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Tesla CEO Elon Musk took the stage in 2019 to announce the company’s soon-to-be-released electric pickup truck. However, the Cybertruck wouldn’t launch in 2021 as planned. Even now, we’re probably a year away from the first pre-order deliveries. We don’t have to wonder what’s holding up the process anymore. The recent leak of Tesla documents included some engineering data on the Cybertruck, and the vehicle Musk and co demoed in 2019 was nowhere close to ready for the road more than two years later.
Perhaps the state of the Cybertruck is unsurprising to you—after all, the window broke twice while Musk was trying to show how durable they were in that first demo. Now we have a better idea what was broken on the inside, thanks to the “Tesla Files” releases from German newspaper Handelsblatt. The paper was given thousands of internal Tesla documents by a whistleblower several weeks ago, and among them is an engineering report for the Cybertruck dated Jan. 25, 2022. This report cites issues with basic systems that every modern car or truck has.
The production alpha version of the Cybertruck in early 2022 struggled in numerous ways, according to the internal dynamics and NVH report (that’s noise, vibration, and harshness). It compared the performance of the alpha vehicle with CAD simulations, and the real deal didn’t fare well. The report notes problems with body sealing, the suspension, high cabin noise levels, uneven handling, and inconsistent braking.
Credit: Tesla
You would expect issues like that with a pre-production alpha version of a new vehicle. However, this report was issued more than two years after Tesla started taking cash deposits for the Cybertruck. Tesla says 1.8 million people have since pre-ordered one. According to Wired, these are the kind of basic mechanical features that most automakers would perfect before even announcing a vehicle.
The Cybertruck delays come at a tumultuous time for the company. It hasn’t released a new vehicle since 2020 with the Model Y, and traditional automakers are building out their EV fleets. Tesla no longer has the considerable lead it once did, and Musk seems more distracted than ever as he tries to remake Twitter and install computer chips in people’s brains. Unlike most of his ventures, Tesla is a publicly traded company, and the value of its stock is mainly responsible for making Musk so fabulously wealthy. Is that value going to stick if Cybertruck shipments continue to slide? Tesla’s financials are currently being propped up by the Model Y.
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