Is the Tesla Cybertruck a Good Electric Pickup?
- That depends on your definition of “good.” The Cybertruck is super quick, loaded with high-tech features and turns heads like nothing else. As a get-things-done pickup and daily driver, however, its functionality takes a backseat to its outlandish, wedge-shaped form.
How Does the Tesla Cybertruck Compare With Other Electric Pickups?
- The GMC Hummer EV Pickup is probably the Cybertruck’s closest competitor; the two trucks are similar in terms of unusual features, quick acceleration and general styling outlandishness. The Chevrolet Silverado EV, Ford F-150 Lightning, GMC Sierra EV and Rivian R1T are rival electric pickup trucks that stick to a more conventional approach. Lower trim levels of the Chevy and Ford are at least $10,000 cheaper than a comparable Cybertruck.
When Tesla CEO Elon Musk appeared with President Donald Trump on the White House lawn this past March, he briefly explained some of the company’s thinking behind the Cybertruck: “We want the future to look like the future. … What kind of truck would Blade Runner drive? That was the design idea.” Well … mission accomplished, I guess. I’ll point out that the classic 1982 sci-fi film “Blade Runner” was set in a dystopian Los Angeles, but the U.S. in 2025 can feel awfully dystopian at times, too, so maybe the Cybertruck is an appropriate symbol of our times?
One thing is certain: It’s nigh impossible to not have an opinion on the Cybertruck. It’s a vehicle designed to polarize. Some people think it’s the most exciting, futuristic vehicle to come along in years, some think it looks like a stainless-steel dumpster on wheels. At Cars.com, we do our best to focus on functionality over styling, but with the Cybertruck, the two are especially hard to separate.
The Cybertruck launched as a 2024 model with a dual-electric-motor, 600-horsepower, all-wheel-drive powertrain in the base model and a tri-motor Cyberbeast version with 845 hp. For 2025, the lineup gains a new entry-level, rear-wheel-drive version. For this review, we tested a 2025 Cybertruck All-Wheel Drive equipped with 20-inch Cyber wheels with 35-inch tires (a $3,500 option) that had a sticker price of $85,485, including a $1,995 destination fee. We didn’t do any off-roading, towing or hauling; we simply used the Cybertruck as an everyday vehicle. Here’s what we found.
What Is the 2025 Tesla Cybertruck’s Interior Like?
The Cybertruck’s cabin is more about futuristic minimalism than luxury trimmings. It’s decently put together but not particularly posh — especially considering its $80,000-plus price tag. Front-seat space is good, and headroom is quite generous because the roofline peaks over the front-seat occupants’ heads. Backseat space, however, is a bit disappointing for a large pickup truck. The sloping roofline will cut into headroom for taller passengers, and legroom won’t be expansive for those same folks when the front seats are set far back. Average-sized adults should be fine, but every other full-size crew-cab pickup has better backseat space. On the plus side, backseat passengers get a nice color touchscreen to control climate and audio functions, and it includes a few video games and other digital toys, too.
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I am not a fan of the Cybertruck’s expansive glass roof, in no small part because my time with the vehicle was during a summer heat wave in Chicago, with temps in the high 80s and low 90s. Even though it’s tinted, the fixed glass lets in more heat on hot, sunny days than a solid roof would. Tesla sells a $115 mesh-fabric sunshade that I’m sure helps, but our test vehicle didn’t come equipped with one.
Small-items storage is OK, but it pales in comparison with the thoughtful stash spaces that most full-size domestic-brand pickups offer. Dual wireless chargers and dual cupholders sit at the leading edge of the center console, and there’s a large, shallow cubby between the front seats that’s sized for a big purse or maybe a grocery bag or two.
How Are the 2025 Tesla Cybertruck’s Cargo Areas?
I highly doubt many traditional pickup truck buyers will be swayed by the Cybertruck, and I’m guessing most Cybertruck owners don’t do a lot of heavy hauling with their vehicles. The Cybertruck’s bed is respectably large (my tall-guy mountain bike fit without hassle), and it includes a handy under-bed trunk similar to the one in the Honda Ridgeline mid-size pickup.
