I have to admit, when I first saw the Tesla Cybertruck I was surprised and even a little confused, but definitely not a fan of the look. I was actually in China with NIO when Elon Musk revealed the vehicle and for a minute I thought he was kidding and the real Cybertruck would then roll out on stage.
But over time my opinion changed. Once I got home from the trip and had time to look at it more closely, I thought “It’s not as bad as my initial impressions”. A little while later my feelings evolved into “It’s actually pretty cool; I like it”. Not long after that I thought to myself “I really like it – I have to reserve one”. Which I did.
But that was in November 2019; four and a half years ago and a lot has happened since the night Musk revealed the Cybertruck to the world. I did place a reservation and had every intention of buying one at the original launch date which was supposed to be in late 2021, two years after the reveal.
However, production delays – some relating to the COVID shutdowns, caused the vehicle to be delayed two years and began production in late 2023.
But I couldn’t wait. I’ve been driving EVs since 2009 and all the time I also had a pickup truck in the driveway. I always said as soon as an electric pickup was available I would buy it and finally go all EV.
Rivian and Ford beat Tesla to market with the R1T and the F-150 Lightning and having reserved both, I decided to buy both, keep them for a while to decide which one suited me better, and then sell the other.
Well, the Lightning one out and I ended up selling the R1T. It’s not that I didn’t love it, the Lightning was just a better truck for my needs. I liked the Rivian so much that I bought an R1S because the SUV was a perfect complement to the truck as a second vehicle.
But now that I’m probably only a few months away from getting the email from Tesla to convert the Cybertruck reservation to an order, I need to decide if I’ll go through with it, or keep the Lightning. So I rented a long-range Foundation series Cybertruck on Turo to spend some time with it and hopefully decide if I still wanted one.
I drove the Cybertruck over 500 miles in the four days I had it including doing the InsideEVs 70 mph range test, in which it did very well and finished up going 302 miles on a single charge. I can confirm that it’s a blast to drive and the rear steering really makes maneuverability and handling so much better than it is on my F-150 Lightning.
So I came up with fourteen categories and compared my 2022 F-150 Lightning with the Cybertruck and put it together my thoughts on it in the video above.
The Cybertruck won eight of the fourteen categories, but there were a few that were really close and I could have easily flipped the win and changed the outcome. It’s important to note that I scored some of the categories based on my personal needs, so you may disagree with some of the decisions. For instance, I gave the charging win to the Lightning which I know a lot of people will disagree with.
I did so because I charge at home on AC electric 90+% of the time. The Lightning is a better AC charging EV because it can accept up to 80-amps while the Cybertruck is limited to accepting 48-amps.
I can fully charge the Lightning from empty in about eight hours and the Cybertruck needs eleven. While I don’t need to fully charge the truck often, I have had a few instances when I needed to add 50 or 60 miles quickly and the 80-amp Ford Charge Station Pro can do just that.
The Cybertruck is a much better DC fast-charging EV, and some people who use public charging often will place a higher priority on DC charging, I wouldn’t argue with them that the Cybertruck will do better in that area.
However, even though the Cybertruck beat the Lightning on my scorecard, at this time, I don’t think I’m going to go through with my reservation and buy one. The Lightning is just a better truck for my needs, and I explained that in the video. That doesn’t mean I don’t like the Cybertruck, because I do – it’s blast to drive and I have to give it to Tesla for producing such a unique vehicle. I don’t think any other OEM would have the guts to make something so unconventional, and I give them credit for doing so. It’s really “out there”, but out there in a good way, in my opinion.
So check out the video and let us know your thoughts in the comment section below.
