Bad News for Elon (and Donald)

Not that the trillionaire with fascist tendencies will be that bothered.

Autoguide today are suggesting that the Cybertruck might be a flop.

Registration data shows that U.S. registrations hit a record quarterly low of just 3,519 units in the first quarter of 2026, marking a 45.1% drop compared to the same period in 2025.

Oops.

But what about elsewhere?

Tesla also officially sells the Cybertruck in Mexico, Canada, South Korea, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, and Saudi Arabia.

It's not even legally allowed on the roads in the UK.

I can't imagine the Canadians or Mexicans are buying many.

Back in January, Torque News also suggested that the Cybertruck might be a flop.

And they had this excellent picture which I'm happy to credit them with:

And, it looks like a lot of the American sales are internal corporate fleet purchases from other Elon Musk-led ventures such as SpaceX.

So how is that working out?

Meanwhile, Elon's former best friend isn't doing too well with his latest venture either.

About a fortnight ago, I reported on A White House promoted scheme to sell cheap fuel to Americans in certain States who had noticed that the Iran War was badly affecting their everyday costs.

Well, that went well.

Another End of The World

And yet another Tesla story and also another Tom Ford car review story.

This time he is reviewing the new Tesla Model Y - the one with a real indicator stalk.

He looks a bit menacing actually...

And yet he seems to be a really nice bloke - I'd like to go for a pint with him and talk cars.

Similarly Lars Moravy.

Who?

Vice president, vehicle engineering at Tesla - Tom interviews him about the new Y in the latest video on the Top Gear Magazine YouTube channel.

But some of the things he says are bit menacing.

Early on we get, "When you sell 1.2 million cars worldwide" casually slipped in to the conversation and "You don't want to break the recipe"  Which is more show-offy than menacing and, to be fair, he was also talking about how the replacement Y had a lot more to live up to than, for example, the Cybertruck.

Lars may end up in trouble if it doesn't emulate its predecessor's success so he must be at least a little concerned about falling Tesla sales which must be at least partly down to his boss - a common new nickname for their vehicles, at least on the socials, is Swastikar.  Also Wankpanzer but I don't understand the pun there - especially as "wank" isn't a generally used US term.

Which is why they didn't find "Wang Care" funny.

Lars described the Y as a "world car" - I suppose it is - it is the top selling car in the World and sold all over the World - I doubt if the previous "World Car" ever managed that.

He said that he felt "so separated from everyone around me when I'm driving" which is also not menacing but but just rather disappointing.

But then he is driving an SUV cross-over.

The bit that menaced me was, "Automony in the US is huge - it's coming here in a few months." - it sounded like the sort of thing that Trump makes up on the spot.  Except, unlike Trump, Morovy is a clever man.  With connections.  What does he know?

He also said, "as we get closer and closer to unsupervised in the US..."

I presume he was talking about self-driving technologies rather than general life.

Wasn't he?

Is he an Igor to Musk's Dr.Frankenstein?

Or maybe just a minion to Musks Gru?

Cybercrime

Back in 2019 I got a bit obsessed with the Cybertruck - here is a post from around then.

At the time I said I didn't like it - I think that is still true although I may be more biased by my dislike of Elon Musk - or "President" Musk as he will soon become.

The Dubai Police seem to like it though.  That posting of mine included a link to this story wherein they were claiming that they would have one on their fleet in 2020.

Presumably Covid and Tesla got in the way but they did eventually get one last year.

It might work in Dubai - and indeed in The States.

But not on UK roads.

Pedestrian safety is laughable - and if one hit another vehicle? - well here's one example.

Although fortunately in that example it looks like there were no injuries.

This is why they are not allowed on UK roads - and Greater Manchester Police are not fans of people driving illegal vehicles on their roads.

So they seized one.

Good.

Imagine if an uninsured driver of an uninsured vehicle had killed someone.

Just awaiting a Musk tweet now condemning laws actually being enforced in the UK.

Look away now!

Two stories have caught my eye so far this year.

One from my default Aussie site which is about yet another Tesla crash.  This one is unusual though for two reasons:

1. It seems to be the first one involving a Cybertruck and...
2. It wasn't the Tesla's fault

They've reversed the picture for some reason - maybe to appeal to a right-hand-drive audience:

But this is good news for Tesla in that their vehicle has come out of it considerably more unscathed than the Toyota that crashed in to it:

Although it does raise questions about safety for any other vehicles, or indeed pedestrians, who do get entangled with them.

