Tesla didn’t reply to requests for remark.
The inner dynamics and NVH—noise, vibration and harshness—report leaked to Handelsblatt comprises check outcomes measuring the efficiency of the alpha model of the Cybertruck towards projections made utilizing computer-aided design (CAD) simulations, and towards inside benchmarks. In abstract, it presents an image of a prototype car that’s leaky, noisy, and has poor dealing with and braking.
“It’s an alpha-stage car, so it isn’t shocking that it’s a way off its targets,” says Andy Palmer, the previous COO of Nissan and CEO of Aston Martin Lagonda, who has greater than 40 years of expertise within the automotive trade. Palmer says he’s shocked on the frankness of the report. “You’d be giving the engineers that wrote these things an excellent bollocking. You don’t usually write this down.”
The report says that the alpha model of the Cybertruck needed to be hand-sealed, however that “there are a selection of areas that we would not have a transparent path to sealing” in a manufacturing model of the car. This is a matter not only for preserving the climate out, however for noise within the cabin. Information within the report exhibits that the alpha model was considerably noisier than engineers had projected based mostly on their designs, and that testers had recognized 21 potential noise leaks within the physique of the car.
Tesla vehicles have a history of leaking, and the report hints that the Cybertruck’s uncommon design might have sophisticated engineers’ makes an attempt to correctly seal it. “Physique manufacturing and paint store processes have struggled to seal our bodies for optimum NVH efficiency previously, and the Cybertruck design presents new challenges,” the report says.
Dealing with was additionally a priority for the alpha Cybertruck. The report famous various points, together with “extreme mid-speed abruptness and chop,” “excessive head-toss accelerations,” and “structural shake.” It mentioned that the truck skilled “extreme lateral jerk throughout low-speed maneuvering” and that it wanted to handle issues with steering refinement and body roll. The EV’s strafe mode, a characteristic that permits the wheels to show to permit the automobile to “crab stroll” sideways had “solely fundamental performance.”
Braking efficiency was one of many worst areas of the report. Tesla’s engineers have been aiming for a rating of seven, or “truthful,” on the Society of Automotive Engineers rating scale, however the alpha model achieved solely a 4, or “poor” score. In keeping with the report, in January 2022, the Cybertruck’s brake pedal strain pad was nonetheless below design, and so the alpha skilled “extreme pedal journey and inconsistent cease,” and “extreme pitch throughout friction braking,” braking throughout turning points, in addition to energy braking instability.
“The brake efficiency appears severe. I’m shocked they’re not additional ahead,” Palmer says, after being apprised of the content material of the report. Usually, the chassis, together with the braking system, is the very first thing that engineers work on, forward of the physique and different programs. “So to be solely on prototype elements at this stage is sort of late.”
