Who’s excited about the Tesla Cybertruck? Plenty of people, that’s who! Think over a million people who plonked down real, human money to reserve a chance to eventually buy one of the huge, angular, low-poly electric trucks whenever they eventually come out. Plenty of excited people who, were they to corner you at a party, would talk to you nonstop about how incredible the Cybertruck will be until you start sobbing and screaming uncontrollably, begging them to shut up, please, just for a moment, until you puncture your eardrums with those little cocktail toothpicks that look like little pirate swords. There’s a lot of hope that the Cybertruck will make an appearance at tomorrow’s Tesla AI day, and perhaps in anticipation of that, Elon tweeted about how the Cybertruck can “serve briefly as a boat.” You know, the same way that original Volkswagen Beetles could, decades and decades ago.
Here’s the tweet:
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
So, Elon is saying that the likely 5,000 to 6,000-pound Cybertruck will be waterproof and buoyant enough to float, “briefly,” making it able to “cross rivers, lakes & even seas that aren’t too choppy,” though good luck to you finding a not-too-choppy sea that you can cross, you know, “briefly.” Brief crossings of seas aren’t generally a thing, though there is a car designed in 1938 that has managed to pull off all of the things Elon listed there:
Yes, the humble VW Beetle. That clip up there is from a somewhat modified Beetle known as the Sea-Bug that once attempted to go from Australia to Tazmania, but stock Beetles could perform similar aquatic feats – albeit, as Elon says, briefly – with no modifications at all, something VW even proudly showed in this 1972 commercial:
Other Beetles have made their way across the Straits of Messina, and Sports Illustrated tested the Beetle’s seaworthiness back in 1963 and found that, yeah, it’ll float, for about half an hour.
So, maybe Elon is right about the Cybertruck, and it’ll be able to float for a little while, just like the 20+ million of those cheap little funny-looking cars did decades ago. I hope it does, because I’m all for amphibious vehicles anywhere, any time. Besides, I bet when it’s in the water, a Cybertruck will be harder to see, and I don’t see any downsides there, either.
So, future potential Cybertruck owners, whenever that may happen: enjoy your brief, non-choppy crossings of the seas!
Before reading the article, I thought that this maybe had something to do with the schwimmwagen. That thing was awesome. I remember reading about it in a book about the history of the Beetle when I was a kid. I loved the propeller that flipped up/down and was driven by a PTO coming off the motor. So cool.
I hope he does a personal public demonstration of this, like the one he did for the Cybertruck’s bulletproof glass. I’d pay money to watch that.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LMWwImDX3ks
As someone who used to live there, I feel the need to say there’s no “z” in Tasmania. Also it would be more accurate to say “mainland Australia” to Tasmania since Tasmania is an Australian state. Pedantry out of the way, that Sea Bug is wild. Crossing the Bass Strait is no joke since winds have so much fetch there and then get funneled through the strait, you can get wild currents and winds. Since winds predominantly come from the west and the next land (that breaks up the wind) west of the Bass Strait is Argentina there’s lots of room for winds to get really crazy.
A nature documentary that I watched as a child contradicts your assertion about spelling.
http://abboudmedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/1661952021_223_Tazmania-when-the-devil-challenged-Noam-Chomsky.png
As a kid I remember watching some WWII movie where they find a prototype beetle and somehow or another it ends up bobbing around in the moat of a castle. Between it being color and the film quality I’d guess it was made in the mid 60s. Does anyone know what I’m talking about or am I misremembering a couple different things?
Anyway I’m not sure throwing lithium car batteries in the ocean is safe or legal. Probably is fun though.
There was an amphibious military vehicle based on the Beetle called the schwimmwagen, but it didn’t look like a regular Beetle sedan.
While I have never seen the movie, my Google Fu was strong. It appears the movie you want is Castle Keep (1969).
That’s the one, thanks. I don’t recall anything other than the floating VW and my father confirming that they really do that so I can’t make a recommendation.
I like that they’re aiming for great water sealing but they really shouldnt be promoting such a feature.
There are already far too many needless deaths from attempting to cross flooded roads.We dont need to encourage more of it!
