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Tesla fan clones perfect Cybertruck but with one flaw

Tesla Cybertruck clone trailed by a Model X and Model 3. (Credit: Instagram | @268_others)

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A Tesla Cybertruck fan has made one of the best clones to the all-electric pickup yet. However, there is one problem with his Cybertruck lookalike: it isn’t electric, it’s gas-powered.

The Cybertruck has not been released yet. Still, a Tesla enthusiast could have some people wondering if the unique pickup is randomly rolling around the streets ahead of its first deliveries, as he went the extra mile to create arguably the best Cybertruck clone yet.

Someone known simply as “Jim” on Instagram has created what is perhaps the most realistic and accurate portrayal of the Tesla Cybertruck yet. The clone, both with its interior and exterior, seems to share all of the same qualities as the real Cybertruck that Tesla unveiled in late November.

Based on pictures and videos, it appears to be extremely close to what Tesla rolled out on stage in Hawthorne at the company’s unveiling event.

 

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However, “Jim” admitted that his Cybertruck clone is not powered by batteries or all-electric motors. Instead, the clone is powered by gas, which makes it as far away from a Tesla clone as one could get. Even though “Jim’s” Cybertruck may look like the real thing, it is powered by the opposite of what Tesla would use for any of its vehicles.

Many people have tried to build the Cybertruck themselves all over the world. The unique design of Tesla’s first all-electric pickup truck caught the world by storm because of its compelling shape and stainless steel exoskeleton, so much so that many have tried to replicate the car in their own garages.

While those who have strived to clone the electric pickup have done an excellent job in their own right, Jim’s seems to be the most accurate depiction thus far when it comes to aesthetics.

 

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Not only does the car have an external look and what appears to be the correct dimensions of the real Cybertruck, but the interior detail is what is perhaps the most striking. It seems that Jim has done an incredible job with bringing the interior look to life, even including the “marble” dashboard, which is actually made of recycled paper composite materials.

Tesla used paper composite materials for the dashboard, which are cost-effective and provide a luxury look. The electric car company has focused on using environmentally friendly materials for the interior of their cars, starting with vegan interiors back in 2017.

The clone Cybertruck also has the same steering wheel, seat layout, large glass roof, and a similar dash screen to the real vehicle.

Elon Musk has stated on several occasions that Tesla is working on modifying the Cybertruck to make it as high-quality as possible. Not only did the electric car company consider making the vehicle smaller and more compact, but Tesla is also changing the alloy that the exoskeleton will be made of in order to maintain a durable and sturdy exterior that is capable of handling dings and dents.

Although the truck “will be pretty much” the same size as its prototype, according to Musk, it is unknown what the Cybertruck will look like in its final design right now. Tesla works to improve its vehicles in all facets when they are still in development, and the Cybertruck is no different.

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But regardless, the design that “Jim” came up with and managed to manufacture has a striking resemblance to the Cybertruck prototype that Tesla revealed last year. Had it not been for his use of a combustion engine to bring his DIY Cybertruck to live, it could have been considered one of the best attempts at remaking the vehicle. As far as looks are concerned, it is strikingly similar to what may be released at the tail end of 2021.

Let us know in the comments below what you think about the Cybertruck clone!

Joey has been a journalist covering electric mobility at TESLARATI since August 2019. In his spare time, Joey is playing golf, watching MMA, or cheering on any of his favorite sports teams, including the Baltimore Ravens and Orioles, Miami Heat, Washington Capitals, and Penn State Nittany Lions. You can get in touch with joey at joey@teslarati.com. He is also on X @KlenderJoey. If you're looking for great Tesla accessories, check out shop.teslarati.com

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Elon Musk

How to use Grok Bot to block spam calls and texts

Musk told users to ask Grok Bot to scrub their phone numbers from spam lists.

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Elon Musk has a new use case for Grok Bot, and it is the spam call. On Thursday he replied to an X user named Arash with a short instruction: “Ask your @Grok @Bot to remove your phone number from spam call & text lists!” Arash had said he got tired of the calls, had an AI bot find his number on listing sites and file removal requests, and packaged the process as a free skill for others.

The skill is called Spam-Call Scrubber, which is described to find a phone number on people search sites and data brokers, submits the opt outs, completes the confirmation emails those sites send back, and rechecks on a schedule the user picks. Using it requires the Grok Bot app. The pitch is time saved, since most broker opt outs sit behind separate forms on separate sites.



Musk said Grok Bot now gives each bot its own email address, and that it can detect scam emails. On Thursday he also said SpaceX would make users whole if the bot botches a purchase or leaks a card, then told users to shop away from Amazon after the retailer blocked the agent, as Teslarati reported. The terms of service we reviewed at the time put responsibility for what an agent does on the user.