The other story with something to look away from was one I found in Autocar but I can't view it on my laptop because they won't show it to me unless I switch off the ad-blocker that I don't have. They instead rather unhelpfully show me how to switch off various ad-blockers that I don't have.  I found the story here on Just-Auto instead so Autocar can sod off.

The gist of this is what LG will be showing at the big tech show CES in Vegas next week.

They have technology that allows drivers and passengers to see different things on the same display screen.

Except Land-Rover had that over 10 years ago.

And, judging by the photo,

the LG version works by the driver looking away from the display.

This to me appears a little dangerous.

He'd better hope there isn't a Cybertruck coming the other way.

Trailing Sockets

Car+Driver have raised an interesting question today:

How do you charge a electric truck that happens to be towing a trailer?

Gosh that looks strange.

 

Is it a horsebox?  Is it a caravan for shy people?

 

Just two of the many more questions that the article throws up.

 

Such as:

 

How much weight can an electric vehicle tow?

 

What does it do to the range? Can you trust the range computer on your dashboard?

 

Are caravan sites going to have to have extra charging sockets next to where you connect your caravan to the mains electricity?  Or will you have a cable running from your electric car or truck through your caravan window and plugged in next to the TV?

 

Car+Driver's main concern though is, given that charging point bays are designed to be driven into by cars, do you have to unhitch a trailer and leave it somewhere?  That trailer in the picture looks a bit hefty to be manhandled.

 

It looks like the manufacturers of electric trucks haven't thought that one through either - apart from Rivian - their agreements with charging companies specify that they will need space to accommodate vehicles that are towing trailers. They say that they will also make sure there is room for this type of charging in its own charging network.

 

Final question:

 

What is the best thing to carry in a trailer pulled by an electric vehicle?

 

Answer:

I Don't Like The Tesla Cybertruck

No really - I think it looks stupid.

So why is this my third posting on the subject in under a week?

Probably because the World of motoring journalism keeps talking about it.

Twitter & Car+Driver, I'm looking at you.

Or maybe, more specifically, Car+Driver picking up on tweets.

Here's their story on the Dubai Police ordering one.

But the Dubai Police are all show-offs.

 

Here is the funnier and altogether more satisfying story of Lego taking the Mickey: 

It's better looking, it's windows won't shatter and it could go on sale well before the end of 2020.

What The Truck!?

Two days ago, I posted about the new Tesla Cybertruck:

I also mentioned how Elon got a bit embarrassed at the launch when its supposedly shatter-proof windows shattered.

 

Well, according to the BBC, that hasn't put off nearly 150000 people from ordering one.

 

Earliest speculation for the first deliveries are pointing at the end of 2021.  Ha "pointing" - see what I did there?

 

And am I alone in thinking it won't look anything like what has been shown so far?

 

The A-Pillars mean you won't be able to see around corners at junctions.

 

And the pointy bits are a pedestrian health-and-safety nightmare.

 

And what's with the name "Cybertruck" - is it because of the success of the Jeep Cyberman? 

Little Doctor Who reference for you there.

 

Meanwhile, the Cybertruck is claimed to have “ultra-hard 30X cold-rolled stainless steel” said to be bulletproof for up to 9mm rounds.  Well it is going on sale in America.

 

The Cybertruck comes in three motor configurations, rear-wheel drive, 4-wheel drive and top of the range, triple-motored "Plaid".  Don't know what the third motor does or how they are pronouncing "plaid".  Is it plad as in what we would call tartan and what is usually a euphemism for boring?

 

Or is it plied as in the Welsh world for party (political not fancy-dress).

 

Talking of 4x4s and politics:

La-la Land

It's the Los Angeles Motor Show!

And Elon Musk has revealed the Tesla Cybertruck:

Angular, isn't it?

 

Autocar have the full story and a few more pictures.  It has heavy hints of...

• DeLorean DMC-12
• Top Gear Hammerhead Eagle i-Thrust
• Lego
• Tin Bath
• Mad Max Movies

Here's one of their photos - they all look like vapour-ware: 

There is one real one though - here it is embarrassing Elon Musk: