Tesla CEO Elon Musk as soon as stated that if the Cybertruck was “ever in an argument with one other automobile,” it “will win.” Sadly, that sentiment hasn’t stored totaled vans out of the store after accidents or, in some instances, even the salvage public sale.
Lately, totaled-out Tesla Cybertrucks have been hitting salvage auctions. As identified by Electrek, at the least two vans have just lately been posted on-line to Insurance coverage Auto Auctions Inc, an organization that gives automotive salvage public sale companies. And whereas there may solely be two examples of wrecked vans up for public sale at this level, we should admit that these damages do not look all that unhealthy.
Cybertruck Repairs Are Expensive
With the Tesla components catalog quoting $550 for a fender, $1,900 for a windshield, and $2,845 for a entrance trunk meeting only a few months in the past, changing components on the Cybertruck will not be low cost—however maybe it is extra inexpensive than the associated fee to prep and paint a model new panel on different autos. Auto physique outlets know simply how costly Tesla physique components may be, and with the Cybertruck’s chrome steel exterior making easy dent restore much more troublesome, physique panel substitute may turn out to be much more commonplace for the chrome steel trapezoid.
Now, solely considered one of these vans was really in a collision. In that instance, the entrance trunk is pushed up, the driving force’s aspect fender is crumpled, and quite a few different minor elements additionally seem like broken. It seems like every other run-of-the-mill fender bender, at the least with out assessing the underlying structural elements of the truck.
Nonetheless, it looks as if it could take much more injury to complete out a $120,000 truck, particularly with underneath 4,000 miles on the odometer.
The second truck seems model new. Because it ought to, contemplating it has even fewer miles on the odometer—26, to be precise.
This truck is labeled a flood car, which makes even much less sense while you see the flood line indicator beneath the door sill. Like different Tesla autos, the Cybertruck locations the battery pack beneath the cabin. Nevertheless, Musk additionally claimed that the truck can be “waterproof sufficient to serve briefly as a ship, so it could possibly cross rivers, lakes, and even seas that aren’t too uneven.”
The Cybertruck even has a built-in “wade mode” to ford water as much as 31 inches deep, which is simply over 40% of the truck’s total peak. It will appear that the water did not get that top. In wade mode, the truck protects its battery by pressurizing the pack utilizing air from the truck’s pneumatic suspension, nonetheless, it is solely rated for as much as half-hour of safety. It is unclear if the truck sat in water for longer than that point, or if the truck was even delivered to a buyer earlier than it was flooded.
To make issues worse, vans that go in for repairs can take fairly a little bit of time earlier than being returned to house owners. One proprietor who crashed their truck only a few hours after taking supply, reportedly resulting from brakes failing to reply, stated that Tesla quoted a 12 months for components availability. Different house owners have reported their vans being on the service heart for weeks or months ,ready on components and even estimates.
It isn’t clear if the backlog is because of precise half constraints or if it may be resulting from Tesla’s world workforce layoffs earlier this 12 months.
Physique outlets anticipated the Cybertruck to be an insurance coverage nightmare from day one. Actually, one store advised InsideEV’s Kevin Williams that repairing chrome steel is “a novelty.” And despite the fact that the truck may have the ability to face up to some bullets, it could possibly’t defy physics throughout a crash.
It is solely a matter of time earlier than we begin seeing extra of those vans hit the public sale block, particularly as they turn out to be extra in style and are produced in increased numbers. Teslas have already got an exceptionally excessive insurance coverage price because of the value of repairing them after an accident, however we have solely seen the beginning of what it may value to repair the Cybertruck, particularly if panel replacements turn out to be a daily incidence or if it takes a considerable amount of labor to reshape steel.
