As usual, Elon Musk promised mountains of gold! He claimed that his Cybertruck would float like a real boat and even cross rivers. And one car owner apparently took him at his word and decided to test these promises in practice. And what do you think? He got stuck like a fly in a cobweb in his $100,000 beauty.
Elon Musk has repeatedly stated that Tesla cars can float and serve as a boat for a short time. These statements have never been taken seriously, as the Tesla warranty states otherwise regarding the car’s entry into water.
However, the company’s CEO confirmed his statement specifically for Cybertruck. Before the launch of the production version of the Cybertruck, Musk said that the car would be «waterproof enough» to serve as a boat and cross rivers:
«Cybertruck will be waterproof enough to serve as a boat for a short time, so it will be able to cross rivers, lakes, and even seas if the waves are not too strong»
Musk added that the goal is for Cybertruck to be able to cross the water between SpaceX’s Starbase and South Padre Island in Texas, which is about 360 meters.
Tesla has even developed a special «ford crossing mode for its electric pickup truck. Tesla claims that this mode maximizes ground clearance during a trip and temporarily «creates pressure in the battery pack».
The problem is that this special mode is activated through the off-road mode, which is not covered by the Tesla warranty. Therefore, all of these claims should be treated with a grain of salt. When Tesla’s warranty contradicts what Musk says, it’s better to listen to the warranty than to the statements of an expressive leader.
The owner of a Tesla Cybertruck in Truckee, California, seems to have decided to trust Musk’s words: he activated the ford crossing mode and tried to drive into the water. In this mode, he didn’t get far – the Cybertruck quickly got stuck. The local California Highway Patrol shared photos of the aftermath of this attempt to cross the ford.
The Truckee Highway Patrol assisted with the recovery of the vehicle. There is no information on the damage to the Cybertruck, if any.
It is worth noting that this is not the first unsuccessful attempt to use an electric pickup truck as a water transport. Earlier, a Tesla Cybertruck sank while launching a jet ski.
It seems that in this case, it was clearly more a user error than a Cybertruck problem. Nevertheless, the conclusion is quite obvious: the Cybertruck is far from the best electric pickup truck for off-road use.
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