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Top 5 Tesla Cybertruck production features we love

Credit: Tesla

Published

3 years ago

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Tesla CEO Elon Musk has stated that the Cybertruck would likely be Tesla’s best vehicle to date, and the all-electric pickup truck would be so impressive that its four-year wait would be worth it. But as the specs and price of the production Cybertruck were released on Thursday, a number of longtime EV watchers were quick to voice their disappointment. 

In a way, it is unsurprising that many were disappointed by the production Cybertruck. The vehicle, after all, was smaller, had less range, and was significantly more expensive than the hulking steel beast that was unveiled in 2019. Even the production Cybertruck’s Armor Glass demonstration featured a baseball, which was far less impressive than the steel ball that was used four years ago. 

This does not mean to say that the production Cybertruck is a complete miss, however. Far from it. A look at the production Cybertruck’s details would show that the vehicle, despite losing some size and range, gained a number of key features that make it a pretty stellar truck in its own right. Perhaps Elon Musk was right — maybe the Cybertruck is really destined to become Tesla’s magnum opus. 

Here then are five features that we love about the production Tesla Cybertruck. 

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Steer-by-Wire

The production Cybertruck does not have a regular steering wheel. Instead, it has a rounded yoke that seems like a cross between the Model S and Model X Plaid’s yoke and a regular steering wheel. As it turns out, the Cybertruck is the first Tesla that is being shipped with a steer-by-wire system. This makes the vehicle very nimble and easy to maneuver. Tesla showed off some videos showcasing this feature, and they were quite impressive. 

Critics of the original steering yoke in the Model S Plaid noted that the system would have worked if it used steer-by-wire. Well, the Cybertruck has it, and so far, reviewers of the vehicle seem to appreciate the feature. 

Powergate

Despite being smaller than its original prototype, the Cybertruck is still a fairly large vehicle. It’s also made of stainless steel. With this in mind, consumers might find the Cybertruck’s frunk heavy and cumbersome if it was manually operated. Fortunately, this won’t be the case, as the production Cybertruck comes with a powered frunk system called the Powergate. 

As noted by Tesla, the Powergate features one of the longest LED lighting elements on any passenger vehicle in the world. It also reveals a hidden bench for two, plus over seven cubic feet of storage. These features, together with its powered nature, make the Cybertruck’s frunk the best in Tesla’s lineup today. 

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Beast Mode

The Cybertruck could be considered a flagship vehicle from Tesla. Its price certainly commands such a designation in the company’s lineup. It is then unsurprising that the electric vehicle maker gave the Cybertruck a dedicated high-performance mode called “Beast Mode.” Tesla explained Beast Mode as follows: “Cyberbeast features a rear drive unit with dual induction machines, active torque vectoring, and an electro-mechanical, front-locking differential producing a combined 845 HP.” 

With Beast Mode, the Cybertruck would be able to achieve a 0-60 mph time of 2.6 seconds, a metric that actually exceeds that of the original Cybertruck prototype in 2019, which was listed with a 0-60 mph time of 2.9 seconds. 

Rear-Wheel Steering

Together with its steer-by-wire system, the Cybertruck also features rear-wheel steering. Demonstrations of the Cybetruck in action show how the vehicle’s rear wheels help with maneuverability, allowing the stainless steel all-electric pickup truck to achieve a turning radius that is better than the Model S sedan. That’s pretty insane considering the physical size of the Cybertruck. 

Interestingly enough, rear steering is also a feature that is an improvement over the Cybertruck’s 2019 prototype. The hulking vehicle, when it was unveiled four years ago, did not feature a rear-wheel steering system at all, despite Elon Musk seemingly confirming the feature on Twitter prior to the 2019 unveiling. 

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Range Extender

While it is true that the production Cybertruck’s range is disappointing compared to the announced range of the original Cybertruck prototype from 2019, one could argue that a range extender actually makes sense. Tesla, after all, is not looking to become a niche automaker. The company wants to be a mass-market carmaker, and to do that, it must be able to produce as many vehicles as it can with the resources it has. 

Being a large vehicle, the Cybertruck would have to eat a lot of batteries to achieve its target range from 2019. Thus, it is quite reasonable for Tesla to offer a range extender that adds about 130 miles to the Cybertruck Dual Motor (around 120 extra miles for the Cyberbeast) only to those who actually need the extra battery. Tesla could then produce the Cybertruck Dual Motor and Cyberbeast with 123 kWh battery packs, which is a pretty fair size for such a large vehicle. 

Don’t hesitate to contact us with news tips. Just send a message to simon@teslarati.com to give us a heads up.

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Simon is an experienced automotive reporter with a passion for electric cars and clean energy. Fascinated by the world envisioned by Elon Musk, he hopes to make it to Mars (at least as a tourist) someday. For stories or tips--or even to just say a simple hello--send a message to his email, simon@teslarati.com or his handle on X, @ResidentSponge.

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Tesla reveals huge Cybercab detail in new guide for First Responders

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3 hours ago

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June 29, 2026

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Credit: Tesla

Tesla revealed a major new Cybercab detail in a guide it released for First Responders, showing new territory in its beliefs and intentions for the ride-hailing-focused vehicle that entered production in April.

