The Cybertruck Delivery Event is less than two weeks away. And that does not mean nothing is happening in the Tesla Cybertruck universe — of course, a lot is.
In this post, we are going to share some important events, updates, and videos of the Cybertruck that have happened in the last few weeks on the road to the Cybetruck Delivery Event.
Tesla is conducting the Cybertruck event at its Gigafactory in Austin, Texas which is home to the automaker’s global HQ as well. The space at Giga Texas wasn’t enough for the number of Tesla investors, influencers, and Referral Program prize winners, so Tesla had to conduct a random drawing to choose attendees.
Cybertruck Rain Testing
Tesla is now performing most of the in-house testing of the Cybertruck at Giga Texas. Last week, Tesla conducted the H2O/water pressure test also known as the Rain Test on the Cybertruck.
Tesla has designed a container-like chamber to perform rain testing on its vehicles. This container is placed in the open area outside the production buildings. As we can see in the picture below, a water tank and multiple pumps are attached to this artificial rain-making container. It’s like a car wash but a bit different.
We can also see that a Cybertruck is waiting on the ramp outside this rain-maker device to enter. Unfortunately, Giga Texas observer Joe Tegtmeyer wasn’t able to record the Cybertruck entering the container.
According to Joe, this rainmaking device has been at Giga Texas since the start of this year (2023). Tesla has previously used this device to test Model Y electric SUVs for water/rain resistance.
The H2O/Rain Test ensures a vehicle’s ability to resist water ingress to the vehicle’s cabin, frunk, and trunk during mild to heavy rain and or an off-road situation where the vehicle needs to go through splashes of water. Since deliveries are so close, hopefully the Cybertruck didn’t fail in this test.
Cybertruck’s 360° Turn
Before stopping for the rain test we’ve witnessed above, the Tesla Cybertruck took an impressive 360° turn. Although it’s not the same as the Rivian R1T Tank Turn, it’s still something Tesla can brag about — a wonder of the Cybertruck 4-wheel steering feature.
We can see that four perfect circles are formed as the Cybertruck takes the 360-degree turn on the wet surface of the Giga Texas parking lot. It’s a timelapse video, so the Cybertruck has taken the turn slower than we see in the video above.
According to the leaked Cybertruck specs, it’s an 18.6 feet (223.2 in) long pickup truck. This turning radius for such a large truck is truly impressive as well.
Tesla began the development of the 4-wheel Cybertruck steering in 2021 after GMC announced Crab Mode for the then-upcoming Hummer EV pickup.
Cybertruck Production Status
Tesla is currently scaling up Cybertuck production at Giga Texas. Tesla CEO Elon Musk might release the actual number of Cybertrucks getting produced at the Tesla factory during the delivery event later this month.
However, last week, a large number of Cybetruck underbody castings and door panels were spotted at Giga Texas. I counted the rows and columns of the castings and they are apparently 78 (the ones that are visible in the aerial photos by Joe Tegtmeyer).
Elon Musk discussed about the Cybertruck production challenges during his Tesla (TSLA) Q3 2023 Earnings Call opening remarks. He said that it will probably take from 12 -18 months to scale Cybertruck production to a significant level. Until then, we should keep our expectations low.
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Homer Simpson’s car looked better.