Cybertruck Details Revealed: Largest Display in Any Tesla, Rear-Wheel Steering Standard, 18-Inch Wheels

By Kevin Armstrong
Tesla's Cybertruck will retain it's massive wiper for production
Tesla's Cybertruck will retain it's massive wiper for production
MatthewDR/Twitter

The Tesla Cybertruck buzz continues to ramp up. Elon Musk says it will change the road, and he plans to make the futuristic truck his daily driver. Thanks to its distinctive design and outstanding performance capabilities, millions of buyers are on the wait list to drive this amazing truck.

Matthew Donegan-Ryan, a shareholder who attended Tesla's Investor Day, had the chance to speak with senior Tesla executives and learn more about Cybertruck. Several investors were sharing information about Cybertruck, but Matthew Donegan-Ryan has posted extensive videos about his conversations with Tesla executives.

Sizes and Variations

According to rumors, the Cybertruck pre-production beta that was on display at Investor Day is how the truck would appear if it were available for purchase right now. The Cybertruck is about 5% smaller than the prototype unveiled in 2019, but despite being a smaller vehicle than the Ford F-150 Raptor, it has more usable space. The Ford Super Crew Raptors at the event were comparable to the Cybertruck, which is slightly smaller. The size reduction means that the Cybertruck can only hold five passengers instead of six. It's expected to weigh between 6,500-7,500 pounds. Other investors are reporting 7,000 pounds

The Cybertruck will come in two versions: a dual-motor base model and a high-end performance model. It was initially believed that the top trim would be a quad motor, but conversations with Tesla staff seemed to suggest that Tesla would forego developing a quad-motor powertrain in favor of a tri-motor powertrain for the Cybertruck. All Cybertruck configurations will come standard with rear-wheel steering.

Largest Display in a Tesla

The Cybertruck will have Tesla's largest display ever, measuring 18.5 inches diagonally, however it'll come without a gauge cluster, or heads-up display. The redesigned Model S and Model X have a 17" center screen, while the Model 3 and Model Y include a 15" center display.

A combination of a typical round steering wheel and the yoke found on the Model S and Model X, the steering wheel will be round on the sides with flat top and bottom edges.

Unlike the F-150 Lightning, the front bumper grille does not open along with the hood. The production version of the Cybertruck windshield light bar will have amber lights, just like the Tesla semi, to indicate that the truck is wider than the standard 80 inches.

Wheels and Suspension

Highly advanced air suspension will come standard on every Cybertruck. Staff told the intrepid investor that Cybertruck can handle pretty much anything. "I was told very directly that they have tested the air suspension and they're confident it can handle Baja-style racing."

The Cybertruck will have 18-inch wheels, and at the very least, all-terrain and all-season standard tire options will be available. The tire's dimensions are 285/65 R18, or 35 inches by 11.25 inches by 18 inches. The company in charge of making the tires for the Cybertruck will be Goodyear. Donegan-Ryan estimates each tire will cost $385.

No Self-Presenting Doors

The doors on the Cybertruck won't self-present themselves like the doors on the Model X. Unlike the prototype's stainless steel bumpers, the Cybertruck's production beta's bumpers and side skirts are made of black plastic and are five-mile-per-hour impact compliant. The side-view mirrors are supposedly removable, but no confirmation of that.

New Team is Developing Accessories for Cybertruck

The 48-volt architecture used by the Cybertruck will provide more power, lighter and less expensive wiring, and a smaller accessories battery. For the vehicle, Tesla has created a Cybertruck Accessories Team, and rather than working with aftermarket businesses to build add-ons, Tesla will do it themselves. Off-roading, camping, and racing are the three subgroups of the Accessories team.

With millions of people on the waiting list in North America, it appears that list will not be opening up in Europe. With it's immense size, Donegan-Ryan says there are no plans to have this beast on the narrow European roads.

The Cybertruck will be a strong and adaptable vehicle, suitable for off-roading, camping, and even racing, according to the most recent information about it. The Cybertruck is poised to have a big impact on the pickup truck market thanks to its distinctive design and impressive features.

Tesla Rolling Out New Map Updates In North America and Europe

By Karan Singh
Not a Tesla App

As part of its usual cycle of updating maps, Tesla is rolling out a new map update for its vehicles this week. The previous map update version for North America was NA-2024.8-14924.

Tesla formats its map version as region-year.week. For example, NA-2024.8 represents the North American map update created in the 8th week of 2024.

Map updates are fairly large, and you’ll need to be connected to Wi-Fi to receive them—they’ll be about seven to eight gigabytes, depending on your region.

North American Maps

Vehicles in North America are now receiving NA-2024.20-15136.

This update is about 6.9GB and is slightly larger than the previous update. Tesla software hacker @greentheonly on X noted that while there’s more data, no feature flags have changed. This means that Tesla’s upcoming lane-based navigation changes likely aren’t integrated in this update.

European Maps

The map update isn’t limited to just North America. The EU has also received an update to its map data, with version EU-2024.32-15126.

This update is about 8GB, owing to the nature of the larger number of countries that the European maps have to cover. Thanks to @CarlosCuezva on X for spotting this update. Once again, no feature flag changes over the previous update.

What Does It Do?

