The polarizing Tesla Cybertruck is a lightning rod for both praise and criticism, so if anything happens to one, the world is going to have something to say. Case in point: One got into a crash, and we wrote the first article. Why? Because people care for some reason.
Second case in point: Some Cybertrucks have been having some issues navigating deep snow, with some needing to be towed out of a stuck situation. Does this mean the Cybertruck has a “snow problem”? Not necessarily. But that’s a legitimate question that folks are asking, and because I am but a zookeeper and this media machine is a beast that needs to be fed, here’s my take on all this silliness.
First off, check out all the blogs about the Tesla Cybertruck getting stuck in snow:
They’re referencing these two viral videos:
View this post on Instagram
And look at this CNBC report wherein experts, including Jason Cammisa, were brought in to answer if the Tesla Cybertruck “has a snow problem.” No, I’m not kidding;
“If everyone posted a video every time an F-150 got stuck in the snow TikTok servers would explode!”
The Cybertruck will be a weapon for main stream media if anything happens, like getting “Cyberstuck” in the snow. Be prepared bc it’s a click magnet.pic.twitter.com/tGHF9nDEaq
— Teslaconomics (@Teslaconomics) January 10, 2024
Jason’s response in the above video is, of course, right. People are laughing at the Cybertruck getting stuck because the truck is the hottest new thing out there and it looks tough. How can something that looks this beefy falter? It’s like The Rock getting beaten up by a child.
Beyond the fact that the Cybertruck is a news magnet, I think what we’re seeing is in some ways a reality check for folks who bought into stratospherically absurd marketing that painted the Cybertruck as unstoppable. The thing is quasi-bulletproof and very hard to dent, it can accelerate faster than supercars, it’s insanely safe in crash tests, and it’s got more power and ground clearance than damn near any other truck out there. Elon Musk called the vehicle “apocalypse-proof” at the launch event, Joe Rogan shot arrows at the thing, and I could go on and on.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk boasted that the company’s new Cybertruck is “apocalypse-proof” at a live event for new owners. https://t.co/e6OK6og6uL
— Forbes (@Forbes) December 2, 2023
In the eyes of the public, the Cybertruck is the toughest, most unstoppable machine on the planet. And while much of that perception was Musk and Tesla’s doing, some of that was just how people wanted to interpret what the truck actually was. The title of the YouTube video, “Elon Explains Why the Cybertruck Is the Best Off-Road Vehicle,” is a good example. Musk didn’t say it’s the best off-road vehicle, though he does explain some very basic concepts that were employed on many vehicles well before the Cybertruck, making the Tesla seem a bit more innovative than it really is:
As a result of these kinds of expectations, earlier this year a video of the Cybertruck having a bit of a hard time getting up a grade at a California off-road course caused quite a stir:
This even led Ford’s CEO Jim Farley to make a snarky tweet, which led me to write the story “Ford CEO Takes Shot At Tesla Cybertruck With Off-Road Video Of F-150 Lightning, Which Is Going To Get Its Ass Kicked,” because I think that off-road clip was overblown just as these “Cybertruck getting stuck in snow” videos are overblown.
But folks overblowing when a vehicle doesn’t meet expectations happens all the time. People get their hopes up, often because of marketing; the reality is that marketing is a double-edged sword. I talked about this a bit when I reviewed the Ford Bronco Sport, a little off-road vehicle whose four-wheel drive system overheated while attempting to traverse a fairly modest gravel off-road incline. I found this disappointing, just as some find these videos of the Cybertruck stuck in snow and struggling to get up an off-road incline to be disappointing — and the reason why we felt this way has to do with expectations:
Unfortunately, there is no commonly-used equivalent test regimen when it comes to “certifying” that a vehicle offers something like “unrelenting Bronco capability.” These marketing terms are subjective, and that means Ford doesn’t owe any particular performance under any particular driving conditions. That hill climb that caused the journalist’s Outer Banks Bronco Sport to overheat? Ford never promised that the vehicle could handle that grade without derate. That sand dune that Hall was driving? Ford never promised that the vehicle can be hooned for 15 minutes in ~80 degree weather without derating.
