Tesla’s Cybertruck once again does not pass the off-road test, being surpassed by everyone else except the Ford F-150 Lightning

Tesla continues to market Cybertruck as a kind of high-performance off-road vehicle, with its long distance from the ground and robustness to support its “built for any planet” slogan. Tesla’s CEO, Elon Musk, even said once That Cybertruck “needs to rock in Baja,” referring to the legendary off-road rally event in Baja, Mexico. Despite this advertising, Cybertruck seems to fail consistently on its off-road mission.

First, Cybertruck did not fulfill its off-road promises when not even three engines variants were provided with the promised software and brake-based locking differential feature. Now, as shown in a recent Car and Driver test on the Cybertruck suspension design, similar to that of a car, left it in hand on a joint test.

In this video, Dan Edmunds of Car and Driver, tests Cybertruck to determine its ramp displacement index (RTI) score, which is a quick way to evaluate the chassis and project of suspension of a vehicle, especially in the context of off-road performance.

The RTI measures the articulation of the vehicle – the distance that one of the vehicle’s front wheels can rise on a ramp before another wheel lose contact and traction with the ground – and compares it with the vehicle axles to create an arbitrary rating scale in which a higher score usually indicates better off -road performance.

In the case of Cybertruck, although the central distribution of typical EV weightwear has helped a little, it performed remarkably bad in the joint test, regardless of the suspension mode used. Cybertruck got 369 points in off-road mode with low suspension settings. The change to on-road mode and the even greater reduction of the suspension produced a better result of 420 thanks to a peculiarity in the air suspension that results in higher ground distance settings, causing less suspension articulation.

For context purposes, the Rivian R1T got 510 points in its default mode and 488 in off-road mode at creep height, while the Ford F-150 Lightning got 332 points. However, things start to get much worse when comparing Cybertruck score with other gasoline -powered vehicles, such as Toyota Tacoma, which got 503 points in its TRD Pro finish, or the 1500 TRX RAM, which got impressive 602 points. Even the medium -sized Coloralet Chevrolet was 41 points ahead of Cybertruck’s best score.

The reasoning behind the RTI scoring system is that as soon as a car begins to raise a wheel as it goes through an obstacle, it begins to see a drastic decrease in power and capacities – even if there is a differential of installed lock.

It is also interesting to see that the double rear engines of Cybertruck cannot put the power on the floor, which illustrates how unfinished is the software set of the electric pickup. Although the Lord could expect the without traction to spin freely while the remaining rear wheel on the floor continued to provide energy, this does not seem to be the case.

Although initially it seems that the drive engine wants to go through the obstacle with or without the help of the other wheels, it is quickly overloaded and cuts the power.

These types of tests are certainly not the main and final point of off-road performance, but they can give you a good idea of what to expect to make off-road in a pickup truck. Although Cybertruck’s 18 -inch soil may be the best in the category for an EV, it changes the suspension joint to obtain this distance from the ground, resulting in a small capacity to put power on the floor when the road is difficult.

If you want to read about the development of Tesla Cybertruck, check out Walter Isaacson’s biography about Elon Musk on Amazon, or participate in off-road fun with an Axial RC Truck 1/6 SCX6 Jeep Jlu Wrangler 4wd Rock Crawler, also on Amazon.