While this map update doesn’t appear to enable any new features in and of itself, it helps your vehicle navigate more efficiently by being aware of newer routes. FSD also relies on some map data, so updated maps could also help FSD use drive safer. Overall, while it may seem an inconsequential update, every map update provides a new baseline that helps to improve both the trip planner and FSD.

When Does it Release?

Tesla began rolling this update out last week and is now rolling it out to a wider user base. Like Tesla’s software updates, there’s no way to force a map update. When eligible and connected to WiFi, the vehicle will automatically check for a map update, and unlike software updates, vehicles will download and install map updates silently in the background.

To check your version of Tesla maps, go to Controls > Software and look for the version listed under Navigation Data. If a map update is available, you’ll see which version is available and a progress bar that indicates the progress of the download.

Tesla Vehicle Data Report: How to Request It and What's Included

By Karan Singh
Not a Tesla App

If you’re ever involved in a collision with your Tesla, there’s a good chance you can retrieve dashcam footage of the incident—provided the USB drive and glovebox survive. However, sometimes they don’t, and even dashcam footage may not be sufficient.

In such cases, you can request a full recording from Tesla, along with a detailed data report showing comprehensive information about your vehicle’s performance during the collision. Shortly after any impact, your Tesla automatically uploads its crash log and related data to Tesla’s servers when possible, even using the low-voltage battery if the high-voltage pyro fuses are triggered.

Hopefully, you’ll never need this, but here’s how to request a Tesla Vehicle Data Report and what you can expect in the report.

How to Request a Report

Tesla has a simple, automated process for owners to request a Vehicle Data Report. To do so, simply go to Tesla’s Data Association Page and log into your Tesla Account.

From there, you’ll see a form that contains several options. Under “Regarding,” you’ll choose “Data Privacy Request,” and in the next selection, choose “Obtain a Copy of My Data.”

Tesla will then ask you to choose a vehicle that’s attached to your account and a range of dates for which you want data.

Tesla will provide details for the whole date range you specify, so it’s best to keep it small. Once you hit Submit, Tesla will start processing the request. Collision data is kept for an extended period of time, enabling people to go back and find data as required.

The summary page for the Vehicle Data Report
The summary page for the Vehicle Data Report
@bilalsattar on X

Within 30 days, and often much sooner, Tesla should e-mail you back with the report in PDF format and a CSV sheet containing all the raw information related to the request. This information is available for any country in which Tesla sells cars. If your country is outside of Tesla’s regular sales zones, you can try reaching out anyway, but we’re not sure if they will retain your data or not.

Tesla can also send you footage and data even if the incident wasn’t recorded as a collision – they’ll send you whatever is available – for any specific timeline you request.

Tesla Vehicle Data Report

The report is several pages long and comes in a nicely formatted PDF package. It breaks down the incident into various sections that help highlight what happened during the event. The first page summarizes the incident by highlighting key events and metrics like Autopilot use and speed.

Summary & Event Information

The Summary and Event Information sections are on the left side of the first page. The summary section is a text version of what happened during the event, reporting the time of the incident, speed, and whether seat belts were used, among other details.

The event information section includes some high-level information, such as the location of the incident, whether dashcam recordings are available, and the date and time.

Driver Log Data Overview

The Driver Log Data Overview section focuses on a few Tesla features and shows whether they were enabled at the five-second mark before the incident, one second before the incident occurred, or at the time of the incident. Tesla will show whether Autosteer / FSD, Driver Monitoring, Cruise Control, and Manual Brakes were used at all of these points. They will also show the status of the driver’s seat belt. Later in the report, Tesla will show graphs for each of these features so that you can see if they changed over the course of the incident.

Speed and Collision

The Vehicle Data Report's formatting
The Vehicle Data Report's formatting
@bilalsattar on X

The Speed and Collision section shows a timeline-based graph of the vehicle’s speed at the time of collision, four seconds before the collision, and four seconds after. The vertical line on the graph represents the collision, giving you a better understanding of what happened before and after the incident. However, in the following pages of the report, Tesla provides numerous time-based graphs that highlight many other metrics, including brake pedal use, accelerator, steering wheel torque and more.

Area of Detected Impact

This area of the report shows the vehicle from the top-down view and which areas detected an impact.

Time-Based Graphs

The rest of the report includes detailed graphs showing various vehicle metrics before, during, and after the incident.

Some of these graphs include the vehicle’s speed, steering wheel torque, steering wheel angle (how much the wheel was being turned and in which direction), accelerator and brake pedal usage, and pressure of the brake master cylinder. Tesla will even show whether any doors were opened during the seconds leading up to or following the incident.

If Tesla has a video of the incident, that will also be provided as a link for you to download. All the other information - the charts and graphs - raw information is also provided in a CSV file, which you can open in software like Microsoft Excel or Google Sheets.

Not a Tesla App

To wrap up, Tesla is currently the only car manufacturer in the world that can provide this information to its customers at the drop of a hat. This information is immensely valuable, and it could be the difference between someone paying an insurance claim or being charged with a crime.

Tesla produces some of the safest vehicles on the planet, and their commitment to safety and reporting is spectacular. We’re happy to see Tesla continue to take steps to better help their customers.

Thanks to Bilal Sattar for sharing his report. We hope you never need to use this, but it’s good to know that it’s available.

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