The Tesla Cybertruck, still in good condition show car while waiting for the final model © Tesla
First announced in 2019, Tesla’s Cybertruck electric pickup will finally begin its first deliveries in just over a month, on November 30, after numerous production setbacks. However, many gray areas persist on this subject and we now learn a little more thanks to a document allowing the serial number (VIN) of 2024 Tesla models to be decoded. It was published by the NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration), the United States federal agency responsible for highway safety.
First surprise, only the two and three electric motor versions of the Cybertruck are present in this document. The entry-level version with a single engine, originally promised by Elon Musk at less than $40,000, would therefore not yet be ready, if it has not been completely abandoned.
A very heavy Cybertruck, but no more than its rivals
But the bad news doesn’t stop there. Thus, this document also details the GVWR (Gross Vehicle Weight Rating), the equivalent for us of the GVWR (total authorized weight), which indicates the mass that the vehicle, its passengers and its load must not exceed. The GVWR of the Cybertruck would be between 3629 and 4082 kg for the lightest version and between 4082 and 4536 kg for the heaviest version, which certainly corresponds to the three-motor variant.
The Tesla Cybertruck, still in good condition show car while waiting for the final model © Tesla
In Europe, unlike the United States, vehicles with a GVWR of between 3,500 and 7,500 kg require a specific permit. They fall into category C1 and are therefore classified as heavy goods vehicles and not as cars. If it were to be marketed on the old continent, the Cybertruck could be handicapped by this legislation, at least for the versions currently presented. In any case, it is the North American market that Tesla is primarily targeting with its oversized pick-up, whose stainless steel body measures 5.88 m. This is more than a Mercedes S-Class Maybach (5.47 m), for comparison.
In reality, if the Cybertruck is indeed extremely heavy, with an empty mass which must be around 3 t, this is also the case of its main rivals. It will compete with the GMC Hummer EV, Rivian R1T and Ford F-150 Lightning electric pickups, whose GVWR also exceeds 3,500 kg. Tesla is therefore arriving for once in an already busy market, with a vehicle for which we still do not know the final prices.