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I took a Tesla Cybertruck weekend Demo Drive – Here’s what I learned

I had a Cybertruck for 48 hours thanks to Tesla, and here’s what I thought about it.

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Tesla was kind enough to offer me a Cybertruck ‘Beast’ for an entire weekend after the company started offering 48-hour test drives of the vehicles across its lineup. I got a call from my local showroom asking if I would like to partake in a weekend of fun with perhaps the coolest truck around, and of course, I said yes.

It was a little different from past weekend Demo Drives in the sense that I picked up the Cybertruck in the morning on Saturday instead of the evening, when the showroom would be closed, and I would have to have it back at open time on Monday. I had my full Saturday with it; I took it for a round of golf, I took it to dinner with my Fiancè and parents, and it truly gave me a full-fledged feel of what it would be like to own one.

There were a lot of things I liked, and there were a handful of things I’d like to change. I’ll go through all of those in this article:

First Impressions

This was the second time I had ever driven Cybertruck, with the first being at early Demo Drives last August when I drove to West Chester, PA.

I picked it up at 10 am on Saturday morning, and the team at Tesla Mechanicsburg had me in and out in less than five minutes. I grabbed my paperwork and was on my way, and I took my best friend with me as he had never been in one. He was never a fan of the Cybertruck’s look, but could not deny the interior’s clean and minimalistic appearance.

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This Cyberbeast was in terrific shape. I do wish the inside was vacuumed, the windshield was cleaned, and the wiper fluid reservoir was full, but these were all things I took care of myself after I got home. I would love to know how some Cybertruck owners clean their windshields, as I could get most, but not all. The bottom portion remained a tad smudged-up, but it was nothing unusual.

It was fun to pull into my local diner near my house, and about 45 minutes away from the Mechanicsburg showroom, to see all of the people nearby turn their heads just to get a look at this thing. Of course, I knew it would be soon that I’d get some middle fingers, but for now, it was all friendly. Smiles, waves, and fun. It was genuinely a fun experience.

My Weekend in the Cybertruck

First things first, I had an afternoon tee time with some buddies of mine who did not know that I was getting the Cybertruck for the weekend. They were all surprised to see it, to say the least!

They had never been inside one, and did mention that the interior was just plain awesome. The glass ceiling was among their favorite features of the Cybertruck, but conditioning the cabin to be nice and cool as we finished up on the 18th was awesome too. Their cars do start remotely, but do not feature adjustable climate settings.

This kept me cool on my entire ride home, and is something all Teslas feature. It’s among the best little additions, especially as the Summer months approach.

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A reader and follower told me to throw my clubs in the frunk next time. I will do that.

After golf, it was time to pick my Fiancè up from the house and my parents as well, where we drove about an hour to Hampstead, Maryland, for a nice dinner to celebrate my better-half’s graduation from nursing school. My parents were truly blown away by the Model Y a few weekends ago, so this was what I was really looking forward to for them, because their reaction is genuinely so exciting.

My favorite thing about driving this truck was the positive reactions I got from many. I got a lot of waves, a lot of people wanting me to honk the horn, one of my neighbors even said, “Do you mind if I look inside of it?” I showed him all the cool features like the tonneau, the power frunk, and the size of everything.

Of course, I also had a handful of people who made their feelings about the car very apparent with a quick fling of the middle finger toward me as I drove by. I never understood flicking people off over a car: maybe how they drive, or maybe if they have a weird bumper sticker. I wasn’t around any of the middle finger-givers long enough for them to assess my driving, and the Cybertruck was void of any stickers or decals.

Oh well.

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Sunday was a lengthy, 300-or-so-mile drive from my house to the Flight 93 National Memorial in Shanksville, PA. I try to go twice a year to pay my respects to the heroes, but I also saw it as a good time to test the range, experience Supercharging, see how the Cybertruck handled a longer day, and see how I felt in the car after the drive.

My first Supercharging stop was in Fort Littleton, PA, where v4 Supercharger stalls were placed in what was very obviously a small, rural, and predominantly blue-collar town. It was pretty fun to see a Supercharger in such a rural area. I had great speeds, as you can see, and we topped out at upwards of 330 kW.

It was nice to sit there and feel what charging would be like as opposed to driving a gas car and having a quick stop at a gas station. I’ll be honest: it’s not at all what a gas station experience is like, which is quick, painless, and easy. However, stopping for ~20 minutes to grab some mileage was also a nice break from the drive. It let me take a few minutes to wind down because the weather was awful, and driving in the rain is never super fun.

This was one of two charging stops, the other being in Breezewood, PA, using V3 Superchargers. This was a stop that was more congested than the Fort Littleton charger, but there was much more to offer, like a Dunkin Donuts, a pizza shop, and even a Starbucks down below. It was a quick stop, but the charging experience was very sound. I would say that if you are someone who wants to get from Point A to Point B as fast as possible, the charging experience might not be for you.

I tend to be one of those people, but I didn’t feel like it disrupted my drive or ruined anything. There was plenty to do, and it was 20 minutes maximum before I was back on the road and heading back to my destination, whether it was the Memorial or home.

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Why I Didn’t Use Full Self-Driving

I didn’t use Full Self-Driving at all during my weekend with the Cybertruck. There are two reasons for this.

The first is that I know what FSD is capable of. I know it’s great, and I know I love it. This weekend was a very quick one, and my time with the car was limited. I wanted to have as much hands-on experience with the Steer-by-Wire and four-wheel steering as I could. I had an extremely fast and powerful vehicle that was faster than anything I’ve ever had the pleasure of driving. I wanted to have fun with it.

The second was that I genuinely LOVED driving the Cybertruck. I will admit, I think I am one of those people who is not in love with driving, so I was really happy to have a car that made me want to drive.

