These Cybertrucks appear to have gone through crash testing
@greggertruck
It looks like the Tesla Cybertruck has completed some crash tests and is on track to obtain its crashworthiness rating. At least a dozen Cybertrucks were spotted earlier on trailers across the US, prompting speculation about where they could be heading. On Friday, part of the mystery was solved as two crash-tested Cybertruck pickups were seen on a trailer in Hayward, California.
During the second-quarter earnings call, Elon Musk confirmed that he expects the first Tesla Cybertrucks to be delivered during an event in the third quarter. We're now in the second half of the quarter, and people are eagerly waiting for Tesla to prove Elon Musk wasn't bluffing. We're optimistic that the Cybertruck will get to the first customers on time, even if this means these customers are Tesla employees.
The Cybertruck has been in the news a lot more often in the past week, showing that things are moving fast. People watching Giga Texas noticed that the outbound lot was bustling with Cybertruck activity. At least nine pickup trucks have been seen on the lot, while several units were hauled on trailers out of the factory. Some of them have been headed to California, while others have been tracked as far as Ohio. Given this late stage in the Cybertruck development, these movements were attributed to Tesla sending the pickups to testing facilities for crashworthiness and efficiency ratings.
The NHTSA operates the Vehicle Research and Test Center (VRTC) in East Liberty, Ohio, where it conducts crash and fuel efficiency tests. Spotting the Cybertrucks in the area gives us a good hint at what Tesla is up to. It's safe to assume the Cybertruck will have an NHTSA crash rating next year when the volume production will be in full swing.
The pickups sent to California shared the same fate, only at Tesla's own crash test facility in Fremont. This was confirmed when two crash-tested Cybertrucks were seen in Hayward, California. Although the trucks were covered, it's obvious that the damage was minimal, fueling the speculation about the outstanding safety that Tesla packed into the Cybertruck. Given other Tesla models' stellar safety test results, expectations are high that the Cybertruck will also make a good impression. Most expect it to become the safest pickup truck on the market, regardless of size.
Things appear to be better for the Cybertrucks flown to New Zealand for winter tests. According to most recent news, at least two of them have left the South Hemisphere Proving Grounds (SHPG) testing facility, presumably on their way back to the US. This shows that Tesla is wrapping up the testing season for the Cybertruck, which pretty much confirms that deliveries couldn't be that far.
To pour more gas into the fire, a Tesla employee whose reports have been proven accurate in the past revealed on X that employee Cybertruck deliveries are imminent. Based on his words, "the company is soliciting the interest of those to take early delivery." Both dual- and three-motor configurations are reportedly available, which is good news for reservation holders. We'd take this with a grain of salt, though, considering that pricing and specifications are still unknown.
Here’s TWO crash tested Cybertrucks ? Look close and you see the crash tape as well as damage/ missing pieces! These were in Hayward, CA. pic.twitter.com/BemTlmCw3G
Tesla software update 2024.44.3 has started rolling out to customers in larger waves recently and it brings several new features - including Actually Smart Summon to Europe and the Middle East, as well as improvements to Autopark. But that’s not all, it also adds a new Blind Spot Monitoring feature to the new Model 3, and potentially the Cybertruck, but that’s still to be determined.
We previously covered the Blind Spot Warning While Parked as part of our preview notes for update 2024.44, but now that it's going out to customers, it's time to see it in action.
If the vehicle’s door open button is pressed, and a vehicle or object is near or incoming, the vehicle’s Blind Spot Warning Light (2024 Model 3 and Cybertruck) will illuminate, an audible tone will ring and the door won’t open. A message will also be displayed on the center displaying, letting driver’s know why the door didn’t open.
Pressing the button a second time will allow you to override the warning and open the door normally, providing a way to get out in case you just parked close to a nearby vehicle or obstacle.
The object detection for this new feature includes cars, pedestrians, cyclists, and other objects - like things including traffic cones, bollards, strollers, and other large obstacles that FSD and vision-based Autopark detect during normal operation. Of note - this only works for the front two doors. Thanks to X user Max, who did some testing for us, It does not work for the rear passenger doors.
Optional Feature
The feature is optional - it’ll be enabled by default for safety, but if you need to enable or disable it, you can do so under Controls > Safety. For now, the feature is only available on the 2024 Model 3, but we expect it to roll out to the Cybertruck at least. However, there’s no reason why it can’t be added to other vehicles as well, minus the small red dot. We expect Tesla to eventually add this feature to all Tesla vehicles, but it’s currently not a part of update 2024.44.
Enhauto’s S3XY Buttons & Commander
If that’s not enough safety and vision for you, Enhauto, the makers of the popular S3XY Buttons and Commander recently put out a new software update for the 2024 Model 3, which makes some fantastic use of the ambient lighting.
With Enhauto’s solution, users are able to tie their ambient lights to Autopilot use, turn signals or even if a vehicle is their blind spot. Check out the video below for this awesome implementation, where the ambient lights turn red when another vehicle approaches.
Maybe Tesla will integrate something like this into a future update? We’ve been hoping for more customizability with their ambient lighting - it's an easy safety win and a demonstration of Tesla’s do-more-with-less attitude.
I look forward to @enhauto updates more than Tesla...
Ambient light effects....
I set default color to white. Blinks green on turn signals Turns blue on FSD activation Yellow if someone in blind spot Blinks red if turn signal on and blind spot activity detected.
The feature is now possible thanks to what Wes Morrill, Cybertruck’s lead engineering, points out is a huge rewrite of Tesla’s Trip Planner, which not only makes it much more accurate but will now allow users to choose their arrival charge percentage.
More Accurate Trip Planner
When you navigate to a destination, your Tesla will automatically calculate when, where, and how much you need to charge. While the process seems straightforward, Tesla deserves a lot of credit for creating a simple user experience because a lot goes into accurately determining this information.
Tesla has to calculate many moving pieces in order to accurately predict when and where you should stop. First, it needs to consider your driving efficiency and wind direction, terrain elevation, traffic, vehicle speed, and ambient temperature. It also needs to predict the best Superchargers to stop at, taking into account congestion and charger speed.
This morning, in response to Dan Burkland, Wes shared that Tesla had significantly rewritten the backend portion of Trip Planner. These improvements, made by several engineers, were designed to improve Trip Planner’s accuracy and open the door to future features.
It sounds like these changes are mostly server-side, so thanks to their OTA connection, more accurate predictions should be available to all vehicles—no vehicle update is required.
Arrival State of Charge
Along with Tesla’s improvements to Trip Planner, Wes also stated that these improvements allow for a popular feature request — the ability to select your desired charge level at arrival.
Up until now, Tesla’s Trip Planner tried to get you to your destination as quickly as possible, which usually meant arriving with a low state of charge.
While this was fine if you have a charger at your destination, it’s not great if you don’t, or it could be even worse if there are no chargers nearby.
Max de Zegher said on X that he has heard the requests for a selectable arrival state of charge. Wes later clarified this by saying that these improvements to Tesla’s Trip Planner now allow for additional features to be added, such as “desired arrival charge.”
Actually trip planner got a huge rewrite on the back end. I had a great conversation with one of the engineers working on this over a morning run a few weeks back, it's pretty neat. The rewrite also unlocks additional features, like desired arrival charge.
Given that Max de Zegher’s comments came last night and Wes Morrill commented this morning, this feature request likely won’t arrive with the upcoming Holiday Update. Tesla actually hinted at such a feature being added in their last app update, so it does seem like they’ve already planned for it.
Although ‘Arrival State of Charge’ was on our wishlist for the Holiday Update, it looks like it may arrive soon after the holidays.
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