Sam Krahn 
Tesla CEO Elon Musk is no stranger to presenting bold claims. Whether or not the products live up to them is another discussion, but the Tesla Cybertruck carries some of the biggest claims the Martian man has made yet. After its dubious reveal last November, it was met with fanfare, confusion and hatred all at the same time. But wait, there’s more. Musk has gone to his favorite place to make bold claims to give the sworn-in fanboys more information: Twitter. Let’s take a look.
We’re working on increasing dynamic air suspension travel for better off-roading. Needs to kick butt in Baja.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 16, 2020
First up, Musk is really pushing the Baja off-road credentials of the Tesla Cybertruck, saying it, “needs to kick butt in Baja.” It’s unclear whether this suggests the Cybertruck will enter into the Baja 1000, or if it will be a capable desert runner. We’d assume the latter, given purpose built Baja 1000 racers often don’t finish the race. But this could mean the Tesla will be able to handle the desert running high speed off-roading style the Ford F-150 Raptor has popularized and done so well.
Whether an EV can take the abuse of repeated bumps and jumps is still in question. Just increasing air suspension travel will do nothing without real tuning to the damping and suspension components. Then there’s the weight. In fact, the Tesla Cybertruck will likely be so heavy, that it will be classified as a class 2b truck. Just as on the race track, weight is the enemy of off-roading.
It’s also important to note that the Raptor and Jeep Gladiator Mojave don’t use air suspension. The upcoming Ram Rebel TRX isn’t expected to use it either, so the established Baja desert runner pickups obviously feel a more traditional spring and damper setup is better. Because of this, it’s hard to say why the Cybertuck will make a great Baja truck compared to more orthodox vehicles.
Reduced size by ~3%, center line is more level & lower window sill height
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 16, 2020
Next, Musk said the production Tesla Cybertruck will be about three percent smaller than the prototype. That’s not much in terms of actual specs. It’s unclear if the three percent comes from the overall scale, wheelbase or something else entirely. The lower window and more level center line sounds like it will decrease the cheese wedge slightly from the original. But this just adds to the fact that the design everyone knows is definitely not the final car.
Finally, we have saved the craziest for last. How, exactly, Tesla will develop the Cybertruck to float is a mystery. If “a while” is the time it takes for the air to exit the cabin, we’ll give it to him. Any longer than that, it’s hard to see how something so heavy can manage to float without buoyancy, or a hull. Still, it’s likely the Cybertruck will have great wade depth because there is no air intake needed like on an internal combustion engine. “Floating” isn’t exactly great for fording water, either. Ask anybody who had a vehicle swept up by a current in a failed attempt to cross a river.
Yes. It will even float for a while.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 20, 2020
This latest round of tweets manages to both give us information into the Cybertruck and deepen the mystery of it even more. What’s most shocking is that so many people have put down money for a vehicle that hasn’t even been shown in its final form, and features can change with a few tweets. We will have to wait and see if it can live up to the immense hype, and upcoming competition from the GMC Hummer EV and Rivian.