The First Responders Guide is released to give fire departments, paramedics, and other emergency personnel the proper guidance on what to do in the event of an accident, entrapment, or other situation that would require immediate attention.

On one of the pages of the First Responders Guide, Tesla revealed a stark detail about the Cybercab, which could help personnel enter the vehicle more easily in case of an emergency.

Tesla Cybercab has one important piece that AI4 cars might need for FSD

It shows Tesla has no intention of releasing any Cybercab units that were initially proposed for ride-hailing services for the general public with any manual controls, meaning a steering wheel or pedals:

“A Cybercab equipped with steering wheel, brake pedal, and an acceleration pedal is typically an engineering or test vehicle, and operates at SAE Level 2 autonomy. Cybercab is not typically equipped with a steering wheel or acceleration and brake pedals.”

This is a major development for those who continue to believe Tesla planned to release the Cybercab with any sort of manual controls so that passengers could take over if needed. However, when Tesla started manufacturing production versions of the Cybercab in Giga Texas earlier this year, they were spotted without a steering wheel or pedals.

It essentially confirms the company has no intentions of bringing manual controls to the car’s production versions. Some have argued that the likelihood of Tesla having something

There still are some Cybercab units out there with a steering wheel and pedals, and as Tesla said, these cars are engineering or test vehicles, which have Safety Monitors on board to help the car out of a precarious situation or emergency.

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Tesla Full Self-Driving v14 ‘Lite’ Release Notes: new capabilities and features

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5 hours ago

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June 29, 2026

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(Credit: Megan Gale/Twitter)

Tesla released the Full Self-Driving v14 ‘Lite’ suite to owners of Hardware 3 or AI3 vehicles today, adding several new features to the vehicles that were once believed to be capable of unsupervised self-driving.

Now, Tesla has released this modified suite to older Tesla vehicles, adding plenty of new features and capabilities.

Here are the full release notes for the suite:

  • Distilled the intelligence from HW4 V14 into HW3. This allows HW3 to directly learn how to handle scenarios using HW4 V14 as a guide. This process unlocks the improvements that have been made to HW4 including Reinforcement Learning (RL) and offline models for HW3.
  • Improved both proactive and reactive responsiveness across a wide variety of categories including navigation handling, merges and forks, pedestrian interactions, traffic lights, and vehicle cut-in scenarios.
  • Improved general comfort in nominal scenarios through fewer false slowdowns, smoother steering and more consistent lane centering.
  • Introduced parking, unparking, and reversing capabilities.
  • Added Arrival Options for you to select where FSD should park: in a Parking Lot, on the Street, in a Driveway, or at the Curbside.
  • Speed Profiles are now available at all times, to further customize driving style preference.

These improvements, according to Tesla’s Head of AI, Ashok Elluswamy, help distill the driving behavior from AI4’s v14 series into both the camera and compute configurations of AI3.

Tesla Full Self-Driving v14 ‘Lite’ for older cars finally gets released

He added:

“It includes destination options and speed profiles on city roads, but more importantly significantly improved safety. We hope you’ll enjoy it, once the build ships wide.”

Tesla will continue to roll out the v14 Lite suite more widely in the coming weeks, the company said.

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Tesla Full Self-Driving v14 ‘Lite’ for older cars finally gets released

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5 hours ago

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June 29, 2026

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tesla model 3 model y
Credit: Tesla Inc.

Tesla has finally released its Full Self-Driving v14 ‘Lite’ suite for older cars that equip the Hardware 3 or AI 3 chip, which have not been able to handle the newest versions of the company’s driver assistance software.

Tesla officially started releasing the v14 Lite suite to owners in the Early Access Program last night. The company’s Head of AI, Ashok Elluswamy, said that the rollout will continue over the next few weeks. The build distills the driving behavior from AI4’s v14 series into both the camera and compute configurations of an AI3 car.

It also includes a variety of new features that were available to AI4 cars running v14, including:

  • Start Self-Driving from Park
  • Arrival and Parking Options
  • Speed Profiles

The release is highly anticipated because those owners with AI3 vehicles were early adopters into the FSD platform and were promised that their cars would be capable of achieving Full Self-Driving.

However, Tesla CEO Elon Musk admitted during the company’s recent Q1 Earnings Call that these vehicles would not be capable of achieving unsupervised Full Self-Driving, which is what Tesla had originally said.

Owners were not pleased with this answer, or the idea that their commitment to buying the suite outright for thousands of dollars would not yield the ability to drive without operating the car. Tesla gave some solutions for this, including a discount on a new car, or an upgrade to an AI4 or AI5 self-driving computer and new, upgraded cameras.

Tesla owners do not seem pleased with these options, as they require giving the company more money.

Nevertheless, it is important to note that Tesla came through for owners here by releasing v14 Lite before the end of Q2, something it had promised owners during the previous Earnings Call. Tesla has had trouble keeping up with timelines, but this is a big achievement for the team.

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