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Tesla Cybertruck tested: Jay Leno takes Elon Musk for a joyride

The CNBC network has released a teaser video which confirms the Tesla Cybertruck was tested by car enthusiast and comedian Jay Leno.


The promotional video, released this week ahead of the airing of Jay Leno’s Garage at 10pm eastern time Wednesday in the US, shows Tesla boss Elon Musk sitting in the passenger seat while the car is being driven by the comedian and car collector.

Leno’s first reaction from behind the wheel: “It feels very much like any other Tesla, you’ve got instant acceleration”. 

He then comments on the feeling of openness due to the large glass area, or “greenhouse”. “The greenhouse is fabulous, I love how open it appears to be,” he says.

 

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Musk was then asked how different the production car will be compared to the show car they are driving. 

“At Tesla we always want to have the production car be better than the show car,” said Musk.

“It always drove me crazy when manufacturers would come out with this cool-looking show car, and then the actual production car would be way worse. And you’re like, man, you got us all excited about this sweet looking car and then the production one is … terrible.”

Then, moments after Musk declares that Tesla “won’t do show cars that aren’t real” he says the showroom version of the Cybertruck will be at least five per cent smaller than the concept vehicle. 

“I think we got the proportions here pretty close,” said Musk. “We’re five per cent too big. If we just take all of the proportions and drop them by about five per cent … it’s got to fit in a normal garage,” he said.

 

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Musk also indicated that engineers were trying to find a way to improve the Tesla Cybertruck’s outward visibility; the long sloping windscreen appears to obscure the front three-quarter view, such as in corners and at pedestrian crossings.

“There are lots of little details that … people wouldn’t necessarily pick up consciously,” said Musk, before adding that Tesla was looking at “improving visibility”.

“Having glass like this is actually quite hard because it’s so sloped,” said Musk. “We are going to be using effectively a form of armoured glass for the car, and the door panels of the car are 300 Series stainless steel, and it’s so tough that it’s bulletproof to a hand gun.”

 

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When Leno asked why it was so important to make the Tesla Cybertruck bulletproof, Musk said: “Because it’s bad ass and super cool. Do you want your pick-up truck to be bulletproof or not?”

To which Leno replied: “I guess I want my truck to be bulletproof, sure.” 

Musk added: “You never know when the apocalypse comes … we want to be a leader in apocalypse technology.”

In some of the footage, the Tesla Cybertruck appears to have aircraft-style steering handles rather than a steering wheel (pictured below).

 

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The segment of the teaser video ends with the pair apparently approaching the entrance to Musk’s 1.5-mile (2.4km) Boring Tunnel, near the Space X car park, which is designed to take electric cars off the street and put them underground to alleviate traffic.

It’s unclear if the monster truck will fit inside the tunnel and the audience is left guessing until the episode airs.

 

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The teaser video also reminded viewers about some of the Tesla Cybertruck’s important statistics: 0 to 60mph (96kmh) in a claimed 2.9 seconds and a maximum driving range of 800km, depending on the model. And it will be available with single, double and triple electric motor configurations.

See the teaser video for yourself before the episode airs 3pm tomorrow Sydney time.

 

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Joshua Dowling

Joshua Dowling has been a motoring journalist for more than 20 years, spending most of that time working for The Sydney Morning Herald (as motoring editor and one of the early members of the Drive team) and News Corp Australia. He joined CarAdvice / Drive in 2018, and has been a World Car of the Year judge for more than 10 years.

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