Future Ride: Cybertruck Tesla

In 2023, the Ford Ranger knocked the Toyota HiLux off its perch as Australia’s top-selling vehicle.

This was a big deal. The beloved HiLux had been Australia’s go-to ute for seven years. We haven’t had a Prime Minister last that long at the top since John Howard.

Here’s how Ford explains their success: “Since the Ranger launched in 2011, it has transformed from a work vehicle into a vehicle for every Aussie and every part of life – from office workers to tradies, parents with kids and, of course, Aussies who tow, camp and go off-roading”.

But not, possibly, Aussies who have to use shopping centre car parks. At 5.2 metres long and more than 2 m wide including the mirrors, it’s a big beast.

But could the Ranger’s reign be short-lived? The future, we are told, is electric. Could the Tesla Cybertruck soon knock the Ranger off its new mantle?

The case for the Cybertruck

Unveiled in 2019 to audible gasps, the Tesla Cybertruck—with its boxy straight lines and stainless-steel exterior—looks like it was designed by a Year 8 student doing the bare minimum to pass a technical drawing assignment.

The Ford Ranger, on the other hand, looks like it was designed to cope with a couple of 44-gallon drums in the back and a kangaroo bouncing off the front, all without breaking a sweat.

So, why on earth would we suggest the Cybertruck might be the future?

Well, if 100% of new passenger vehicle sales are meant to be electric vehicles by 2035, something needs to replace old favourites like the Ranger and the HiLux. For some motorists, the Cybertruck will fit the bill.

There are several different models, so there’s a Cybertruck to suit everyone—from the 235 kW rear-wheel drive model to the 621 kW Cyberbeast. In the middle is the 453 kW all-wheel drive model, which, as currently advertised, can do zero to 100 kmh in 4.1 seconds and deliver a 547 km cruising range. For those who tow, it has enough grunt to drag almost 5000 kg along the highway to your favourite place to pitch a tent or launch a boat. Old worries about spending eight hours recharging the battery at an outback roadhouse are also dead. Tesla says you can add 235 km in 15 minutes’ charge time. And the really good news is, the Cybertruck’s windscreen is bulletproof and soundproof. So, if you do hit a roo, even one touting an AK-47, it sounds like you’ll not only be nice and safe but it’ll be as quiet as a Dishlex Dishwasher, so you won’t miss a second of your favourite podcast.

The Cybertruck makes hollow one former Prime Minister’s threat that EVs will “ruin Australians’ weekends”. Whether we like it or not, the Tesla Cybertruck, or something like it, is coming to a weekend near you sometime in the future.

The case against the Cybertruck

There’s quite a bit about the Cybertruck that’s bonkers. Like the fact they’re such a novelty that every time you park it, it’s going to be covered in fingerprints from curious children and opportunistic selfiehunters.

Much like Henry Ford offering the Model T in “any colour as long as it’s black”, the Cybertruck only comes in unpainted stainless steel. This “ultrahard exoskeleton” supposedly “helps reduce dents, damage and long-term corrosion”. This has caused massive production headaches, because the stainless steel doesn’t like being bent and it peels on the creases, so Tesla had to invent an entirely new process using air pressure to bend the stainless steel. Go onto any internet forum for Tesla owners and you’ll see plenty of complaints about rust stains.

Then there’s that high-schooler tech drawing aesthetic, with its straight lines and sharp edges. It doesn’t just ignore generations of vehicle design evolution, it ignores the design rules put in place for safety reasons by major markets, like the European Union (which requires a pedestrian/ cyclist crumple zone on the front of vehicles).

These all seem like problems that could have been easily avoided (but easily avoiding problems is not exactly Elon Musk’s modus operandi).

A little cold, hard reality

For all the buzz, the Cybertruck is not yet available in Australia. In fact, Tesla stopped taking pre-orders two years ago. So, is it even coming here?

There’s a lot of debate about this. On one hand there appear to be no current plans for Tesla to start manufacturing a right-hand drive Cybertruck. The vehicle also hasn’t, as yet, been added to the Australian Design Rules list of approved vehicles. Drive.com.au reported this is likely because the Cybertruck has a purely electric steering transmission, with no physical connection to the steering rack. If that’s the hurdle that needs to be overcome, that’s quite the redesign. The Ford Ranger might be safe for now.

On the other hand, Tesla has been driving a Cybertruck around the country on a big promo tour this year, which does seem to suggest they’re still planning something for the Australian market.

Will the Cybertruck knock the Ford Ranger off its perch as Australia’s favourite vehicle? No, probably not. But something will. And whether it’s the next vehicle or the one after that, eventually, Australia’s favourite car will be electric—and the technology in the Cybertruck may well have influenced what that vehicle looks like and how it works.