Ultimately, what matters is what the customer thinks. So long as the vehicle’s capability meets or exceeds the customer’s expectation of what the Bronco Sport should be able to do, then there is no problem. We’ll have to keep an eye out on loose-terrain off-roading reviews from customers, and on comparison tests to show how the Bronco Sport stacks up against the competitive set. And we’ll have to keep in mind how drive modes and driver behavior factors into the vehicle’s performance.
Should I have been disappointed in the Bronco Sport having issues getting up that hill? Honestly, probably not. The vehicle is meant for light off-road duty; it wasn’t clear to me based on the marketing, but ultimately, folks who buy the thing tend to be happy with its capability. Should people be upset with the Cybertruck getting stuck in snow? No; even if they bought into the marketing, there’s some level due-diligence everyone who drives on America’s roadways needs to pay. The American consumer needs to realize that performance in snow is hugely affected by tire compound, so the Tesla Cybertruck’s all-terrains are a huge limiting factor:
Just look at this video to see how much of a difference there can be between an all-terrain tire’s grip in snow and ice and a dedicated winter tire’s grip in snow and ice, and this video’s a good one, too:
All-terrain tires may look badass, but they’re not great snow tires unless they’re specifically built with snow in mind (many aren’t). Without comparing the Cybertruck to another vehicle with the same tires, there’s only so much analysis we can do.
With all that said, I do think that some of the Cybertruck’s atributes make it a bit less than ideal for driving in snow. For one, it’s heavy; but lots of trucks are heavy. Two, I remain unconvinced that its traction control system is fully optimized for all conditions. I obviously need to drive the truck first, but when I reviewed the Rivian R1T — also a multi-motor electric truck that doesn’t lock all four of its tires’ angular velocities together (it’s not clear if any of the stuck Cybertrucks came with a locker) — I noticed that not having the tires locked together meant the reactive traction control system led to quite a bit of tire flaring, which you don’t want. From my review:
Let’s again say you’re climbing [a] hill with the pedal depressed a certain amount. A given amount of current is being sent to the wheels, producing the requisite wheel torque to ascend the grade at 2 MPH.
Now let’s say the passenger’s side tire loses all grip; what happens? Well, the wheel torque there goes to zero, and the wheel slips until the vehicle can pull current from that motor [and clamp the brake]; does the wheel torque at the other three wheels instantly increase like it does with a fully-locked ICE in order to maintain a steady vehicle speed? Not instantly. The vehicle’s electronics have to quickly send more current to the other motors with grip to keep the vehicle moving at a given rate.
How much current do you send each wheel? What if you send too much current to a wheel that doesn’t have quite enough grip, causing wheel-spin? As for the wheel without grip; should it keep spinning at a rate that corresponds with vehicle speed so that it doesn’t have to accelerate once it does get grip? If so, how do you know what the vehicle speed is?
It’s really complicated.
The truth is that designing an EV all-wheel drive system to perform well off-road is far more complicated than even I realize. You’ve got motors that aren’t connected trying to keep the same tangential speed despite varying traction conditions, and there’s just a ton of torque on tap so you have to be careful not to spin those motors up because if they get grip, things could get real. Looking at the videos of the Cybertrucks, I definitely don’t think those wheels are receiving torque at the most optimal times, but it’s worth noting, this could be user error. Maybe the trucks are in the wrong modes?
With good tires, the Cybertruck’s copious ground clearance, and an even remotely acceptable traction control system, the Cybertruck should be pretty damn good in snow, despite its weight. Until we see some thorough testing, folks need to chill.
And anyone who’s worried about ending up on the internet with a Cybertruck: 1. Buy winter tires 2. Understand road conditions (some are saying that many Cybertruck drivers are new to pickups, and are therefore less than experienced when it comes to treacherous terrain; that may play a role, sure). And 3. Relax; no matter what you do, you’ll probably end up in a viral video, anyway. You drive a Cybertruck.
My answer: Leave the Cybertruck at home because you know Teslahaters with their camera phones are waiting to pounce.
Snow tires are always the answer…
The wife and I both have lightweight hybrid ecoboxes—a 2010 Honda Insight and a 2014 Prius C. What makes them superior movers in our Michigan winters is the snow tires I throw on them around Thanksgiving and take off in April.