The angled body shape that gives the Cybertruck its one-of-a-kind profile, however, also makes it more difficult to access the bed — particularly the front of it, where the body sides are tallest. The power-retractable tonneau cover is a clever touch, but it makes a bad visibility situation worse (see below). The Cybertruck does have a useful frunk under its hood, but due to the truck’s stubby nose, that frunk is notably smaller than the ones in every other electric pickup.
How Is the 2025 Tesla Cybertruck’s Visibility?
The Cybertruck’s gigantic windshield provides a broad view forward, and its cab-forward shape and minimal front overhang mean the angled hood is all but invisible from the driver’s seat. The sharply raked windshield pillars can block your view to the left, but triangular windows below them help. I experienced some minor sun-glare issues caused by the extreme angle of the windshield when the sun was low in the sky, but nothing worrisome. I acclimated to the unconventional windshield and nose well enough, but some of our editors found the layout disorienting.
The Cybertruck uses a single windshield wiper, and it’s huge. It swoops down from the driver’s side of the windshield, and though we didn’t get to test it in heavy rain, it worked pretty well in a light drizzle or with the windshield washer. A replacement blade is pricey, however; it’s listed at $75 on Tesla’s website.
While the Cybertruck’s forward view is unconventional but mostly unobjectionable, its rear visibility is terrible. The viewable area of the rear window is barely 7 inches tall by my tape measure, and it looks mail-slot slim when viewed through the also-too-small rearview mirror. The retractable, motorized tonneau cover powers over the cargo bed from the base of the rear window, and when it’s deployed, it completely blocks the rear window. A rearview camera display automatically comes up on the touchscreen when the tonneau cover is in use, but it’s a poor substitute for being able to actually see out the rear window.
How Are the Tesla Cybertruck’s Controls?
Very little about the Cybertruck is conventional, and that includes its exterior door handles. Instead of traditional door handles (or, for that matter, the push-pull door handles of other Teslas), the Cybertruck uses buttons on the roof pillars to pop an electric door release so you can then grab the door and open it the rest of the way. There are also electric door-release buttons (and manual backup levers) on the interior door panels.
I inadvertently used the manual backup release lever a couple of times instead of the button, which prompted a warning message on the touchscreen that the door’s weather stripping could be damaged. Like other Teslas, the Cybertruck has sashless doors, with no metal frame around the window glass. The windows automatically lower an inch or so when the electric latch is released to protect the rubber weather stripping, but the manual latches don’t trigger the windows to automatically lower. All of this gave me flashbacks to the headaches we experienced with our long-term Model Y’s malfunctioning rear window.
The Cybertruck’s minimalist dashboard design and center-mounted, almost-all-encompassing touchscreen will be familiar to Tesla owners, but like the latest Model 3 and Model Y, the Cybertruck goes even more minimalist: It’s done away with steering-column stalks or a physical shift lever. The gear selector is a virtual control that’s integrated into the driver’s side of the touchscreen; swipe up for Drive, down for Reverse, and press the screen to engage Park.
In the five days I had the Cybertruck, I never got used to this setup. I found it especially awkward to use in close-quarters maneuvering that required shifting from Drive to Reverse multiple times. Though the touchscreen system includes a clever predictive feature that anticipates whether you want to engage Drive or Reverse and lets you do so simply by tapping the brake pedal, in general, I found the touchscreen-shift setup more tedious than helpful.
Using the turn signals is tedious, too. Instead of a normal turn-signal stalk, the turn signals are activated by buttons on the left steering-wheel spoke, which tripped me up almost every time. Even though there’s a raised line on the spoke so you can orient your thumb on the proper button without looking, I always found myself looking away from the road and at the steering wheel (after first fumbling for a turn-signal stalk that wasn’t there).
How Does the Tesla Cybertruck Drive?
Similar to its gear selector and turn-signal buttons, the Cybertruck’s unconventional steering setup has a steep learning curve. Instead of a normal, circular steering wheel, the Cybertruck uses a squared-off steering wheel and a quick-ratio, drive-by-wire steering system that eliminates the typical hand-over-hand steering technique most every driver is accustomed to. The steering wheel only turns a little more than 360 degrees lock to lock, meaning very little steering input is necessary compared with a normal vehicle. This means you’ll need to completely recalibrate your steering habits in order to drive a Cybertruck smoothly — a task most of our editors struggled with, at least at first. Herky-jerky movements as we turned the steering wheel too much and then corrected (or over-corrected) when pulling into or out of parking spaces were common — especially with the instant braking of the one-pedal driving mode when it was activated.