For Tesla owners, Grok Bot is not just a phone app. Tesla brought Grok Bot into its vehicles on September 22, and we argued earlier this week that the Cybercab’s real advantage may be the errands it runs during a ride. Every Cybercab and the rest of the Model Y Robotaxi fleet has it enabled. The more routine tasks like this one become, the more a rider has reason to hand over something personal in the back seat.

The new Spam-Call Scrubber skill can be downloaded for free and works on sites that honor removal requests, while noting that listings can reappear, and illegal robocallers do not check any registry. Whether Spam-Call Scrubber cuts anyone’s call volume is something the first wave of users will find out, and Musk’s endorsement guarantees that wave is coming.

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Tesla Cybercab and Robotaxi’s real advantage won’t be the ride service

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Concept art of a Tesla Cybercab in Las Vegas Strip as rendered via Grok

For a century, the car has asked the same thing of its owner, which is basically to pay attention. Even the best ride-hailing app like Uber or Lyft only moved the problem into someone else’s hands. You stopped driving, but you still sat in a stranger’s car, while half listening, and wondering whether to take a phone call in the car without being rude. The Cybercab has no wheel, no pedals and no driver. With Grok @bot now live inside it, it becomes something else entirely, and I think that matters more than the fleet count that everyone is tracking.

Grok @bot is an agent, not a voice assistant. A rider signs in once, and from then on can say what they need and watch it happen. Order dinner from a favorite restaurant. Fill the grocery cart. Move money, answer email, adjust a calendar, push a work project forward. Tesla engineer Yun-Ta Tsai confirmed it is enabled across every Cybercab and the rest of the Model Y fleet, and Tesla’s own pitch is that Full Self-Driving handles the commute while Grok handles the errands.

Think about what that does to a thirty minute ride. Uber sells you a trip, while Waymo sells you the same trip in a more private setting. Tesla is selling the thirty minutes themselves, returned to you with an assistant attached. Errands that used to eat a Saturday get done between pickup and drop off. The ride stops being dead time between two places and becomes a place of its own.

Tesla integrates Grok Bot into its vehicles for the ultimate personal assistant

Best of all, your Bots follow you into any Cybercab, and presumably your own Tesla, then logs you out automatically when you step out. Anyone can bolt a chatbot onto a screen, but much harder to own the vehicle, the autonomy stack and the assistant at once. It also quietly ties SpaceX’s Super Intelligence business to Tesla’s fleet, after Tesla converted its xAI stake into SpaceX equity. The relationship between those two companies is getting harder to describe as separate.

This is also where the hard questions start, because an agent that can spend your money in a vehicle other people also ride in needs some answers. How does it handle a voice it shouldn’t trust? What gets recorded, who can see it, and for how long? What happens when a rider leaves halfway through a task?

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If Tesla gets those answers right, the scoreboard changes. We have been counting Cybercabs and wait times. The more telling number may be what riders accomplish per trip. That is data almost no one else will ever have, and it is the real reason to watch Grok @bot.

What do you think? Leave me a comment.

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Tesla’s mirrorless Cybercab will give riders a visibility upgrade

Tesla engineer confirms Cybercab update letting riders pull up rear and repeater cameras on demand.

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Tesla Cybercab camera visibility for passengers (Credit: Dan Burkland via X)
Tesla Cybercab camera visibility for passengers (Credit: Dan Burkland via X)

Tesla is working on a Cybercab update that would let passengers pull up the vehicle’s rear and side cameras on demand, and the request came straight from a rider.

The exchange played out on X late Friday. Cybercab rider Dan Burkland shared photos of the two-seater’s cabin screen after an evening ride, praised the UI team’s work, and left one request: let riders open the rear and repeater cameras whenever they want, “especially for peace of mind.” Tesla UI software engineer Evan (@CarCoder) answered with two words: “In development.”

The idea fits a pattern Teslarati has tracked since public rides began. Days after paid Cybercab service opened in Austin, Tesla sent riders a survey that asked them to rate the touchscreen, the app and the cabin, and to pick the features they wanted most. We reported on that survey in September, and a camera view is the kind of small software change Tesla can push quickly if riders keep asking.

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It also speaks to something unique about the vehicle. With no steering wheel, no pedals and no driver, passengers have no mirror to check and no way to see behind them. The hardware is clearly built for camera awareness, from the repeater cameras to the rear camera. Letting a passenger look through those same cameras would give a nervous first time rider a way to confirm what is around the car.

The timing matters because the fleet is growing fast. Tesla’s Robotaxi account said on Saturday that more than 300 Cybercabs are now serving Austin, an eightfold increase in 30 days, and Tesla AI chief Ashok Elluswamy named Dallas as the next city. More cars and more cities mean more people riding in a driverless vehicle for the first time, which is exactly when small trust features carry weight.

For now, the feature is confirmed only as in development. If Tesla follows its usual pattern with Cybercab software, riders could see it appear in a point release without any announcement, and Teslarati will watch for it.

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