My Final Thoughts

Share this article so I can afford to buy one. Just kidding (or am I?).

It was genuinely one of my favorite weekends in recent memory. I really loved a lot about the truck. It was fast, it was fun to drive, and it is a high-tech car. It’s never fun going back to my car when I have to drop off whatever Tesla I have for the weekend back at the showroom.

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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

Elon Musk: Trillionaire Tesla pay package is about influence, not wealth

The 2025 CEO Performance Award, worth up to $900 billion in TSLA stock, could make Elon Musk the world’s first trillionaire,

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Credit: Tesla

Elon Musk recently addressed his proposed Tesla 2025 CEO Performance Award on X, highlighting that his concerns are about influence, not personal wealth. 

The 2025 CEO Performance Award, worth up to $900 billion in TSLA stock, could make Elon Musk the world’s first trillionaire, provided that he hits incredibly ambitious targets for the electric vehicle maker.

Tesla’s ambitious targets

Musk shared his thoughts in a response to an X post that referenced his compensation package. “It’s not about ‘compensation,’ but about me having enough influence over Tesla to ensure safety if we build millions of robots. 

“If I can just get kicked out in the future by activist shareholder advisory firms who don’t even own Tesla shares themselves, I’m not comfortable with that future,” Musk wrote in his post.

Tesla’s new performance award would grant Musk shares as the company grows from today’s $1.1 trillion valuation to an incredible $8.5 trillion within a decade. At that level, Tesla would become the world’s largest company by valuation by a notable margin, eclipsing today’s top companies such as Apple, Nvidia, and Microsoft.

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Massive product goals

Elon Musk’s 2025 CEO Performance Award will not be easy to accomplish. To earn his award, Musk would have to lead Tesla an operating profit of $400 billion anually, a substantial increase from today’s $17 billion annually.

Musk’s influence would grow alongside Tesla’s valuation, with his stake rising from 13% to about 25%. Tesla’s board emphasized in its filing that retaining Musk is fundamental to hitting these milestones.

The package extends beyond financials, as it also ties compensation to milestones in Tesla’s core products and emerging technologies. These include the delivery of 20 million vehicles cumulatively, 10 million active Full Self-Driving subscriptions, and the deployment of 1 million robots, and the rollout of 1 million Robotaxis.

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Tesla Europe registrations are seeing even more momentum as Q3 nears end

Over the week, industry trackers reported 5,500 Tesla sales across 10 European markets, a 25.3% increase week-over-week.

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Credit: Tesla Europe & Middle East/X

Tesla registrations across Europe rose sharply in the week of September 15-21, with new data showing the company’s best week of the quarter. Over the week, industry trackers reported 5,500 Tesla sales across 10 European markets, a 25.3% increase week-over-week. 

The improvement suggests that Tesla may be regaining some momentum after months of uneven performance tied to its Model Y refresh earlier this year.

Quarterly trends and stabilization

The 5,500 registrations marked Tesla’s strongest showing in Q3 2025 so far, as per data shared by industry watcher Piloly on social media platform X. With about a week left in Q3 2025, Tesla’s European sales are up 6.3% quarter-over-quarter. Year-to-date, however, Tesla’s European deliveries are still 20% lower compared to 2024’s figures.

The data covers roughly 60% of Europe’s EV market, including major countries such as the UK, Norway, the Netherlands, Sweden, Spain, and Italy. While Tesla remains under last year’s levels, its recent rebound suggests that the availability of the updated Model Y may very well be helping stabilize demand.

Market dynamics across Europe

Tesla’s overall performance this year in Europe remains uneven depending on the country. Norway has emerged as a bright spot, with Q3 2025 already matching last year’s totals and on pace for a record-setting quarter, as noted in a previous report. In Sweden, however, Tesla’s sales remain heavily impacted with notable year-over-year declines.

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Despite the lingering year-to-date shortfall, September’s registration momentum suggests that earlier concerns about Tesla’s European slump may have been overstated. With several days still left in the quarter, all eyes are on whether Tesla can maintain its recent pace and close the gap with its 2024 figures.

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California reverses course on EV tax credit revival, will focus on charging instead

Instead of reviving rebates, Newsom stated that the state would redirect funds toward expanding charging infrastructure.

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Credit: Shell

California Governor Gavin Newsom has reversed a pledge to bring back the state’s EV tax credit, a move that could impact thousands of buyers as the federal incentive winds down. 

Instead of reviving rebates, Newsom stated that the state would redirect funds toward expanding charging infrastructure.

California’s focus shift

During a San Francisco event on September 19, where he signed six climate-related bills, Newsom outlined the state’s pivot, as noted in an Autoblog report. While reiterating California’s leadership in clean transportation, Newsom emphasized that cap-and-trade revenues would bolster charging investments rather than consumer incentives.

“We can’t make up for federal vandalism of those tax credits. There are billions and billions of dollars through 2045 in the cap-and-trade program that continue to make those infrastructure investments, but not the direct subsidies, that we cannot make up for, that were eliminated under the federal program,” Newsom stated.

California’s EV sector

California accounted for about 27% of all U.S. EV sales in 2024, highlighting the state’s central role in adoption, as per data from the Alliance for Automotive Innovation. Industry watchers have warned that without incentives, momentum could slow, though the success of Tesla’s vehicles like the Model Y suggests that good EVs could see success even without the federal tax credit.

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Newsom also criticized Detroit automakers, singling out General Motors and CEO Mary Barra for what he described as “selling out” the state by opposing its 2035 ban on new gasoline vehicle sales. That regulation, known as Advanced Clean Cars II, is expected to cut greenhouse gas emissions by more than 35%, according to the California Air Resources Board.

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