Top 10 “Black Technology” of Tesla Cybertruck The Tesla Cybertruck is not only known as the wildest vehicle on the road because of its giant stainless steel triangle appearance, but also because it has industry-leading innovative technology and cool features. From its tough metal exterior to the 48V electrical system, the Cybertruck is an engineering marvel. Tesla CEO Elon Musk and other executives have been boasting about it.
The top-of-the-line Cyberbeast version of the Cybertruck, equipped with three electric motors, is also incredibly fast. A video released at the Cybertruck delivery event on November 30 showed the Cybertruck beating another 911 in a short distance acceleration race while towing a Porsche 911. Musk said at the Austin factory in Texas, “We have a car here that experts say is impossible and will never be produced.” Here are the “black technologies” of the Cybertruck as mentioned by Musk. Stainless steel exterior Musk chose tough stainless steel for the Cybertruck, giving the vehicle sharp lines but unable to be stamped like low carbon steel or aluminum. Tesla executives said the Cybertruck’s exterior uses an alloy conceived by Tesla, inspired by materials used in Musk’s SpaceX rocket company and its interstellar spaceship project. “We’ve had aluminum concept cars, we’ve had steel concept cars, but Elon has been using stainless steel on the interstellar spaceship,” said Tesla’s vice president of vehicle engineering, Lars Moravy, in an interview with Top Gear. “I think he prefers stainless steel because it’s stronger, more durable, more resistant to dents, and more resistant to scratches.” Tesla’s chief designer, Franz von Holzhausen, said the exterior skeleton made of stainless steel contributes to the vehicle’s structure, allowing Tesla to reduce the vehicle’s internal structure and overall weight.
“Bulletproof” car doors The outer panels of the Cybertruck are very hard and can even stop bullets in some cases. Musk demonstrated in a video at the Cybertruck delivery event that even when the car doors were shot by three types of firearms, the bullets did not penetrate the cabin. However, Moravy revealed that other weapons or ammunition may be able to penetrate the steel panels. Moravy said in a Top Gear video uploaded to YouTube, “I’m not going to claim that the Cybertruck is completely bulletproof.” Musk joked at the delivery event that the bulletproof feature of the Cybertruck might come in handy, “The end of the world could come at any time, and Tesla has the most advanced technology in the world at the end of the world.”
Oversized windshield The windshield of the Cybertruck may be the largest on the light vehicle market. Tesla has not disclosed its size, but according to the company, the height of a single wiper for the Cybertruck windshield is close to 4 feet, while the width of the vehicle body is just over 7 feet. “This is the largest car glass on the market,” Moravy said. “Even for architectural glass, its size is quite large. In order to manufacture such a large glass, we had to invest in a new production line with the supplier.” Oversized wiper Moravy told Top Gear that Tesla decided to use a vertically placed single wiper on the Cybertruck, rather than the horizontally placed double wipers, to keep the design relatively simple. He said that the nearly 4-foot-long wiper blade placed vertically also helps to reduce the drag coefficient. Two years ago, Musk posted on Twitter that the large wiper used on the Cybertruck prototype “is not the wiper that the production car will use.” Tesla had previously hinted at introducing a laser beam wiper device, and obtained a patent at the end of 2021. However, in the end, the wiper used on the production Cybertruck is similar to the one seen on the prototype.
Line-Control Steering System The Cybertruck benefits from a line-control steering system, which does not require the traditional mechanical connection between the steering wheel and the steering wheel, but is controlled by electronic signals. The steering system of the Cybertruck makes maneuvering in narrow spaces easier and avoids frantic operation. Musk said on the Munro Live YouTube channel in December: “If you are driving at low speed, then the small movements of the steering control will cause the wheels to move a lot, so you can complete a U-turn with minimal movement. When you are driving fast on the highway, you will want the wheels to move only a small amount.”
Rear-wheel steering The rear wheels of the Cybertruck also contribute to maneuverability at low speeds and stability at high speeds. YouTube personality Marques Brownlee has driven a prototype of the Cybertruck and listened to Tesla’s presentation. He said that at low speeds, the rear wheels can rotate 10 degrees in the opposite direction. In a video in December, Brownlee said that at speeds over 40 miles per hour, the rear wheels will rotate 1 or 2 degrees in the same direction as the front wheels for lane changes and other maneuvers. Tesla posted a video and brief explanation on social media site X: “At low speeds, the rear wheels rotate in the opposite direction of the front wheels, allowing for tighter maneuvering in construction sites, parking lots, and other areas. At high speeds, the front and rear wheels rotate in sync, allowing for smoother lane changes.” Brownlee said that after adopting the technology of steer-by-wire and rear-wheel steering, the maximum steering angle of the steering wheel can be controlled within 180 degrees, and the steering ratio is also variable. 48V electrical system To save costs and reduce weight, Tesla has switched from the existing 12V system to a 48V system in the Cybertruck. The higher the voltage, the thinner the wires and the lighter the components. Musk said in a Munro Live video, “In short, with higher voltage, you can use less copper, and the weight of the wiring harness will be greatly reduced.” However, there are drawbacks to switching to a 48V system – the traditional supply chain is filled with 12V components. “The entire supply chain, the entire design infrastructure is set up for 12V, which is why we’ve been stuck at this ridiculously low number for so long,” Musk said. “We are taking some obvious steps. We just want to launch automotive electronics in 2023.”
Video rearview mirror Cybertruck has a small rear window and a standard rearview mirror in the second row, for observing the outside situation. This is only useful when the power tailgate is retracted and the rear compartment is open. When the power tailgate is extended, it blocks the rear window, which is also a problem. The design of the power tailgate is to reduce the drag coefficient and range. Brownlee stated in his video that to observe the situation behind the vehicle, Cybertruck uses a rear camera and projects the situation onto the central infotainment screen. Pointing to the 18-inch infotainment screen, he said, “Your rearview mirror doesn’t have a camera mode, so if you want to see the situation behind when the power tailgate is closed, you have to look down.” Load-bearing power tailgate The power tailgate can withstand a weight of 300 pounds. In the video, Brownlee stands on top of the Cybertruck. “They told me I could do it, so we’re going to try it. But someone told me that standing on one foot generates 300 pounds of force. So, I think if I jump off, it might break. But in fact, I stood on it and it didn’t break, which is already pretty good.”
Full-size steering wheel The Cybertruck has a full-size steering wheel, Brownlee calls it a “squircle”. There are no stalks on either side of the steering wheel for operating the wipers or turn signals. These functions are operated through buttons on the steering wheel. Above the rearview mirror of the Cybertruck, there is also a gear controller for parking, reversing, neutral, and driving. Tesla uses software to predict whether the driver wants to go forward or reverse. The gear controller can act as a backup.