Elon Musk, CEO at Tesla, just put the entire truck market on notice with a radically designed electric truck. Faster than a Porsche 911. More powerful than an F-150. Oh, and they designed a truck camper, too.
About a tenth of a second after seeing Tesla’s new Cybertruck I dismissed its potential for truck campers due to the angled bed rail. That was a mistake.
After reviewing the design, build, materials and specifications, it may be the truck camper marketplace that needs to change. Certainly the off-road pop-up truck camper manufacturers should keep sharp tabs on this remarkable machine.
Perhaps the most amazing facet of this triangular chock to the system is its structure. In a nutshell, the truck is built inside a 30x cold-rolled stainless steel alloy exoskeleton.
As Elon explains during the announcement presentation (see the video above), Tesla moved the stress to the exterior ultra hard steel. This steel alloy is the same material Elon’s SpaceX is using for their Starship. That’s not science fiction folks. He’s building a Starship.
To demonstrate the toughness of the Cybertruck’s material approach, he literally had someone take a sledgehammer to the steel alloy on live video. Still not impressed? Well, how about being scratch-proof, bend-proof and bullet-proof to a 9mm handgun?
As if that wasn’t enough, the electric truck also features Tesla armor glass. This glass evidently withstands a tennis-ball sized steel ball dead dropped onto it from about 15-feet up.
All of this could be written off as fantasy for truck campers if the payload and towing data didn’t line up. It does. All three models of the forthcoming Tesla Cybertruck offer 3,500-pounds of payload capacity. That’s three-quarter ton territory.
Above: The Cybertruck’s air suspension kneels to accept Tesla’s new electric ATV
The Cybertruck features an adaptive air suspension with adaptive damping and ride height – all standard. As part of the air suspension system, the Cybertruck has a built-in air compressor. It also features built-in 110-volt and 220-volt outlets. No generator required.
All of this, and you almost forget it’s a completely electric truck. No gas. No diesel. No DEF. No oil. No engine or transmission to maintain. And (as of this writing) Tesla has 1,636 Supercharger stations across the United States and Canada with 14,497 Superchargers. The Supercharger location map is quite impressive, and getting more so.
Here are the top-line specifications for the three Tesla Cybertruck models:
Tesla Cybertruck – Single Motor, Rear Wheel Drive
250-mile range, 0-60 in 6.5-seconds, Top Speed of 110-mph, Payload 3,500-pounds, Tow Rating 7,500-pounds. MSRP (before incentives) $39,900.
Tesla Cybertruck – Dual Motor, All-Wheel Drive
300-mile range, 0-60 in 4.5-seconds, Top Speed of 120-mph, Payload 3,500-pounds, Tow Rating 10,500-pounds. MSRP (before incentives) $49,900.
Tesla Cybertruck – Tri-Motor, All-Wheel Drive
500-mile range, 0-60 in 2.9-seconds, Top Speed of 130-mph, Payload 3,500-pounds, Tow Rating 14,000-pounds. MSRP (before incentives) $69,900.
In the teaser I indicated that Tesla has also designed a truck camper. When I was going through the photography for this new truck, I saw the following image.
You might be looking at the truck camper of the future.
For more information about the Tesla Cybertruck, visit tesla.com/cybertruck.
