Tesla Cybertruck: all the news about Elon Musk’s futuristic pickup truck

The Tesla Cybertruck’s gigantic windshield wiper isn’t working for some people — and for others, it may be the reason they can’t pick up their car. Users on the Cybertruck Owners Club forum have reported that Tesla has been delaying Cybertruck deliveries on short notice, and wiper issues are apparently to blame.

Over the weekend, one forum user said Tesla told them the delivery pause was due to the wiper motor, while another said their delivery was pushed back because of the blade. A Reddit user said they were told their delay was due to “a windshield wiper arm issue.” And deliveries are still being held up, with forum users reporting Monday that Tesla informed them of delays.

The Tesla Cybertruck is finally getting an off-road mode via an over-the-air software update, allowing early owners of the monstrous electric truck to finally get granular 4x4-style features that were promised from the start.

The news comes via a post by Tesla’s Cybertruck account on X, which shared an image of the Off-Road Mode screen with different settings, options for locking differentials, the ability to turn off rear steering, and more. Off-Road Mode has two main settings: Overland Mode for consistent handling and better traction on rock, gravel, snow, and sand, plus a Baja Mode that improves balance and “handles more freely.”

Tesla temporarily halted deliveries and recalled every single Cybertruck after a viral video showed how the pad on its accelerator pedal could slip off and get stuck in the interior trim, leaving the pedal depressed “down 100 percent, full throttle.” Now, video from a Tesla event in California taken today and Tesla’s own documentation confirm the riveting installation that secures the pad with a rivet, and they show us exactly how it’s done.

While Aaron Cash’s video posted to X says it’s a “35 second recall fix,” demonstrated at the “Cyber Takeover” event in Long Beach, the video starts with the required drilling jig already in place.

Over the last few days, Tesla has delayed some Cybertruck deliveries. The company hasn’t specified why or even publicly commented on the delays, but commenters in the Cybertruck Owners Club forum have reported receiving texts or calls telling them their deliveries were being rescheduled.

One user said they’d been told by their dealer that the truck was recalled over its accelerator pedal. Another claimed Tesla sent them a text saying it’s not scheduling deliveries at the moment for the same reason. Several others reported receiving texts about issues with “the preparation of your vehicle.”

Four years after its debut, the Tesla Cybertruck has finally reached its first batch of customers. The truck was delivered to about a dozen people during a lavish event at the company’s headquarters in Austin, Texas, at which Elon Musk predicted the truck would usher in a new, more exciting future.

The company also provided updated details about the pricing, range, and features for the truck, much of which has changed significantly from the originally announced numbers. The rear-wheel drive version of the electric truck will start at $60,990 — up from the original price of $39,900 in 2019 — and will get 250 miles of range on a full charge. That version won’t be available until 2025.

Tesla is about to deliver the first Cybertrucks to buyers at an event on Thursday, November 30th, starting around 3PM ET / 2PM CT / 12PM PT in Austin, Texas.

The electric pickup truck, with a jarringly polygonal design, was first revealed in November 2019 by Tesla CEO Elon Musk. The Cybertruck’s unique design helped it make its mark, and many people immediately plunked down $100 to hold a place in line to get one. Even the botched “armor glass” demonstration, in which Tesla’s lead designer smashed the driver’s side window with a metal ball, did little to deter interest.

It feels like a thousand years since Tesla first introduced the Cybertruck, but it’s actually only been about a thousand days. Still, that’s a long time in the auto world, and to say people are getting antsy waiting would be a huge understatement. 

The Cybertruck certainly took its time getting here, slogging its way through a global pandemic, a presidential election, two ongoing wars, and many other terrible things that have happened over the past four years. Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s acquisition of Twitter and his emergence as a “haver of bad opinions, especially about Jews” also took place within this time and is sure to cast a shadow over the Cybertruck’s big moment.   

After being recalled last year for not meeting product safety standards, Tesla’s $1,900 Cyberquad for Kids is once again available to purchase on the Tesla webstore in the US. The latest release of the Cybertruck-inspired ride-on toy — identified as Model 915 — is an updated version of the Model 914 Cyberquad for Kids that launched back in December 2021. Orders for the Model 915 are expected to begin shipping in late November.

Like the Model 914, the new Model 915 Cyberquad for Kids was jointly created by Tesla and popular children’s toy maker Radio Flyer, best known as the makers of the Little Red Wagon. The battery-powered Cyberquad for Kids has a 500W motor with a top speed of 10 mph (that parents can switch to 5 mph) and a max range of 15 miles, with LED headlights and taillights. Much like its Cybertruck inspiration, this pint-sized version of the Cyberquad ATV for adults also features a steel frame and high-pressure rubber air tires.

As Vergecast listeners know, I am deeply and forever fascinated by the Tesla Cybertruck’s wiper — it is one of the silliest design compromises in automotive history on a vehicle that is itself a rolling design compromise. I love it so much.

Anyway, I’ve been asking listeners to send in detailed shots of the wiper to confirm a rumor I’ve been hearing — my thanks to the dozens of people who’ve passed along photos. I didn’t have anything worth running until today, though: our own Parker Ortolani spotted a Cybertruck in NYC and took several photos that appear to show that the “single wiper” is actually multiple wiper blades stacked in a row.

Tesla’s Cybertruck is finally nearing its first delivery event on November 30th, and yet we still don’t have key details on configurations, prices, and other specifications of the unconventionally designed pickup truck.

But today, we got some insight for the launch, including initial Cybertruck powertrain options and Gross Vehicle Weight Rating (GVWR), thanks to new VIN info from the National Highway and Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

The Tesla Cybertruck finally has a delivery date, according to a company post on X (formerly Twitter). Along with its third quarter earnings today, Tesla announced the long-delayed Cybertruck electric pickup will have its first deliveries during an event on November 30th at the company’s Gigafactory in Austin, Texas. The company is also expected to announce pricing then, which was originally pegged at $39,900 when first announced in 2019.

On Tesla’s Q3 earnings call Wednesday evening, CEO Elon Musk said he wanted to “temper expectations” as production ramp-up for Cybertruck will be extremely difficult. Musk says Tesla is targeting a quarter million Cybertrucks per year in the future, but that won’t happen until after 2024, and confirmed that more than 1 million people have reserved the truck.