Reliability is key in the pickup truck market and Tesla, unfortunately, still lacks it.
One lesson journalism gives us is that you cannot report things as you wanted them to be. You have to report them as they are. Especially if you intend to foresee something based on that information. That is especially evident in this last video from the Now You Know YouTube channel. For as much as we like these guys’ work, they believe the Tesla Cybertruck will be a blockbuster based on reliability. And we have recently shown that this is not precisely Tesla’s strongest point.
Gallery: This Now You Know Video On The Tesla Cybertruck Misses A Crucial Point
The discussion regarding reliability starts when they quote a survey from Cox Automotive. It shows that, above all else, pickup truck buyers want them to be dependable. Jesse says that there is nothing more reliable than an electric car. Perhaps, but this is not what Consumer Reports (CR) thinks about Tesla.
We have shown that the recent improvement in reliability in the Model S and the Model 3 was not the key factor in getting them the Recommended rating. In fact, it was really small. These cars only managed to go from poor to average, and the best one probably does not go beyond 52 on a 100 scale. The really reliable vehicles are above a score of 87.
The closest vehicle Tesla ever produced to a pickup truck is the Model X. It has a score of 15 and is among the ten least reliable vehicles in 2019, according to CR.
The magazine mentioned paint problems that are recurrent in Tesla, but it does not consider them to be that relevant. It did not speak of the failing MCU on the Model S and X, but in-car electronics are the last thing that concerns CR. Anyway, it takes notes on that.
That helps to remind things could be way worse if the magazine had a specific table for EV problems. Unless Tesla’s reliability scores increase before the pickup truck reaches production, people in search of dependable will look somewhere else. Either that or the Tesla truck will have to appeal to an entirely different public.
That is not the only issue the Tesla Cybertruck may have. Towing tests performed with the Model X showed that the high energy efficiency of EVs makes them spend a lot more energy when they are dragging anything.
Range decreases in a worrying pace, so both the Tesla Cybertruck and the Rivian R1T have to prove they can deal with that. There is no point in being able to tow 300,000 pounds, as Elon Musk once said it could, and having to stop for a charge every 100 miles.
Speaking of which, charging with a trailer is also concerning. How will that work in a Supercharger station? Will you have to unhitch the trailer to give the Cybertruck more juice?
Zac and Jesse also get it wrong when they think Tesla wanted to present the pickup truck in November in LA to call the attention of the journalists that will be at the LA Auto Show. Most of the people invited are primarily supporters of the brand. Some of them only with a popular Twitter profile. Others, with YouTube channels.
The press would ask inconvenient questions such as the ones we posed above. Most journalists best shot at the event will be the live transmission, so it has nothing to do with the LA Auto Show or with a concern with the press.
The goal with the date and city relates to Blade Runner. Musk said the pickup truck would look like a vehicle from that movie, which happens in Los Angeles in 2019. And that’s it. Predicting the Cybetruck will be at the auto show is faded to failure.
Among the video’s predictions, Zac and Jesse believe the pickup truck will appear towing a SpaceX rocket – more specifically the Falcon 9 – at the Hawthorne Airfield. They also think it will have the unbreakable windshield that the Semi presented.
For the ones that hate the idea of skid steering, Zac hopes the Cybertruck will be able to do a “tank turn” with four electric motors before the Rivian R1T demonstrates that. That CGI video does not count. They also believe Tesla’s work vehicle will be able to power tools.
Regarding price, towing capacity, and other details, the video gives us the impression Zac and Jesse are guessing. Still, the fact is that Elon Musk already anticipated some of these aspects. Our Everything We Know article will give you a good idea about all that in less than five minutes of reading.
If rumors that the million-mile battery will be fitted to the pickup truck are right, it will probably call a lot of attention. Anyway, it will still need a lot of work to be able to threaten mainstream manufacturers in their own gold mine, starting for the reliability matter. May Tesla’s one day be as high as the Now I Know guys think it is.