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Since its launch in November, the $80,000-plus car has repeatedly made headlines for issues including displaying an unexplained “critical steering error” warning alert, getting stuck on rough roads, and facing a major recall. However, it is far from “apocalyptic safety.” It was advertised as huge.
‘If I get into an argument with another car,’ Elon Musk vows in front of his truck. Release commemorative event Last year, I said, “I can win.”
He added: “The apocalypse can come at any time, and here at Tesla we have the best apocalypse technology.”
But on May 2, tourists on Nantucket Island found the Cybertruck stuck in the sand, requiring a tow truck to free it. According to the tow truck operator, the driver made a serious mistake. Air escapes from the tire.
Typically, Cybertruck tires are inflated to about 50 psi. However, Tesla warns drivers in the Cybertruck’s owner’s manual to lower tire pressure before going off-road to improve traction and reduce the risk of a flat tire. The tow truck operator said the safe pressure for driving on the beach is 18-22 psi.
“Unfortunately, they either neglected to do that or didn’t know to do it,” a towing operator, who requested anonymity because he operates an unofficial one-man towing operation, told Business Insider. “So they’ve taken three steps back from the beginning.”
Operators say most of these tow truck jobs come from inexperience, from tourists misjudging the softness of the sand near the coastline and how tire pressure affects a vehicle’s off-road ability. An ability he added that he is often called upon during the summer to help travelers he had no idea about.
What happened to the Cybertruck could have happened to other pickup drivers, the operator said. But he noted that the Cybertruck’s extra weight (about 1,000 pounds heavier than a comparable gas-powered pickup truck) didn’t help.
“There was always the question of how electric cars with excessive weight would cope with driving on the coast,” he says. “You put the same size tires on a regular F-150, or you put a standard pickup truck in here, but it weighs more.”
The all-electric pickup was eventually released, but not before drawing bemused onlookers from the small island community.
The tow truck operator said he wasn’t “all that surprised” to receive the call, given the buzz about the arrival of the first Cybertruck on the island “earlier in the day.”
“He immediately got off the boat and parked his car at a pedestrian crossing in the center of town,” he said. “It went viral on the internet, but by 5 p.m., it was stuck on the beach.”
“We were joking [that] We kind of admire his ability to quickly check off all the things you shouldn’t do on Nantucket. “We really made the most of the day,” he added.
The incident went viral on social media as the latest failure involving the Cybertruck.
Cybertruck’s problems aren’t all user error
Similar to the Nantucket incident, vehicles weighing more than 6,600 pounds were seen stuck in snow and struggling to climb steep hills. Although the official cause of these incidents remains unconfirmed, Cybertruck’s problems cannot be entirely attributed to user error.
These cars, which Tesla advertised as bulletproof, also Troublesome quality issues. The stainless steel body rusts and marks easily, and the massive vehicle’s door panels have unsightly gaps that YouTube tech influencer Marquis Brownlee called “the worst I’ve ever seen on a production car.” I commented.
Despite being marketed as a steel dome on wheels meant to protect its occupants from everything the outside world throws at it, all of its internal features provide the safety it’s intended to provide. It doesn’t look like there is. One YouTuber got his finger caught in the flank of a car when the sensor failed to detect an obstacle, leaving him with a dent and small scratch on his skin despite a recent software update aimed at preventing such problems. reported.
First-hand reports of the Cybertruck’s accelerator pedal getting stuck at full throttle also drew the attention of regulators, with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration warning that an “unapproved change” in the manufacturing process was causing the problem and risking a crash. reported concerns that there is a high possibility that this has increased. Following the NHTSA report, Tesla voluntarily recalled approximately 3,878 vehicles in April, affecting nearly every Cybertruck shipped to customers since its launch.
Business Insider previously reported that safety experts have called the Cybertruck a “guideless missile” and “death machine” due to its size, speed, and autopilot capabilities.
Problems with tank-like cars are not limited to production models. When a prototype Cybertruck was first shown in 2019, an early demonstration of its “shatter-proof” glass was thwarted after the car’s windows easily shattered during on-road testing.
“We dug ourselves a grave with the Cybertruck,” Musk warned investors during an earnings call last October that the car’s unique design was causing major problems in scaling up production. .
And he may be right, as Tesla’s stock price has fallen nearly 25% since the Cybertruck’s debut last year, from $241.20 to $181.14 per share.
Representatives for Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.