The first Tesla Cybertruck arrived in Argentina: what is Elon Musk's beastly electric pickup like?

Various images have been circulating on social media showing a model of the Tesla Cybertruck in the port of Buenos Aires. This is the first model in Argentina of this exotic electric pickup from the brand of billionaire Elon Musk.

The scene was recorded at the container terminal located in Dock Sud, Avellaneda, and published by @diversitycarsargentina on Instagram, where the vehicle can be seen already loaded onto a truck and being transported.

Originally presented in 2019, with a failed demonstration act, this pickup truck broke with everything known until now in terms of style and its arrival caused a sensation, not only because of its electric nature, but also because of the perversion of its shapes.

President Javier Milei had driven a Cybertruck, along with his sister Karina Milei, in April of last year during a visit they made to the Tesla factory in Texas, United States, where they were received by Elon Musk himself.

The purchase price in the United States for the basic model, which has not yet been launched (single engine and rear-wheel drive), is $60,990 ; the intermediate model (all-wheel drive, two motors and 600 hp), $82,000 ; and the full-size model - called "Cyberbeast" (all-wheel drive, two motors and 857 hp) - $ 101,000.

Tesla had already surprised the world when it accelerated the creation of a whole range of electric cars when the traditional industry was just beginning to have some models on the market. But the bet on the Cybertruck broke everything .

The lines of this truck are perverse, they defy logic and history . It is made up of angles and triangles that are not seen in any other vehicle. It really looks like it is from another planet. The images that show it on red earth make a Martian scene seem credible.

Add to that the stainless steel body, absolutely flat windows and tires designed to conquer any terrain. It has rough finishing details that would not pass the quality controls of most car brands, in terms of burrs, sharp edges and gaps between body parts.

The day it was launched , it caused a sensation and thousands of people reserved a unit . That list grew to "between 2 and 3 million reservations", as reported at the time, but only 2% to 3% of them were executed. And customers had to wait until the end of 2023 to receive their copy.

Tesla is not officially sold in Argentina. In fact, it is only officially present in Mexico and Chile within Latin America. In the Andean country, it has the particularity that sales prices are almost identical to those in the United States.

Clarín had the opportunity to test a unit of the Tesla Cybertruck in the city of Miami and on the Foundation Series version, a limited launch edition with two electric motors and almost all the optional features included.

If it looks exotic on the outside, its interior is up to par. The only analogue controls are the power windows and the controls on the almost oval steering wheel . Everything else is on the huge 18.5-inch touchscreen.

Even the gear selector is there: you slide your finger up in a certain area to move forward and down to engage reverse. There is not even a start button: once inside, you press the brake and the pickup is “on the move.”

The two engines give it all-wheel drive (one is located on each axle), more than 600 horsepower, acceleration from 0 to 100 km/h in 4.3 seconds and a range of up to 547 km.

The acceleration power is tremendous, despite the fact that it claims to weigh more than 3 tons. In addition, the air suspension filters out everything that happens below: potholes, speed bumps or speed bumps disappear when the Cybertruck passes by.

What you have to get used to is the steering. It has no mechanical connection, it moves with electrical impulses and you don't have to turn the wheel a full turn to go from lock to lock.

Added to this are the directional rear wheels, which turn a lot (it is not clear how much, but it can be seen in the rearview mirrors). This gives it a turning radius greater than that of a Fitito and gives it unexpected agility at its almost 6 metres in length.

And if there was no room for surprises, we used Autopilot , Tesla's autonomous driving system. It's a bit dizzying, since it moves at normal speeds , not that it goes slower. Even in parking lots. Its radars detect stop signs and yield if another vehicle has priority.