battery charger. The gas station (Waqood) did not have one. They had a service center, but no battery charger. Their advice was to go back to Doha and buy one. That didn't seem reasonable to me so instead I drove around the small town and noticed another service garage right down the street. They happened to have a portable charger and were kind of enough to let me borrow it and also send one of their employees with me.

Back at the container, we both crawled along the A-frame and then slid slowly down the side of the windshield. Finding and exposing the leads from under the driver side bumper was easy enough and we got the frunk open. I asked the guy to jump the battery while I jumped back into the truck.

I heard a clicking noise like the electrical was starting up and boom -- the screen came alive! Next, I got back out of the container and pulled my car as close as I could to the back of the container and plugged in the mobile charger thinking this was it!

I jumped back into the truck, only to be shown this message:

The voltage was so low that the computer onboard wouldn't allow the mobile charger to charge the main battery. A few seconds later, the monitor went dead. I asked the guy at the front what happened and he stated the portable battery charged had ran out of juice.

Still sweating bullets, I called up Tesla to see if they had any ideas. The rep said to try to jump the frunk battery again and put it into service/towing mode so that it can be pushed out manually. Otherwise, the wheels will remain locked.

An hour later after recharging the portable jumper, we tried again. However, for "safety" reasons, the truck would not let me put it into towing mode. The brake kept pushing back every time I tried to press it and the car repeatedly "beeped". The "Enter Transport Mode" remained grey and didn't allow the truck to be essentially put in neutral:

Called Tesla back and the only options they gave were putting skates under each wheel or hydraulically lifting the truck out of the container. To their credit, they were calling around to see who could help bring the truck out with skates. Eventually, they found a guy who wanted to try to put it into "towing" mode, but thought he could do it by bringing a more powerful portable battery charger...He ended up getting his battery charger stuck when he "accidently" closed the frunk, pulling the leads off, and trapping them.

Finally, our port clearance team (Arrow line) found a garage in Doha that claimed they could help. We ended up taking a caravan over to this new garage (40ft trailer, 1st flatbed truck, 2nd flatbed truck (guy who came to help from Tesla), and my car).

We ended up at a place in the industrial area called "Automedics" and these guys were true troubleshooting geniuses. They recognized the only viable option to get the truck out was to charge it and drive it out.

A guy named Sooraj was really switched on and immediately starting splicing wiring to extend all the way to the frunk battery. He hooked it up to a heavy duty battery charger on wheels and then hooked that battery charger up to a Land Cruiser. All-in-all, the frunk battery was now getting recharged. That allowed the monitor and onboard computer to stay on while we figured out how to charge the truck.

Sooraj was smart enough to ask about the Wall Connector charger I had shipped with the truck and I told him it would require a direct line. He immediately starting splicing more wires(20ft worth)! He hooked up one side to the wall charger itself and the other side he hooked directly into the main power wall of the garage. It was truly like watching a DYI magician! To my surprise,the wall charger switched on! After pairing it successfully to my phone, it was ready to charge the truck.

Finally, at 2 AM we started charging the Cybertruck and by 3:30 AM I had 5% battery -- plenty to back the thing out and onto a flatbed!

This adventure took from 11 AM the previous morning to 5 AM the next morning before I got it parked at my place. A lot of lessons learned. The biggest one is to ensure your shipping company is aware to unplug the frunk battery before sending the truck overseas!

It was a crazy 18 hrs, but it was also incredibly satisfying to get it out in one piece without any damage and in the most sensible way. Just proves the point that anything is possible in Doha. You just need the right help!

I have so much gratitude for the drivers who stuck around and the Automedics guys who helped see it through. I'd like to extend the goodwill to anybody needing help in a similar situation. We learned a great deal about a very dicey situation so feel free to message me if anybody out there needs advice on this!

 

[Friday]

Too bad there wasn't another local Cybertruck that could come over and do the truck-to-truck charge. Maybe that will be your pay-it-forward goodwill to other inbound Cybertrucks shipped this way.

 

[HaulingAss]

Too bad there wasn't another local Cybertruck that could come over and do the truck-to-truck charge. Maybe that will be your pay-it-forward goodwill to other inbound Cybertrucks shipped this way.

The real solution is to disconnect the frunk battery before shipping. That will prevent the traction battery (and the lower voltage frunk battery) from discharging over a lengthy shipping route.

 

[Avez]

Yeah 100% -- had the shipping company unplugged the frunk battery, it would have saved us from a ton of hassle. I spoke to Tesla about this and they said almost nobody asks and 90% of the Cybertrucks that arrive in Doha have the frunk battery dead. This is usually ok because they can jump them long enough to get the truck out. Unfortunately, in my case the frunk battery was dead AND the entire truck was 0% charged.

 

[GC_EU]

Yeah 100% -- had the shipping company unplugged the frunk battery, it would have saved us from a ton of hassle. I spoke to Tesla about this and they said almost nobody asks and 90% of the Cybertrucks that arrive in Doha have the frunk battery dead. This is usually ok because they can jump them long enough to get the truck out. Unfortunately, in my case the frunk battery was dead AND the entire truck was 0% charged.

Would it have been more convenient if the CT had been parked in reverse in the container?

Also, would taking off the side mirrors make it any easier? @kaa

 

[ÆCIII]

Would be interesting to get some reviews of the Cybertruck climate control (mainly Air Conditioning) performance in the desert climate of Qatar.

But I'm sure any Tesla with the remote climate control activation and the interior pre-cooling feature is going to be super advantageous over there with the temps often between 110 and 130 Fahrenheit this time of year.

-ÆCIII

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