I Saw A Production-Spec Tesla Cybertruck And It Looks Good. Here Are A Bunch Of Pics So You Can Judge For Yourself - The Autopian

Lots of car journalists found joy in all the build quality issues found on Tesla Cybertruck prototypes, largely because lots of car journalists secretly get a kick out of Elon Musk failing. It’s just reality — Musk is a controversial figure who says a lot of dumb things in addition to all the smart things he says, he tends to have more conservative values than many journalists, and also Tesla fans can be a bit annoying. Still, rooting against Tesla is a foolish endeavor, which is why I never do it and why I’m not at all surprised to see the production-spec Tesla Cybertruck looking so good at the southern California Tesla showroom I visited on Saturday. Here’s a look at all the up-close photos I took of a completely-finished Tesla Cybertruck.

After hearing about Cybertrucks showing up in Tesla showrooms, I called up my local Tesla store and asked if they had the EV brand’s hottest new machine — they did not. But they did tell me that I could find a Cybertruck in Buena Park, about 40 miles away from my place. Somehow I convinced my girlfriend to sit in traffic with me so we could look at a production-spec version of the Cybertruck we’d already seen on the roads (a pre-production mule) and at the Petersen Automotive Museum (just a design-buck, if I recall correctly). It was worth it (for me at least). Here’s a video of what I saw:

The showroom wasn’t packed, but parking was challenging, and it was clear there were still a lot more folks in there than would normally be — after all, this was everyone’s first glimpse of a production-spec Cybertruck (a salesperson confirmed it to be production spec). Folks were standing around taking pictures and chatting about electric cars. The vibes were great.

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Let’s get straight to the parts of the Cybertruck that, on the preproduction trucks, drew the most ire from journalists: The tailgate fitment and the A-Pillar-to-cowl/hood fitment. Here’s the tailgate on the black Cybertruck that von Holzhausen drove to that Malibu Cars and Coffee:

Image: Daniel Golson

Image: Daniel Golson

Image: Daniel Golson

And here’s the production-spec truck. Much better!:

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It’s not perfect, as you can see in the image below, but it’s decent:

Now let’s look at that A-pillar-to-cowl trim, as well as the hood. Here’s how the Cars and Coffee Cybertruck mule looked:

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Image: Daniel Golson

Image: Daniel Golson

And here’s the production-spec truck.

It looks mostly OK, though that gap between the fender and that front panel looks a little large and uneven on the passenger’s side:

The driver’s side appears to look better in the photos I took (note that I didn’t notice the difference in person — only when browsing my photos):

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Here’s a look at the 285/65R20 Goodyear all-terrain tires:

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Here you can see the front steering knuckle; notice how the upper control arm (a bit hard to see, as it’s black) attaches to the knuckle via a ball joint that is located above the tire. This has become relatively common on modern automobiles for a variety of reasons that our suspension engineer Huibert Mees has pointed out here, but the short of it is that mounting the ball joint up high gives that upper control arm a larger moment arm to act against cornering loads (this can provide a number of benefits including reduction of control arm bushing deflection, which can mean less camber change, etc etc):

Here you can see the rear lower control arms, which appear to be stamped and welded steel. Also, under the rear overhang there appears to be a grille for a speaker, presumably for pedestrian protection/alerting:

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Let’s have a look at that rear bumper:

Here are a few underbody shots. Things look nice and flat down there:

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Here’s the front cooling opening, along with this slit-like headlights, which I quite like:

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Here’s a closer look at the lights:

The windshield wiper is unbelievably huge in-person:

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Let’s peek at the interior:

 

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Here’s a close-up of the charge-port flap on the rear left fender (I don’t love this location; I think charge ports should be front-mounted, but I understand that it may not be worth the compromise):

Let’s have a close look at a camera on one of the B-pillars:

Under that camera you’ll see a small rectangular piece of glass with fingerprints all over it; I’m fairly sure that’s the door-open switch. Here’s a look at the rear door’s:

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Check out the folded triangular-shaped mirror:

What’s the takeaway, here? Well, aside from the gap between the front fender and front fascia panel, the Cybertruck’s fit and finish looks decent from about six feet away (the truck was roped off). What’s more, it looks badass, and not just in the showroom, but on the street; I recently saw one driving towards me in LA, and it looks great! And I’m one of the folks who, upon seeing the truck debut around this time four years ago, nearly vomited. So I’ve fully come around to it, and am certain the Cybertruck will be a massive success.

Do I think it’s going to make for the best work-truck, with its huge sail pillars that make accessing the small bed difficult? No, I don’t. But who cares? Most people buy trucks these days to look cool, and the Cybertruck does that beautifully in my eyes. The first production trucks are to be delivered in just a few days; the floodgates are opening.

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