Tesla Cybertruck gets less than 80% of advertised range in YouTuber’s test
A YouTuber took Tesla’s Cybertruck on a ride to see if it can actually hit its advertised 320-mile range, only to find out that its could only reach 79% of the target.
When YouTuber Kyle Conner, known on the platform as Out of Spec Motoring, livestreamed an unofficial range test of the Cyberbeast model of the long-awaited electric pickup truck, it only lasted 254 miles before needing another charge.
Per Tesla’s website, the Cyberbeast — which retails for a cool $99,990 — can last as long as 320 miles on a full charge, which could take anywhere from seven to roughly 14.5 hours to achieve depending on the charging socket, according to international electric car database EV Compare.
During Conner’s five-hour livestream, which was earlier reported on by Business Insider, he drove the vehicle on a highway in Texas for about 70 miles per hour, on a night when temperatures were around 45 degrees.
In the video, Connor set out to drive his Cybertruck from a 100% charge until the battery died.
When the steel truck notified Connor that it was left with just a 1% charge and 12 miles to go, he pulled it into a mall parking lot, where he looped around the shopping center until the car came to a complete stop.
Representatives for Tesla did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.
Tesla, which released a tri-motor all-wheel drive (AWD) Cyberbeast, dual-motor AWD model and rear-wheel drive (RWD) model of the Cybertruck in North America in December 2023, offers a range extender, which it says increases the vehicle’s mileage to over 470.
However, range can be impacted by a number of factors, including temperature — as cold weather is often known to drain range faster — as well as tires and weight load, according to Insider.
Not all models of the Cybertruck have even been released yet: An entry-level, rear-wheel-drive version of the Cybertruck is expected to ship in 2025 to those willing to dish out $60,990 for it.
Meanwhile, Elon Musk already has his sights set on making his beloved Cybertruck able to traverse landscapes, teasing last month that the electric vehicle may soon be able to function as a boat.
“We are going to offer a mod package that enables Cybertruck to traverse at least 100m of water as a boat,” Musk shared to X in response to a video excerpt from an episode of “Jay Leno’s Garage.”
In the clip, where Leno takes a Cybertruck for a spin, Tesla’s vice president of vehicle engineering Lars Moravy tells the TV host that the steel truck could be made into a boat with some simple tweaks.
“The vehicle almost floats, maybe you have to add a little bit of extra buoyancy just to keep it up,” Moravy told Leno.
“If you’re creative, and you want, you could figure out how to put an outboard motor, plugged into your outlet there, turn it on from your screen, and go boating,” he added.
Musk chimed in with an X post saying: “Mostly just need to upgrade cabin door seals.”
So far, only a handful of deep-pocketed executives were able to nab a Cybertruck upon its debut last month, including Reddit cofounder Alex Ohanian and venture capital billionaire Phillip Sarofim.
It wasn’t immediately clear how Connor was able to get one of the coveted trucks for his livestream. The Post has sought comment from the YouTuber.
The truck’s angular, stainless steel-clad exoskeleton has safety experts concerned that it could hurt pedestrians and cyclists and damage other vehicles on roads.
“The big problem there is if they really make the skin of the vehicle very stiff by using thick stainless steel, then when people hit their heads on it, it’s going to cause more damage to them,” Adrian Lund, the former president of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), whose vehicle crash tests are an industry standard, told Reuters.
Tesla, however, has touted that the structures of the truck absorb impact during a crash.
Musk even said on social media that he was “highly confident” the Cybertruck would be safer than other trucks for occupants and pedestrians.