Haven’t had any incidents except the SUV that slid into the back of my Insight at a stop light.
Snow tires save lives, and I’m sticking to that.
Heck yeah cousin. Snow tires go on every November. My WRX is garbage without them and a beast with the snows on. It is honestly better than my Jeep Wrangler until the snow is more than 6 inches deep. Then it becomes a ground clearance issue.
I live in NYC and was going to get snow tires. Sadly, it no longer snows.
I live in Canada (just across the river from Buffalo, so not very far North) and this weekend has been the first real snowfall and cold temp this year. It has been weirdly warm. Of course, it is an el nino year but it is the warmest winter I remember in nearly 40 years.
Shhhhhhhh. The cold is listening.
It certainly was. Expecting 32 cm of snow at my place overnight.
We got 2cm here in NYC, and it’s melting/sleeting right now. I think it will freeze overnight, though, which might make for proper horrific conditions. Which makes me miss my Volvo 245.
That’s the worst. Though an old RWD volvo would be a lot of fun on ice.
Yep – very long wheelbase and it telegraphed any skid a good two seconds in advance; they were super controllable. I used to make space in traffic by kicking the tail around a bit. Oh, and it was a stick.
My BRZ has been great the past 5 years in the snow, the tires really make a difference. That and have a good handle on car control
Genuine quesiton from an Aussie who hasn’t seen snow in more than a decade… Daily is a ’19 V6 Diesel Amarok on Pirelli AT+, (my “one good car”), that regualrly sees sand/beach. I always air down, (to 18-20 psi), to increase contact patch before leaving the hard stuff, but seems this is not the case for snow?
You want skinnier as possible to maximize downward pressure
This is assuming you are on snow covered tarmac. If you are in deep snow for recreational driving, you want as big a contact patch as possible. (See: tracked vehicles) I usually air down to single digits and try to stay as high as possible. It is similar to sand driving as, if you get stuck, you DO NOT want to spin tires as that will only dig you further down.
snowcutters
I don’t know about snow in general, but it does work to increase traction in ice. When you’re stuck in snow it quickly turns to ice under your spinning wheels, and a couple of times when this has happened to me (Toyota Van and then a Subaru Forester, all-season tires), despairing and rocking back and forth in an ever deepening, slickening rut, letting a bunch of air out of the tires did the trick.
Going completely off trail in an area where you aren’t supposed to drive, as shown in the Xmas tree video, certainly doesn’t help either and can land you a fat fine.
I personally think mass is still a massive problem for these things and tire compound/tread are not enough to fix things. Weight/mass is part of the contact patch/traction equation and snow seems to highlight that on Cybertrucks. This vehicle will need really huge tires to handle snow well.
The mechanical locker versus digital control is indeed interesting. A fully locked mechanical system would seem to transfer torque virtually instantly (component flex and driveline lash must be considered) whereas a digital system has a definable delay but then much more variability in response. My guess is that with proper programming and design an electric drive system would actually perform better than a mechanical one, so programming may indeed be partly to blame for these viral moments. However, I still think it more about weight and tire size than anything else. I predict we’re going to see so many more snow fail videos no matter how many times they reprogram the system.
Physics can be a bitch sometimes.
My RAV4 hybrid (rear axle is entirely electric driven) is spectacular in the snow for what it’s worth.
David Tracy here with the facts to tell us this is snow joking matter.
So good
You should leave in a flurry
There will be a blizzard of comments on this – if you get my drift.
Is it though? Or did the tech bros who developed it just overcomplicate the hell out of it (as tech bros are wont to do). In the case where you have one motor feeding two wheels it’s basically the same problem as an ICE has, and if you have one motor to one wheel then it’s even simpler – send equal power to both sides.
And maybe I’m just armchair engineering here. A deep dive into the different considerations for traction control in an EV versus an ICE would be very interesting.
1 motor to 1 wheel is a very complex problem. An open diff has a 50/50 torque split 100% of the time. If one wheel is lifted off of the ground the torque (whatever is required to spin the wheel) is being applied to both wheels.
