Tesla CEO Elon Musk tweeted a video of a Cybertruck pulling an F-150 uphill in a game of tug-of-war in 2019, but when real people attempted a similar stunt with a diesel Silverado HD, the stock Cybertruck disabled power.
It turns out, the Cybertruck can’t tug without the CPU shutting the whole thing down, as Inside EVs reports,
Unfortunately, the Cybertuck can’t tug. Once the Silverado begins to pull the Cybertruck, some sort of failsafe kicks in and disables the motors/cuts power to the Cybertruck. This was a big letdown, especially since Tesla hyped the Cybertruck tug-of-war abilities during the debut. The Cybertruck does manage to pull the Silverado but only when its in park (with nobody inside the truck for some odd reason too).
In the video, you’ll see that they even disconnected the ABS sensors on the Cybertruck, but that still didn’t allow it to tug. Maybe there is a workaround? If so, we think someone will find it soon enough, so stay tuned to see if a tampered-with Cybertruck can tug-of-war.
It seems we may have been duped by Tesla and Elon Musk because replicating something like what’s seen in the video below doesn’t appear to be possible with a stock Cybertruck.
This is not the first time that Tesla doctored results to make its products look superior; as we covered previously, Tesla also intentionally misled the public when it claimed a Cybertruck would beat a Porsche 911 in a quarter-mile drag race while towing a Porsche 911. This kind of behavior is disappointing to see, but not surprising given the shifty nature of previous Tesla claims and the generally shifty nature of the company’s CEO Elon Musk.
This now marks the third time that Tesla and Elon Musk have knowingly bullshitted their respective ways into headlines, with the first time being back in 2016 when Tesla released a fake video showing fake self-driving capabilities. That was confirmed fake in 2023 when a Tesla engineer admitted it was a farce. Then, at the Cybertruck delivery event late last year, Tesla lied about the Cybertruck towing a Porsche 911 beating a 911 in a quarter-mile drag race. That was confirmed fake when “Engineering Explained” crunched some numbers and realized that Musk lied about the race taking place over a full quarter-mile, and likely used a base, manual transmission 911.
Automakers are known to make some bold claims, but bold-faced lies that are meant to mislead the public is just embarrassing. The Cybertruck is already absurd enough as it is, and I don’t think it really needs to work so hard to win over traditional pickup truck buyers. It has enough standout features to make it appeal to buyers without the need for lies. Do I think those buyers should undergo a psychological evaluation? Yes, but money doesn’t buy taste.