Nov 30, 2023 A couple of months before the official reveal of the Tesla Cybertruck to the world in November of 2019, MotorTrendwas given exclusive access to the automaker's design studio to preview and provide feedback regarding the all-new electric pickup truck. We didn't quite appreciate at the time the journey that Tesla had just embarked on, and a long four years and a global pandemic later, with a field of EV truck competitors on the market or about to launch, Tesla has finally delivered its first few Cybertruck pickups and revealed specs for its various configurations. But it's a different truck to what was originally promised, so let's chart the journey of the past few years of Cybertruck development and the changes between the concepts, prototypes, and this final production form—as distinct from the promises Tesla made back then—and which ones were kept on the final version. At its reveal, the Cybertruck concept truck stretched 230 inches long, 78 inches of which mapped out the cargo bed (that was 57 inches wide with no wheel intrusion), with a 149.9-inch wheelbase. The concept version of the truck lacked traditional door/wing mirrors, featured a flat bed floor unlike every other truck on the market (which have imprints to get fingers or ties under loaded objects), and was criticized for mounting the taillights to the tailgate which then disappeared when it was open. 2019 Tesla Cybertruck Concept Design The Cybertruck was always seemingly planned to exclusively be available as a four-door crew cab with a single bed length. The 3 mm-thick stainless steel body panels are promised to stop 9 mm bullets fired from a gun, and the so-called shatterproof glass ended up failing during the live demonstration on stage in front of a live audience. Though conceived only to wear stainless steel bodywork, Tesla suggested a vehicle wrap instead of a paint job could be offered when the truck goes on sale. While considered a unibody construction (like a Honda Ridgeline, versus a body-on-frame truck like a Ford F-150), the Cybertruck's stainless steel body panels are designed to manage some load bearing, as well, which Tesla has ambitiously labeled an "exoskeleton." There's also a built-in light bar above the windshield. Inside the Cybertruck, Tesla introduces a six-seater design with three across individual seat bottoms up front, and three across on a bench in the second row. A glass roof brings in natural light, and a Model 3 style touchscreen upgrades to a 17-inch size that sits on the dashboard for most climate, vehicle, and driver control functions and information. Driver visibility concerns have been addressed with front and rear-facing cameras that can assist with parking/towing, and driving is handled through a yoke-style steering apparatus. 2019 Tesla Cybertruck Concept Chassis and Drivetrain The underside of the Cybertruck concept is armored for protection and designed to tuck most of the motor and suspension components up and out of the way of off-road obstacles for improved performance and angles. The concept's truck bed features an in-floor storage compartment and a roll-up aluminum tonneau cover that stores in a compartment under the bed, behind the battery pack. The air suspension setup of the Model X SUV is heavily modified for prototype Cybertruck use, which has longer travel and is capable of lowering for easier loading of stuff into the cabin or bed. Later prototypes clearly retain an air suspension setup, but the exact details of later prototypes is unknown. The truck rides on custom 35-inch tires with an angular aerodynamic wheel cover design. The Cybertruck is initially announced in three drive configurations: rear-wheel drive with a single electric motor on the rear axle, all-wheel drive with two e-motors (one per axle), and a more powerful tri-motor all-wheel drive setup (with a single e-motor up front and two in the rear), which later debuts on the Model S as the "Plaid" powertrain. Depending on the motor configuration, either a standard or double-stacked long-range battery pack is on offer. The dual-motor prototype we saw features a Tesla Model 3 Performance (rear) permanent-magnet drive unit on the truck's front axle paired with a Tesla Model S Performance (rear) unit on the truck's rear axle. At the time, we estimate about 690 horsepower and 824 lb-ft of torque for the highest-performance dual-motor Cybertrucks, and potentially up to 800 hp and 1,000 lb-ft of torque for tri-motor trucks, with the single-motor model left to anyone's guess. 2019 Tesla Cybertruck Concept Payload, Towing, Range Claims The rear-drive "base" Cybertruck model with the "standard" battery pack is said to target 250 miles of range, though dual-motor models with the standard battery were said to be capable of potentially 300 miles on a charge. The double-stacked long-range performance battery pack target up to 500 miles of range. The original Cybertruck is claimed to target 3,500 pounds of max payload, and 7,500 pounds towing for the standard, rear-drive setup, which bumps up to 10,000 pounds towing for the dual-motor models, and 14,000 pounds towing claimed for the tri-motor setup. Here's a chart of Tesla's initial Cybertruck performance and spec claims; these do not reflect the production truck: Concept Cybertruck Drivetrain