You think i’m worrying too much? Well,no actually.
In my state the politicians got so sick of f*cktards killing themselves(and their kids), they decided to ban water crossing outright.Yep, that means you cant even legally cross 4 inches of still water. It’s madness!!
Why would you say this out loud? Is this Tesla’s way of saying that driving through a flooded area is even more dangerous then you would expect?
If anyone writes a biography of Musk; “Why would you say this out loud?” would make a great title.
His PR people must have palpitations every time he tweets.
That is why Tesla disbanded his PR department. He is capable of generating buzz just by making ridiculous statements on Twitter.
Jesus Christ. Does anyone outside of the Tesla Cult actually believe a word that this shitbird says anymore? I just rode home from the airport in a Tesla, and based on the very questionable quality of that 3 week old Model 3, I have SERIOUS doubts that Tesla is capable of making anything watertight enough to survive a carwash, let alone crossing rivers and lakes.
This thing only needs to float long enough for me to jump out. I am not going to be sitting over that battery when the fireworks start.
I once heard of an EV that had supposedly crossed a rather large ocean: Torch’s ChangLi. What ever happened to that car?
Still part of his fleet. Listed as “not running” at last check.
Let’s not forget about the buoyancy of the Renault 4, as seen in the classic 1984 movie “Romancing the Stone”.
Well, it is very easy to promise features which defy the laws of physics when your customers defy the laws of reason to buy a product that will never exist.
Not sure a floating car defies the law of physics. Multiton boats float over oceans. Also the amphicar floats. However the feasibility of a floating car with a decent performance to be economically feasible is the question.
CyberSchmuck can kinda float, a little, for a while, if it’s not too rough? Psh, let me know when it can pass through solid rock.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jK3RW6rSCM
Yeah, sure Elon, and it can fly to Mars as well…how about just proving that you can actually build the goddam things instead?
The Sea Bug is for sale, FYI… ????
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=1787413
The seller says it’s in “excellent condition” but none of the photos of it look like they were taken within the last 20 years…
A floating car with a several hundred volt electrical system? What could go wrong?
So he’s saying that the Cybertruck will have the same build quality as an 80 year old Volkswagen?
I could see that being accurate.
Ehh, no. The build quality of the Beetle was quite high. Teslas, not so much… Poor Nikola, good thing he’s not alive to see his name so damn execrably co-opted.
The guy married a bird later in real life. Not sure if he would care. Lol
Musk is still relatively young, don’t give him any ideas for a later life adventure
Damn. I was wishing you would tell us they were going to power the windshield washers with the fully autonomous self inflating spare tire.
*Probably modelled after the self inflating Musk himself.
I thought the “feature” was going to be a ~ 10-year delay between first public showing and actually being able to take delivery of one.
You think it will be that soon? I like your optimism.
Quick! What’s the bolt pattern on the CyberTruck? (Time to start designing insta-deploy paddle-wheel wheels for amphibious operation!)
Jason, have you seen this ‘slightly choppy’ beetle video?
https://youtu.be/MQiS4paC_sk
And my seat MAY become a flotation device. Don’t count on it. One day some poor soul will drown in a maybe Cybertruck and their family will sue because Mr. Tesla said it will float.
Some of us will remember National Lampoon’s hilarious ad parody:
https://www.theretrosite.com/national-lampoon-ted-kennedy-vw-ad/
(They got sued for using the VW logo w/o permission.)
I mean, any car can serve as a boat briefly.
Oh man, I can’t wait for the lawsuits to roll in when smooth brains try to pull a Ted Kennedy in their rolling doorstops.
Luckily they’re Elongelicals and would never dare criticize or – heaven forbid! – actually sue their lord and savior.
If they drown, then their families might sue.
Luckily not shutting up about Tesla means they have alienated their families.
That was damn funny XD
I legitimately thought the top one was a clip from Herbie Goes Bananas
I feel as though buoyancy is not the most important factor when it comes to making a sea crossing.
I mean, it’s important, but you kinda need to actually move the thing.
(My kingdom for an edit function)