Tesla Cybertruck to double as a boat: Musk
Elon Musk says Tesla’s first ute should be watertight enough to cross rivers, lakes and even seasTesla CEO Elon Musk claims the company’s long-awaited pick-up, the Tesla Cybertruck, will be waterproof enough to go to sea for short trips.
The long-overdue Tesla ute is now due for US release in 2023, following the North American launch of the Tesla Semi prime mover late this year, but neither electric vehicle has yet been confirmed for Australia.
“Cybertruck will be waterproof enough to serve briefly as a boat, so it can cross rivers, lakes and even seas that aren’t too choppy,” Musk said in a tweet posted earlier today.
Cybertruck will be waterproof enough to serve briefly as a boat, so it can cross rivers, lakes & even seas that aren’t too choppy
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 29, 2022
In a follow-up post to Twitter, Musk said the Cybertruck “needs to be able to get from Starbase [Musk’s Texas-based satellite production hub] to Padre Island [a barrier island on the Texas coast facing the Gulf of Mexico], which requires crossing the channel”.
Padre Island is a heavily populated beachside community. The Starlink plant is located in a remote, swampy area south of the island. The only access is via a 70km round-trip that dives inland and then out to cross a causeway.
As the crow flies, the distance that Musk suggests the Cybertruck will need to cover is only about five nautical miles, but the route the Cybertruck will need to take crosses the Brazos Santiago Pass close to where the channel flows out into the gulf.
One company has already envisaged that the Cybertruck’s platform makes it an ideal candidate to transform into a boat. The US-based Cybercat firm is already developing attachable pontoons and a series of outboard motors to help the battery-powered ute transform into a sports fisher.
When it was revealed in concept form in 2019, the Tesla Cybertruck featured unbreakable armoured windows (that broke when being demonstrated) and a stainless steel body that is highly resistant to rust.
Its design includes a one-piece ‘exoskeleton’ shell that mean the only voids on either side of the vehicle are where the doors open and close.
The dual-motor electric drivetrain that will power the Cybertruck will be powerful enough to launch it to 100km/h in around three seconds, meaning it should have plenty of performance on tap to power it on the water.
The risk for Cybertruck owners who want to hit the water, however, are the banks of batteries that store the electricity used to turn the Cybertruck’s wheels.
While the battery packs are designed to be watertight, if something unexpected shorts out in saltwater it could start a fire inside the vehicle.
EV-makers generally highlight high-voltage components in a vehicle by colouring the cables that carry power to them in orange.
If an electric vehicle is ever swamped, the recommendation is to keep it at least 15 metres clear of anything flammable so that if it does spontaneously catch fire, it will not set fire to anything else around it.
Related: Tesla Semi on sale before Cybertruck
Related: Tesla Cybertruck pricing and specs to change
Related: Tesla Cybercat turns ute into catamaran
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