Page 14 - Motor Trend (February 2020)
P. 14
NEWS I OPINION I GOSSIP
Elon says the “bulletproof”
windshield was inspired
by lessons the carmaker
learned on the Tesla Semi.
the motors is Tesla’s latest
battery tech, of which the
company has shared little.
The standard battery pack
is mounted underneath the
cab, just forward of the roll-up
tonneau cover’s storage
compartment (beneath the
pickup bed floor), and offers
up about 300 miles of claimed
range. A new, double-stacked
battery will give the Cybertruck
up to 500 miles of range, Tesla
says. Construction of the proto-
type is “unibody-on-frame”
muster. All the renderings by workshop was frenzied with can be found; in back, a in the same vein as the new
the automotive chattering activity. It was midafternoon well-protected Model S Land Rover Defender, but the
classes? So, so wrong. Friday; Elon wanted Tesla’s EV Performance’s rear motor. production Cybertruck will be
pickup assembled and driving Tesla doesn’t publish horse- pure unibody.
A month later we had a through the SpaceX factory by power figures anymore, but Although most off-roaders
chance to go back and check Sunday. The reveal was two we estimate up to 690 hp and and pickup owners would
in on Tesla’s progress on the weeks away. 824 lb-ft of torque combined sneer at an air suspension,
Cybertruck. The life-size clay What would be running from the twin motors in the Tesla opted for a signifi-
model we’d seen before had— was turning out to be quite Raven powertrain. The future cantly beefed-up version of
quite shockingly—been joined interesting: a motor at each three-motor Plaid powertrain the Model X’s air setup with
by a half-finished Cybertruck axle, Tesla’s new Raven perma- will certainly find its way into upper and lower A-arms at all
running prototype. With Black nent-magnet drive units, to the Cybertruck, and it could four corners. Air suspensions
Sabbath and Tool blaring be precise. Up front a Model 3 put out an estimated 800 hp typically offer lots of ground
from an unseen stereo, the Performance’s rear motor and 1,000 lb-ft of torque. Like clearance but little mean-
all Teslas, the Cybertruck’s ingful travel, but based on
motors are backed by a nothing more than watching
one-speed automatic. Feeding the Cybertruck get lowered
14 MOTORTREND.COM FEBRUARY 2020
