Yahoo News Tesla Cybertruck Is the Quickest Truck We've Tested, Hitting 60 MPH in 2.6 Seconds
The 2024 Tesla Cybertruck is the quickest pickup truck we have ever tested—it's also tied as the fourth-quickest EV in Car and Driver history.
The 834-hp tri-motor Beast model catapulted to 60 mph in 2.6 seconds, four-tenths ahead of the next quickest truck, a quad-motor Rivian R1T.
The Tesla completed the quarter-mile in just 11.0 seconds and 119 mph, five-tenths ahead of the Rivian and nine-tenths quicker than a GMC Hummer EV.
Welcome to Car and Driver's Testing Hub, where we zoom in on the test numbers. We've been pushing vehicles to their limits since 1956 to provide objective data to bolster our subjective impressions (you can see how we test here).
The Tesla Cybertruck was first unveiled back in 2019, before any electric pickup trucks were available for sale in the United States. Reservation holders had to wait to get their hands on the angular beast until late last fall, by which time three other electron-powered trucks—from Rivian, GMC, and Ford—were already prowling the streets. Still, while the Cybertruck took longer to hit the market, Tesla's unorthodox hauler easily beats the other EV pickups off the line, becoming the quickest truck we've ever tested and the fourth-quickest electric vehicle in Car and Driver testing history.
Beast Mode
The 2024 Cybertruck we tested was the mightiest model: the all-wheel-drive Beast with three electric motors generating a combined 834 horsepower. Despite weighing 6901 pounds, it accelerated to 60 mph in just 2.6 seconds. That's tied with a 2022 Lucid Air Dream Edition (which is an 1111-hp sedan). The only EVs we've tested that are quicker are the 2021 Porsche Taycan Turbo S Cross Turismo (2.4 seconds), the 2021 Tesla Model S Plaid (2.1 seconds), and the 2024 Lucid Air Sapphire (2.1 seconds).
The Cybertruck Beast's 2.6-second blast also puts it well ahead of every other electric truck we've tested, and we've tested all of them except the Chevy Silverado EV Work Truck. The closest contender is the 835-hp quad-motor Rivian R1T, which needed 3.0 seconds to rip to 60 mph. The 2022 GMC Hummer EV Edition 1 is next, with its 1000-hp all-wheel-drive powertrain propelling it to 60 mph in an impressive 3.3 seconds despite the truck's weight of 9640 pounds. Fourth place goes to the '22 Ford F-150 Lightning Platinum, which did the 60-mph dash in 4.0 seconds.
The Cybertruck didn't run out of steam above the mile-per-minute mark, with 100 mph arriving in 6.9 seconds on its way to a 131-mph top speed. That's nearly two seconds quicker than the next closest truck, the Hummer. The Tesla also has the quickest top speed of the group by at least 20 mph. That sustained level of performance allowed the Cybertruck to clock a quarter-mile time of 11.0 seconds at 119 mph. Meanwhile, the Rivian and Hummer covered the same distance in 11.5 and 11.9 seconds, respectively; the Ford took 12.7 seconds. Of the Cybertruck's three competitors, all but the Rivian (111 mph) hit quarter-mile trap speeds at or below 110 mph.
Making C/D History
Along with outdoing the other trucks in the more traditional acceleration tests, the Cybertruck impressed in our 5-to-60-mph rolling-start test. This is designed to better simulate what happens when you mash the go pedal from a slow roll. The Tesla's 2.8-second burst is just two-tenths off its 60-mph time, whereas the Rivian's result drops by a tenth to 3.4 seconds. The Hummer trails by a full 1.6 seconds, taking 4.9 ticks to accelerate from 5 to 60 mph.
Our highway passing test is performed between 30 and 50 mph as well as between 50 and 70 mph. With the Cybertruck, we completed the tests in both "Chill" and "Sport" modes. In the more relaxed setting, it needed 2.6 seconds to accelerate from 30 to 50 mph and 3.8 ticks to go from 50 to 70 mph. That's not lethargic by any means, but it's substantially behind the others. The Hummer needed 1.9 and 2.3 seconds, respectively. The Rivian took 1.6 and 2.0 seconds to do the same runs. Switch the Cybertruck Beast to Sport, though, and its 30-to-50-mph time drops to 1.5 seconds, and its 50-to-70-mph time drops to 1.8 ticks.
The Cybertruck put up all of these test numbers on Goodyear Wrangler Territory RT tires, sized LT285/65R-20 at all four corners. The GMC Hummer EV rode on LT305/70R-18 Goodyear Wrangler Territory MT tires, while the Rivian rode on Pirelli Scorpion All Terrain Elect rubber, sized 275/50R-22. It's easy to believe these incredibly powerful trucks might be even quicker with grippier tires.
Elon Musk originally promised a 500-mile range for the tri-motor Cybertruck before lowering that estimate to 301 miles when it's equipped with the all-terrain tires. (Tesla estimates Cybertruck's rolling on the all-seasons are good for 320 miles.) The Cybertruck we tested fell 51 miles short of that mark during our 75-mph real-world highway test.
Our test results also prove a few things about Tesla's polarizing electric truck: Not only is it the quickest pickup in C/D history, but it has rightfully earned a spot near the top of our all-time acceleration list.
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