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“Oh, my ****ing god!” Tesla founder, chairman, and CEO Elon Musk reportedly yelled in the now legendary demo-gone-wrong during the Tesla Cybertruck unveiling in 2019. 

For those who need a little recap, Tesla’s Chief Designer Franz Von Holzhausen pitched a sledgehammer to the Cybertruck’s stainless steel alloy body and a metal ball to the vehicle’s side window to show off the strength of the Cybertruck. The metal ball ended up shattering the window. 

According to reports from the CNBC coverage, Musk had earlier claimed that the Cybertruck was bulletproof against a 9mm handgun. 

(Also read: Who Is Helping Build the EV Ecosystem in the Philippines?)

Rollin’ on the highway

Tesla’s Cybertruck was met with mostly cynical reactions from car enthusiasts after the 2019 unveiling. Many criticized the obvious—its appearance. Hulking, boxy, and shaped unlike any conventional vehicle commercially released thus far, critics were quick to pile on the Cybertruck for its physical conceit. 

Yes, it looks like something only seen in science fiction movies, but how does that translate into real-life roadworthiness? How does its design make sense in the real world? 

Fast forward to 2023, and a lot still needed convincing. A quick search for the Cybertruck may yield video essays with titles such as “Why I Won’t Buy The Tesla Cybertruck” or opinion pieces detailing why Tesla’s Cybertruck “won’t change the game”. 

Some predicted that when the Cybertruck does roll out sales would be underwhelming, running counter to Tesla’s claim that pre-orders for the Cybertruck are already well over one million. 

In November of 2023, Tesla Cybertruck held a delivery event, which was meant to drive excitement and buzz once more around the vehicle. At this event, ten units of the Cybertuck were delivered. According to the coverage from ABC News, full production of the Cybertruck won’t be until 2025, but since then, a few selected motorists and influencers already got a taste of how sweet the Cybertruck could roll. 

The Cybertruck in 2024

ABC News reports that the current Cybertruck as seen during its delivery event still retains its main feature of having a stainless steel alloy frame, the same one that Musk claimed is “literally bulletproof”. 

The sleek gunmetal body wasn’t meant for paint jobs. Instead, it is meant to remain minimalist and futuristic cool. However, drivers can still customize it should they opt to lower or raise its suspension by four inches. 

Ahead of this event, only three people were able to try out the Cybertruck, according to Top Gear: car journalists Jack Rix and Max Cammisa, and tech expert Marques Brownlee. During a round table aired on YouTube, hot discussion points included expectations vs. reality, and what drew them in about the Cybertruck experience.

Some of the more noteworthy soundbites circled the vehicle’s panel gaps, which the experts said were “easy targets”. At the same time, they were more forgiving about the features that did not quite meet their expectations, considering the Cybertruck was more of a prototype at this point. 

The group’s main takeaway was that the Cybertruck is mostly successful. Jason Cammisa cited the vehicle’s success in terms of re-imagining how a vehicle is constructed from its structural battery pack to its exoskeleton and in terms of re-doing internal vehicle architecture with the first fully 48-volt system,as well as  re-inventing the steering system with drive-by-wire. These experts found the Cybertruck to be “an engineering triumph”. 

Now, on the other side of the dashboard, there’s Dennis Wang, a car influencer with 22.9 thousand followers on this YouTube channel, DennisCW. Business Insider reported on his 1340-mile road trip on the Tesla Cybertruck in January 2024. According to Business Insider, the influencer said that he “enjoyed the spacious design but ran into hiccups.” 

Some of these hiccups were related to battery charging and the vehicle’s infotainment features. Wang told Business Insider that he had to stop every hour or two to recharge the vehicle’s battery. Wang also observed that the Cybertruck’s range was half of its purported 320 miles. However, he also said that closing the vehicle’s tonneau helped improve the Cybertruck’s range. 

Tesla says that the Cybertruck can seat six passengers in its 3,500-pound payload capacity with 100 cubic feet of storage space. It will come in three variants, with its lowest option offering a 250-mile range, and its highest-end option offering a 500-mile range. 

With more influencers and car journalists discussing Cybertruck’s merits and pitfalls, the buzz is strong, which should count for a success on the PR front for Tesla, at least. Amid the criticism is real excitement and anticipation about what the Cybertruck can ultimately be once it rolls out on highways for real. 

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