There would be a similar issue with having a 50/50 power split (though not as bad. I don’t really know how the electronics work so it might not even be possible). Wheel with low traction would just spin up. RPM is what needs to be locked, which necessitates incredibly well tuned motor controls. (IMO pretty much impossible)
EV traction control with separate wheel motors has to be able to cut power to the spinning tire and increase power to the one with traction. This is basically what a locked diff does automatically (people always say they have a 50/50 torque split but they actually have an instantly continuously variable torque split ranging from 100/0 to 0/100).
This is why off road vehicles with separate motors will NEVER be as good as something with lockers. You can get into situations where the vehicle can only put down 1/4 of peak torque. This is actually the same as having no locker at all and one motor with twice the grunt per axle. (using brake locking)
Good point. I suppose in the separate motor case you can’t just let the wheel without traction spin like you could with a locked diff because it will spin very fast.
Yeah it’s a weird problem. I do kinda feel like we should be able to figure something out with modern computing power, but everything I’ve seen with these individual motor EVs seems pretty awful.
Same with brake lock differential. I don’t understand why it’s always so slow.
I’m not sure it exactly works as absolutely as that; while you’re limited to 1/4 of the total motor peak torque per wheel, the power output from an EV can be limited by the battery as well as the motors (I’m not sure about other vehicles, but I believe this was the power limitation in the P85D; total motor power was 691hp, but the battery was only able to output enough current for 463hp). In this sort of battery-limited config, you could quite easily supply one wheel with more than 1/4 of the peak torque available in normal driving, potentially up to 100% of the battery output, depending on the headroom on the motors. Other factors could tie in with this too; for example, if the motors are actively cooled, using all the cooling capacity of the system on one motor would allow it to reach higher peak torque than would be possible when all motors are under load.
Controlling RPM rather than power etc. isn’t really that hard to deal with on an EV; they typically have some kind of encoder on them anyway, so it’s just a question of treating it more as a servomotor than anything else.
Also, you’re always limited by the tire & road conditions as to how much power you can actually put down anyway; if you’ve got enough torque to spin the tire, anything beyond that’s kind of irrelevant.
Good point on battery limited outputs.
I guess I just haven’t seen motor control in an off road EV application appear more advanced than say the traction control of a CRV. Seems like these things always have to think a lot about what wheels need moah powah
Interesting, I do find that my ’17 Volt on winter tires (Michelin X-Ice Xi3s) has considerably more trouble getting going than our Cruze Diesel does on winter tires (previously had a set of Xi3s as well, now runs X-Ice Snows).
I’ve always attributed it to the instantaneous torque – even at very minimal levels of throttle input, it simply has more torque than even the diesel off the line (which actually has more torque, but not at 0 rpm), which makes the tires more prone to spin in the snow than the Diesel, which has to get through a bit of turbo lag, allowing you greater control when getting moving.
I wonder if that’s also at play here?
There’s also more weight over the back of the car due to the batteries. The great advantage of front-wheel-drive architecture in pure-ICE applications, besides allowing ideal space utilization, is putting the heavy weight of the engine directly over the drive wheels. A battery pack stashed further aft counterbalances this.
Probably more that there’s no snow/winter mode for EVs yet?
When driving in an ICE – Snow/Winter mode in an Automatic will start the car off in 2nd or even 3rd gear to minimize wheelspin. Similarly in a manual – starting in first gear is a recipe for icing the ground under your driven wheels.
With no multi-gear transmission – software developers would need to create an artificial mode that slows throttle response significantly in order to achieve similar results.
This is possible, though in the example of mine with the Cruze and Volt, neither have any kind of snow/winter mode. Just a vastly different response off the line.
It would definitely be a huge help in the Volt.
….shouldn’t weight be an advantage in the snow?
My ’97 Econoline was surprisingly usable in the snow. Not great, but competent. And that was with all-season tires.
Only time I ever got really stuck involved facing uphill with the back tires on ice. That took a good chunk of ice melt to resolve. Other than that, a bit of patience and knowing the back could slide with sharp turns was all it took.
Sometimes I wish I’d gone hooning in an empty parking lot in snow with it. Sometimes if I had to take a turn in an empty intersection I’d take the turn sharply just for that fun, brief sliding sensation.
