Elon Musk’s Tesla Cybertruck acceleration claims may be false – report

A bold claim made by Tesla CEO Elon Musk regarding the acceleration capability of the Cybertruck electric pick-up – while towing a Porsche 911 – has been found to be theoretically false, almost two months after deliveries of the highly-anticipated model began.

When Tesla held its launch event for the Cybertruck in late November 2023, the electric-car giant showed a video of the pick-up towing a Porsche 911 on a trailer and beating another 911 on a drag strip in California.

At the time, Musk claimed the Cybertruck could “tow a Porsche 911 across the quarter-mile [400 metre drag strip] faster than the Porsche 911 can go by itself”.

However, an investigation by popular YouTube channel Engineering Explained – by mechanical engineer Jason Fenske – put Musk’s claims to the test, finding the executive’s boast was unlikely to be true.

Despite the video of the Tesla Cybertruck’s run against the Porsche 911 showing its quarter-mile time without towing the sports car, the test was only filmed to an eighth-mile (200 metre) marker.

The Cybertruck’s flagship tri-motor ‘Cyberbeast’ variant gets off the line quicker than the Porsche due to its all-wheel-drive system, but begins to lose ground towards the end of the video – despite the 911 losing time with each gear change due to its manual transmission.

By using Tesla’s official acceleration figures – as well as independent test results for the Porsche 911’s ‘Carrera T’ manual grade – Fenske was able to work out an approximate quarter-mile time for the Cybertruck while towing the sports car.

According to Fenske, even in the best-case scenario, the Cybertruck would only achieve a quarter-mile time of 12.3 seconds while towing the Porsche 911 – or about one-tenth slower than the sports car could achieve in independent testing.

While Tesla’s video correctly showed the Cybertruck beat the 911 across an eighth-mile drag race, Musk’s claims that it would also do so on the quarter-mile now appear to be false.

After Fenske received negative comments from Tesla fans on social media platform X – formerly known as Twitter, and currently owned by Musk – the Cybertruck’s lead engineer Wes Morrill showed his appreciation for the Engineering Explained video and provided more context about the drag race.

“One underlying assumption, which is what any reasonable engineer would assume: the video showed the best run. It was not. But it was the most dramatic finish,” Morrill said on X. 

“So ‘why didn't we do a full 1/4mi?’ The fastest 1/8mi CT [Cybertruck] hit while towing on the day was 7.808s at 88mph (141km/h) and the trailer tires were only rated to 80mph (129km/h) so we opted to call it a day before someone got hurt. 

“Our simulations showed the full 1/4 mi race would be close but with the same net result, so no need to risk it. We also had some room to further lightweight the trailer but didn't need to. 

“I'm glad this is so unbelievable that people care to do this analysis.”

Unprecedented demand for the Tesla Cybertruck in the US has resulted in the electric-car giant implementing an ‘anti-flipper’ policy, designed to stop owners from selling their pick-ups for a profit – or face a $US50,000 ($AU74,800) penalty from the company.