Tesla Cybertruck After 50,000 Miles: Owner Details Issues, Charging Costs

• The owner of a 50,000-mile Tesla Cybertruck details his experience.
• The pickup was delivered in March.
• It even went to the Arctic Ocean alongside another Cybertruck.

The Tesla Cybertruck. It’s controversial because of its looks, higher-than-originally-advertised price, several recalls and unfortunate mishaps experienced by some owners. However, not all Cybertruck owners have had issues with their angular electric pickups.

Take, for instance, the truck detailed in the Teslatino video embedded below. With a little over 50,000 miles added on the clock since March, it’s supposedly the highest-mileage Cybertruck in the world, so it’s the perfect candidate for seeing what could go wrong with the controversial EV.

This particular Cybertruck had its fair share of travel, including a pretty epic trip to the Arctic Ocean earlier this year, so what could have gone wrong surely already went wrong. Well, sort of.

Let’s start with the range estimate. This is an All-Wheel Drive Cybertruck which had an original range estimate of 318 miles on a full charge. Now, after 50,000 miles, the estimate never goes above 309 miles with a full battery, but bear in mind that the pickup has a roof rack and a roof tent, as well as off-road-oriented tires, all of which would affect the driving range in any EV. In other words, the range loss has been minimal given the circumstances.

In the energy efficiency department, the numbers look like this: an average efficiency of 513 Wh/mile or 1.95 miles/kWh. That’s not great but not terrible for a big truck with a roof rack and roof tent. Before these accessories were installed, the efficiency was a bit better at 471 Wh/mile or 2.12 miles/kWh.

So, how much did it cost to charge the Cybertruck for all this time? It depends. In total, the electric truck used 25,628 kWh of energy. Charging at home, where the owner’s electricity price is $0.11/kWh, comes to $2,819. If Tesla Superchargers are the only option, the total charging costs rise to $7,688, considering a price of $0.30/kWh. The owner said he predominantly used Superchargers from the very start, so the charging costs are pretty high, but the potential for lower costs exists in the form of home charging. By comparison, a gas-powered Ford F-150 would have needed roughly $7,000 in fuel, so take it as you may.

The only real issue with the truck was the motorized tonneau cover, which was misaligned a couple of times and some service visits were required. The recall for the accelerator pedal was also performed–the pedal cover was riveted at the bottom to prevent it from sliding out and blocking the accelerator in its wide-open position.

Here’s where things get a little more interesting, though. The rear motor of this all-wheel drive Cybertruck was swapped for a new unit–not because it was broken but because Tesla wanted to evaluate the potential damage inside it. That’s because this is allegedly the highest-mileage Cybertruck out there, so the automaker wanted to get some real-world information about the hardware.

Steer-by-wire also got a big thumbs-up from the owner. As a reminder, there’s no steering column on the Cybertruck–instead, the steering wheel sends digital signals to the steering motor.

That’s pretty much it. Granted, that rear motor swap is rather suspicious and a regular, non-influencer-type owner likely wouldn’t get the same treatment, but there was nothing wrong with the original unit to begin with. But what’s your take on this? Let us know in the comments below.

Top comments

Troy Savary Dec 15, 2024, 11:00 PM

50k miles is not very far to have needed multiple trips to a service center to fix stuff.

Tom K Dec 16, 2024, 2:07 AM

For CyberTruck it is far - these things are least reliable truck in the last 50 years.

jrharbort Dec 15, 2024, 5:37 AM

"By comparison, a gas-powered Ford F-150 would have needed roughly $7,000 in fuel, so take it as you may."

My quick napkin math based on F-150 fuel efficiency says this would only be possible if fuel were $2.10 per gallon. Fuel is not that cheap anywhere in the U.S.

Fields Carlisle Dec 15, 2024, 7:40 AM

Your napkin math must be based on really low fuel efficiency figures? An F-150 driven predominantly on the highway can hit 20-22mpg for the V8 or Ecoboost V6 3.5TT. In the city it is less. Most of these miles had to be done on the highway or there’s no way they would’ve racked up 50K miles in 9 months.

So, at 20mpg you would consume 2500 gallons. In much of the U.S. fuel is sub-$3/gallon. In the South (NC, SC, VA, GA, TN) I see it ranging from $2.45-2.70/gallon. That would be $6125-$6750 of gasoline. If you only get 15MPG you would spend $8166-$9000. It largely depends on where you driving (city or highway), how many miles per gallon you get, and the cost of your fuel. So if you predominantly drive road trips and require DCFC the Cybertruck costs the same or more to recharge but takes up a considerable amount of your time charging. It’s one of the slowest charging Teslas in terms of miles per minute regained sold in the last decade. Even on a CCS 350kW 800V charger it takes 40 minutes to charge from 10-80% and that only gets you another 165 miles of range based on ~2mi/kWh. So every two hours of driving you have to spend 40 minutes charging. That’s horrible, but lines up with the results I’ve seen multiple Cybertruck owners report online and the two people I’ve spoken to at Superchargers who have one.

WizeAdz Dec 15, 2024, 1:33 AM

I test drove a Silverado EV LT the other day, and I’m likely to trade both my Model Y and my GMC Sierra in on one in the future.

I described the Silverado EV to my wife as “forgettably awesome”. It pulled my favorite elements from both my Model Y and my Silverado/Sierra in a totally comfortable and unobtrusive way that would seamlessly support my Midwestern lifestyle.

I will almost certainly own one in the next few years.

The Silverado EV is the truck to beat in this space.

Solarman2 Dec 15, 2024, 5:14 AM

The Silverado EV is the truck to beat in this space.

Thanks for that, my last experience directly with the dealership was during an oil change on my truck, I sauntered over to the lot looking for a Silverado EV 3W/T and take a closer look at it. A salesman approached and the first thing he asked is "Do you have a business license or own a business?" IF you don't I can't sell this to you. I haven't been back since then to look at the one Silverado EV (LT) on the lot now. I have the patience to wait for the sketchy corporate or dealership programs to fade away and perhaps even get into a used or lease returned Silverado EV for 1/3rd less than the new price.

Again the so called (Osborne effect) may push things to a point I would much prefer a RAM Ramcharger EREV.

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