Snow is super variable in my experience. How the snow fell, what the snow fell on, ground temps, ambient temps, sunlight, wind, the list could go on and on. But I have heard snow plow guys say that skinny tires and weight works good for their application.
Only if the weight is in the right place.
Which I’m reminded of every time I look in the mirror.
The Cybertruck (I can’t even type that without laughing) may not be great in snow wearing its stock shoes, but I know what I want to be driving when the quasi-bullets start flying.
Those OEM “All-Terrain” Goodyears also look like they have an actual tread depth that’s less than my used Falken RT660’s
There is nothing wrong with the cyber Turd truck.
It’s the hub caps fault.
Good tires, then Humility, Patience, Carefulness, and Focus.
I’ve only had all-terrain tires once, and they had a mountain/snowflake rating. I was amazed at how terrible they were in snow compared to a budget winter tire. Like, barely usable.
I would say that the CT that got stuck with the Christmas tree was more on ice than snow. Also, Being in the bay area, people here think if they have AWD it means that they can drive like they are on dry pavement. Lastly, it’s usually about the tires.
Driver skill makes a big difference.
I used to drive a Subaru Impreza outback, and after a big Brooklyn snowstorm sometimes I would pull out of a parking spot and somebody in a big tire SUV would try to pull into the spot I just left and they’d get stuck halfway into the spot. I didn’t even have snow tires on the thing just some cheap all season tires.
We get some serious snowfall sometimes where I live, and I daily a lowered Impreza wagon. Even acting like a snowplow, my car tends to grip and drive better on its “all season” tires than my wifes lifted ram 2500. Its also on all seasons, and even in 4 hi, tends to slide around more than my impreza. driver skill is part of it, but vehicle dynamics is more of what that gets in to.
Yes, the Imprezia was generally amazing in the snow.
If I could get the driver’s door open I could drive it even if it got “plowed in”. After getting hit by two deer, 3 UPS trucks, a Range Rover, and a tree it was pretty much covered in dents so bashing through snow and ice drifts didn’t add noticeably to the body damage. I kept an entrenching tool in the trunk just in case but I never ever needed it. Actually made money from UPS sending checks when they sideswiped it while it was double-parked.
BTW , NYC driving tip. If your car looks like you’ve wrecked it multiple times, people are remarkably good about yielding the right of way. you can almost see the thought bubbles “I’m not pulling out in front of that, I’ll wait for the next guy”
I gave it to a friend with 180,000 on it, he fixed the AC and put another 80,000 on it and it’s still going long after the VW Jetta wagon that replaced it was junked. Total beast of a car.
Thats a pretty great life and an awesome story. I bought mine with 113K on the clock after it clobbered a deer. I use a come along tied to a truck hitch to pull the rad support back out, replaced the hood and windshield and headlights, put black duct tape over the cracks on the black bumper, left the dented fender in place. I also did some maintenance like timing belt at the time. Since then I’ve put another 55K on it so far. Its my third(?) Impreza. I enjoy them as daily’s.
Growing up we always kept a distressed “city car” for when we went to the city – you would be amazed how other drivers get out of your way when you have an old-school Oldsmobile Delta 88 with a couple of dents and some missing trim pieces. In recent years we have gotten out of this habit and haven’t had many problems – maybe because Waze keeps me away from congestion that results in fender-benders. We will try to take the older/smaller car if we are going to go someplace with really tight parking (like the lots across from Fenway Park).
After I got my MFA I moved back to NYC with an old Ford F150. It had been discarded on the farm. I mostly fixed it up but it was completely beat to hell from typical farm use so I painted it about 200 different colors of paint just like I had done to another couple of art cars previously, and painted a fluorescent orange tiger mouth like you would see on some World War II fighter planes on the front.
Anyway, about a week after I got back to New York City, a taxi cab did the pull in from the left in front of me routine and not wanting to hit the person to my right contact was made, and most of the rear fender and bumper got pulled off the cab. Apparently word traveled quickly about avoiding the guy in the weird looking pickup because for the next few years, it was like there was a 20 foot bubble around that truck that no cab would dare enter. Even people I was giving a ride in the truck would notice that there were no cabs near us.
