There’s definitely a feeling of schadenfreude when we see social media posts of Tesla Cybertrucks trying to do truck things and just completely shitting the bed. In what likely was an attempted PR stunt on Monday, some genius took a pre-production Cybertruck “Release Candidate” into Southern California’s Stanislaus National Forest, down the Corral Hollow Trail, and took it well off the trail to gather a downed Christmas tree. Unfortunately for the Tesla employee involved, the truck couldn’t make it back up the hill to the trail, and needed to be rescued by a passing Ford F-series. Oof.
There are a number of factors at play here, which aren’t necessarily the fault of the Cybertruck. First of all, the factory-equipped Goodyear tire is an all-terrain tire, which doesn’t necessarily deal with snow all that well. Secondly, the truck is attempting to navigate a snowy hill that is certainly off piste. According to the Instagram post the truck’s “lockers” weren’t usable because of a software issue. And there may be a bit of user error in here as well, because the drivers didn’t air their tires down for more traction, though I personally question that tactic in deep snow.
The post goes on to claim that there aren’t any pickup points or recovery points on the front of the Cybertruck, which seems like a total oversight on Tesla’s part, if true. In the video below, it looks like the tow straps might be using suspension points as recovery hookups, which is, uh, not great.
These riches of embarrassment all come together to provide a poor picture of the Cybertruck’s off-road capabilities. Some of these deficiencies certainly belong with the driver and their own abilities, but certainly a better prepared truck on better tires would have mooted some of these operator errors.
Another recent Instagram post provides a similar level of second-hand embarrassment. This time showing another Release Candidate forced to execute a three-point turn in order to negotiate an off-road switchback. Even with standard four-wheel steer, this truck can’t turn sharply enough to make that corner? That’s not great, Bob.
The Cybertruck has some impressive stats attached to it, and the people who buy them will surely be eager to show them off. For better or worse, the Cybertruck attracts the kinds of people who aren’t typical off-road warriors, and that’s going to mean some unprepared souls out there on the trails doing embarrassing shit. If you’re out there and you see a stuck Cybertruck, do your best to stifle your laughter and take pity on the dumbass who took it where they weren’t prepared to be. And do your best to not yank a control arm off when they need their truck snatched out of a gully.