Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Cars
  3. News

Watch Elon Musk take Los Angeles by storm in the Tesla Cybertruck

Ronan Glon
By

Covering auto shows for many years has taught us that a new car looks completely different out in real-world traffic, surrounded by buildings and other vehicles, than under a convention center’s bright lights. Tesla’s Cybertruck is no exception, and video footage of Elon Musk driving it through Los Angeles suggests it’s even wilder than we imagined when it broke cover.

The Cybertruck is aimed right at the Ford F-150 and the Rivian R1T, among other current and upcoming pickups. It looks like it’s part spaceship, part off-roader, and its wedge-shaped design was partly inspired by a 1970s Lotus sports car, so there’s absolutely no way for it to keep a low profile. Los Angeles-based car spotters noticed it immediately, and noticed Tesla co-founder and CEO Elon Musk was behind the wheel. It was filmed driving down the 405 freeway, which was shockingly traffic-free, and it was photographed parked in front of a Japanese restaurant named Nobu.

Recommended Videos

It’s reasonable to assume the Cybertruck that took Los Angeles by storm in early December is the same one Musk proudly showed off during the model’s unveiling in November 2019. Tesla replaced the glass that broke during the presentation before letting its chief executive take the wheel, and it took the ATV out of the cargo box, which is dubbed the vault.

Related

While he’s an avid Twitter user, Musk has remained surprisingly quiet about his outing in the truck. He didn’t announce he was taking it out for a spin, or shed light on why. Was he testing something? The truck is currently a one-off prototype, so there’s no sense in checking its durability or its fit and finish. We know it’s getting a new infotainment system, and it will inaugurate a triple-motor electric powertrain capable of delivering up to 500 miles of driving range, so engineers are likely to seek more data about both systems. There are plenty of places in Los Angeles to put Musk’s claim that the windows are bulletproof to the ultimate test, and Tesla might also want to find out how its leviathan of a truck handles.

Footage posted on Twitter shows Musk getting into the Cybertruck in the Nobu parking lot (we hope the valet got the tip of his life), maneuvering between parked cars, and running over what looks a plastic parking sign on his way out. Celebrity fan site TMZ learned Tesla’s top executive took actor Ed Norton out for a spin in the truck.

The possibility that Musk took a joyride to keep the truck in headlines remains on the table, too. Tesla received over 250,000 refundable $100 deposits since unveiling the model, and the company wants to keep the public’s attention for as long as possible. What better way to advertise than trending on Twitter?

Updated 12-9-2019: Added second video.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Ronan Glon
Ronan Glon
Contributor
Ronan Glon is an American automotive and tech journalist based in southern France. As a long-time contributor to Digital…
GMC poured all of its truck-making expertise into the Sierra EV pickup
A 2024 GMC Sierra EV towing an Airstream trailer.

The Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra pickup trucks are twins, and that will continue to be the case when they go electric.
Chevy unveiled its Silverado EV at CES 2022, and now it’s GMC’s turn. The 2024 GMC Sierra EV borrows some key features from its Chevy sibling, as well GMC’s first electric truck — the Hummer EV. Some of those features were actually pioneered by General Motors two decades ago on non-electric trucks, and are now making a comeback.
You can reserve a Sierra EV now, but deliveries aren’t scheduled to start until early calendar-year 2024. Production starts with a high-end Denali Edition 1 model, with other versions arriving for the 2025 model year.

Design
The Sierra EV updates the design language of the internal-combustion GMC Sierra for the electric age. A big grille is no longer needed for cooling, but it’s still an important styling element that designers didn’t want to break away from, Sharon Gauci, GMC executive director of global design, explained to Digital Trends and other media in an online briefing ahead of the truck’s reveal. The grille shape is now outlined in lights, with an illuminated GMC logo.
Like the Hummer EV and Silverado EV, the Sierra EV uses GM’s Ultium modular battery architecture which, among other things, means the battery pack is an integral part of the structure. So unlike most other trucks — including the rival Ford F-150 Lightning — the Sierra EV doesn’t have a separate frame. The cab and bed are one piece as well, all of which helps increase structural rigidity.
The Sierra EV also borrows the Midgate setup from the Silverado EV. First seen on the Chevy Avalanche and Cadillac Escalade EXT in the early 2000s, it allows the bulkhead and glass behind the cab to be removed, effectively extending the bed. Combined with the fold-out MultiPro tailgate from the internal-combustion Sierra, it can expand the default 5.0-foot, 11-inch bed length to 10 feet, 10 inches. A frunk (GMC calls it the “eTrunk”) provides covered storage space as well.
Because it’s pitched as a premium vehicle, the Sierra EV gets upscale interior materials like open-pore wood trim and stainless steel speaker grilles for its Bose audio system. But the design itself, with a freestanding portrait touchscreen and rectangular instrument cluster, looks suspiciously similar to the Ford Mustang Mach-E cabin. The touchscreen even has the same big volume knob as the Ford. We hope GMC’s lawyers are ready.

Read more
Elon Musk reveals first delivery date and customer for Tesla Semi truck
tesla electric semi truck debut delivery rec

Tesla has finally started production of its all-electric Semi truck, with the first ones set for delivery to Pepsi on December 1.

The company's boss, Elon Musk, revealed the news in a tweet on Thursday evening, adding that the truck is “super fun to drive.”

Read more
Tesla to fix window software on 1M of its U.S. cars
A 2021 Tesla Model S.

Tesla is sending out an over-the-air update to a million of its vehicles in the U.S. to fix faulty window software that could leave occupants with pinched fingers.

According to a document issued by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), Tesla engineers discovered that the affected vehicles may not meet certain automatic window reversal system requirements. It said that in some cases, the window may exert more force before automatically retracting when sensing an obstruction such as a person’s fingers. The condition “may increase the risk of a pinching injury to the occupant,” the NHTSA’s document says.

Read more