I don’t know which (paper) magazine (maybe Car & Driver ?) got this during their review of the G-Wagen when it first became (oficially) available in the US (early 2000’s me think), but they got the thing desperately stuck in 2 inches of snow on a flat parking lot, in front of the MB engineers that came along for support.
And no diff locks and other magic helped them move.
Turned out it was the OEM tires it came with, which had a nice planet alignment into finding just the right snow conditions to make them 100% useless.
Didn’t Top Gear get Range Rovers stuck in a grassy field?
That too, I used to quote the G-Waggen thing every time the RR story would be brought up 🙂
Some cars are better in the snow than others, and some cars are better in some specific snow circumstances than others which are better in other specific circumstances. That being said, physics can’t be cheated. You have forces and you have to live with the effects of those forces.
Traction is all we have to counteract gravity and momentum and its various offset force vectors. More traction is more better but even snow cats can get stuck or slide sideways (ask me how I know). Snow makes travel difficult. Period.
The problem isn’t the CyberTurd, The problem is owners who have been sold on a superiority narrative from a bombastic spokesperson and the public who are happy and eager to stomp on such a person’s outlanding characterizations.
I’ve been stuck exactly once in the Land Cruiser so much that I needed to be pulled out. It was right after I got it and it was in the snow. I had great winter rated tires, all the good off-road stuff but I parked on a snowy shoulder that was off camber. once I started sliding sideways it was over. I fell into a deep part of the shoulder and was stuck. Lockers just made things worse. Less from that experience is to give snow its due respect.
On being sold: Stellantis is doing a “Ram trucks are the best in snow! Ram will punch winter in the nuts!” Ad campaign and it annoyed me because trucks, especially, need a bit of education before they’re usable in the snow – a light rear end means you need to have a bunch of weight back there, something a lot of new truck owners won’t know.
Oh yeah! I hear you. Last year I was puddling along up I-80 in the Sierras in my Tundra with BFG-ATs (and 400lbs of concrete over the rear axle) and there were were all these guys with much larger, lifted trucks. Their back ends came around faster than a 911 with cold tires on wet pavement. The Tundra wen straight and true, even when stomped on.
But Pat Benatar assured me we would be invincible!
It’s like the song was written about an owner’s Cybertruck being stuck in the snow and his impotent rage.
This bloody road remains a mystery
This sudden darkness fills the air
What are we waiting for?
Won’t anybody help us?
What are we waiting for?
We can’t afford to be innocent
Stand up and face the enemy
It’s a do or die situation
We will be invincible
This shattered dream you cannot justify
We’re gonna scream until we’re satisfied
What are we running for?
We’ve got the right to be angry
What are we running for?
When there’s no where we can run to anymore
Bingo. Tires make the vehicle. Want your V6 Camry to rip around Watkins Glen faster than a lot of sports cars? Slap low profile summer tires onto that beige boy! Want your Toyobaru to do mad doriftos around every corner? Prius tires!
Wondering how bad range will be impacted if they put some sticky trail tires on it.
There’s also similar vids about the Hummer EV getting stuck in the snow it’s just not as big a thing as the Cybertruck, and Mary didn’t claim it was invincible.
I’ve heard that if you don’t have snow-appropriate tires, tire chains can be useful.
Yeah, but then you have to take a servant with you to put them on…
I have my servants travel in a separate vehicle like a normal person.
Have you been hanging out with Fancy Kristin?
https://tenor.com/en-GB/view/mariahcarey-dontknowher-idontknowher-gif-14560621
Like when Wooster takes the old two-seater to Brinkley Court while Jeeves and the luggage goes by train.
Genuinely if Elon weren’t the head (and arse) of Tesla, we wouldn’t have this conversation.
Recall the Cybertruck vs. F150 towing match as just a mild example.
He is basically the modern equivalent of PT Barnum. Both Brilliant and a buffoon in the same package
This is the same shit Ford got themselves in with Edsel – all the early teaser ads promised an advanced new car of the future, a new revolution in motoring, and the final product was essentially a Ford or Mercury with polarizing styling and some extra gadgets tacked on, perfectly serviceable and functional, but ultimately pretty ordinary, but with all the crazy, over the top, advance hype, there was basically no way to avoid letting the public down unless the actual product turned out to be like a nuclear-powered hover pod or something.