After clipping a curb or two with the rear tire due to turning too sharply, I mostly acclimated to the quick-ratio steering in around-town and highway driving. Even then, though, I still found both the steering wheel and the steering ratio to be tedious and tricky to use in parking and low-speed maneuvering. I also missed having a true 360-degree camera display; Tesla’s colorless, digital “sensor display” just doesn’t compare; I found it disorienting.
To some extent, the Cybertruck’s quick steering helps it feel about as nimble on the road as a big, heavy pickup can feel, and its standard rear-wheel steering gives it a laudably tight turning radius for a vehicle its size. The ride is decent for a pickup truck; you’ll definitely feel bumps, potholes and wavy pavement, but they don’t upset the steering feel. On the street at least, the Cybertruck feels planted and composed.
It’s incredibly quick, too, but throw-you-back-in-your-seat acceleration is commonplace in high-end EVs these days. So is whisper-quiet operation, but the Cybertruck is noisier than many EVs. We noticed creaks and clunking sounds from the steering column, an odd gear-whine sound at low speeds, a bit of tire roar from the all-terrain tires and some wind noise, as well.
How Does the Tesla Cybertruck’s ‘Full Self-Driving’ System Work?
Cars.com News Editor Jennifer Geiger used the Cybertruck’s Full Self-Driving (Supervised) system on a short road trip from Chicago to central Illinois and had a mostly positive experience:
“The best use case for FSD for me was driving home from my parents’ house late at night. The highway was empty, and everything was well marked on the roads, so there was no worrying about it misinterpreting things.
“It also parked itself like a boss in my home’s tiny parking spot. Get up close enough to the spot, hit the P on the parking spot you select on the screen, and it does the rest, including a 12-point turn to fit itself. This was my favorite part of FSD by far since the Cybertruck is very maneuverability-challenged.”
Geiger experienced a ping-ponging feel to the system’s lane centering (not uncommon with driver-aid systems), along with some other annoyances and hiccups, a couple of which were concerning:
“The system seemed very hesitant to make its move during a left turn on a solid green light (no arrow). It acted a little confused and hesitated and lurched before I ultimately just took over and drove us through the intersection.
“On one occasion, the system misread lane markings and turned into the oncoming traffic’s turn lane. I took over and got the vehicle back on the correct side before restarting FSD. Another time, the system was aggressively trying to merge in front of a semi truck so I could get on the highway, but the on-ramp was two lanes (and clearly marked as such); I think it thought it was only one lane.
“The system is not as agile as I’d like in emergency situations, either. I encountered a large piece of wood on the highway, and the truck’s cameras/sensors didn’t pick it up; I had to take over driving to avoid hitting it. On another occasion, a car cut me off abruptly, and the truck didn’t brake quick enough for my liking, so I slammed on the brakes myself.
“My parents live off a rural road, and the system basically stopped working abruptly when it couldn’t figure out where to go. This was just the last half-block of my trip, but the system didn’t give me any warning that it was about to deactivate: It put its turn signal on like it was going to turn then slowly coasted past the turn.”
What Is the Tesla Cybertruck’s Appeal?
In my experience, the Cybertruck’s primary draw is the sheer spectacle of the thing. My friends, family and neighbors all wanted to check it out, even if most of them thought it was ridiculous. When that novelty wears off, though, all the bizarre design choices remain. It’s possible that if I drove a Cybertruck for a longer period of time I would get accustomed to its many quirks and even grow to like them, but I doubt it — especially because I plan to continue to drive plenty of vehicles that aren’t Cybertrucks and still have conventional controls and steering. When my time in the Cybertruck was over, I switched to our long-term Kia EV9, and it took me the better part of my hour-long drive home to readjust to how normal vehicle controls operate. I have no desire to go through that transition on a regular basis.
Cars.com Road Test Editor Brian Normile summed the Cybertruck up thusly: “It’s so different from anything else I’ve driven — and I mean that in a negative way. Not everything has to break nearly every mold at once.”
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