The Tesla Cybertruck Squats Like A Rally Truck - First Ride

Mustang Mach-E, eat your heart out

Not only did MotorTrend get unprecedented behind-the-scenes access to the Tesla Cybertruck's development, we were also the first automotive journalists in the world to go for a ride in Elon Musk's new polygonal pickup. It was a short ride—the whole ordeal was over in three minutes—but we learned a whole lot about what could be the future of the pickup truck as we know it.

Tesla's electric pickup rides high, significantly higher than the Model X we drove to the reveal. The interior of the cab is properly huge, due in part to the lack of a traditional transmission and driveshaft tunnel. That wacky triangular roof peaked just above my head in the front row and forward visibility seems on par with conventional gas-powered pickups. (And Tesla was kind enough to replace the windows after lead designer Franz von Holzhausen shattered them on stage.)

Hip point feels similar to the Chevrolet Colorado ZR2 and like the ZR2, the Cybertruck rides on colossal hella-knobby off-road tires. (The Tesla rocks 35-inchers.) Compared to the ride height and ground clearance of the Mustang Mach-E, this might as well be Grave Digger. With the compliance from all that tire sidewall and the Cybertruck's softly sprung air suspension, I barely noticed the speed bumps we rolled over.

Speaking of softly sprung, it's the Cybertruck's body motion more so than the accelerative force that stands out. All of Tesla's previous cars are immensely quick and instantly torquey off the line, but nothing the automaker builds feels like this truck does under full throttle.

The stainless steel brute squats back on its rear haunches, pointing its nose toward the sky. As soon as the driver lifted his right foot, the front end dove down toward the ground ahead. I didn't get the impression that it had poor body control, but that it would lean, dive, squat, and take a set 'round a corner like a rally truck headed straight for the Baja 1000. Oh yeah, and this dual-motor version felt like it would hit 60 mph in the low four-second range.

I did notice a few interior rattles in this prototype (that I didn't notice in the electric Mustang Mach-E prototype) which may or may not make it to the production version given Tesla's less-than-stellar reputation for build quality. Other than that, I have nothing bad to say about my ride in the Cybertruck. Rock on, Elon.