The Tesla Cybertruck Throws A Huge Tantrum When Something Goes Wrong

Tesla Cybetruck Steer By Wire Fail Ts
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Science fiction movies familiarized us all with the grand trope of the dying spaceship, or the fighter jet in peril. “RED ALERT! DANGER TO MANIFOLD!” goes the warning. Lights flashing, alarms blaring. And yet, in real life, seldom few machines behave this way. Your car might flash up a solitary engine light, while your dishwasher announces failure with a solitary sad bleep.

Tesla, though? America’s most controversial EV manufacturer went hog wild with the Cybertruck. When it dies, you’re gonna know about it. You’d be forgiven for thinking you were in the War Room at the Pentagon with enemy missiles inbound when this thing throws an error message.

Hilariously, Cybertrucks are facing all kinds of failures in the field, so we get videos like the one below.

The video is from Gear Down, a YouTube channel featuring  Thomas and his work as a professional pilot. He recently purchased himself a Tesla Cybertruck in the triple-motor Cyberbeast trim. Upon taking delivery, he immediately stuck the thing in Beast mode and went ham on the throttle. Almost immediately, the Tesla erupted in alarms.

The Cybertruck’s screen immediately displayed a huge warning stating, “PULL OVER SAFELY – Critical steering issue detected.” Hilariously, the warning was partially occluded by the rear-view camera, making it look like the computer was having some kind of fit. The whole screen flashed in red to boot. Repeated alarms played over the speakers. Limp mode restricted the vehicle to a top speed of four miles per hour.

How My Tesla Cyberbeast Failed Under 1 Mile 7 10 Screenshot (1)
That looks like a reasonable amount of text to provide a driver out on the road.

Thomas turned to the touch screen to rectify the issue, only to be faced with a wall of text.  The screen spewed up paragraphs of instructions too small to read while driving. It’s like something out of a cartoon. The machine throws an error, and then out pops the manual with a few thousand words of instructions on what to do next.

A steering warning is one of the more concerning errors you can get on a Cybertruck, so the drama in the cabin is perhaps warranted. The truck’s steer-by-wire setup uses dual motors to actuate the steering, with no mechanical connection to the steering wheel.  This means that any electronic failure could cause a loss of control. Further into the video, we get a hint that the problem was down to a “loss of redundancy.” It suggests the truck may have had trouble talking to one of the truck’s steering motors. Doing a “reset” seemed to fix the issue, but the drastic alarms reoccurred multiple times when the truck was launched hard in Beast mode. It eventually ended up on a tow truck, with Tesla replacing part of the wiring harness to try and fix the issue.

How My Tesla Cyberbeast Failed Under 1 Mile 8 12 Screenshot
The footage is blurry, but seems to indicate the problem was due to a loss of redundancy in a critical system.

“Fuckin’ Elon, what are you doing bro?” said Thomas. “How’s it already broken?”

Thomas isn’t the only one out there having problems, either. A man named Lamar recently posted his own video to Twitter, showing his Cybertruck bleeping away like a biological weapons lab with a leak in a viral containment chamber. “What’s going on!?” he exclaims in one video. “Help me out!” You half expect those spider monsters from Cloverfield to start pouring over the horizon.

Remind you of anything?

Lamar called out to Elon Musk for help in multiple posts, much as Thomas laid the blame at the feet of the Tesla CEO. It’s akin to Tahoe owners calling out to Mary Barra when their truck breaks down. At the time of writing, it appeared that Lamar was still waiting for Tesla service to solve the issue. As seen in a later post, his Cybertruck reported multiple errors, including steering issues and a problem with the locking differential. Carscoops has also reported on a number of other owners facing similar error messages.

On the one hand, the errors are very fitting for the Cybertruck. Tesla is trying to sell the vehicle based on its futuristic aesthetic, so it makes sense that any errors or warnings would fit that vibe. It’s also important to capture the driver’s attention when there’s a critical error in something like the steering system.

At the same time, you could argue these warnings are so intense as to be distracting to the driver. If your truck is facing major issues on a highway, you need to assess the situation and pull over safely. Having a huge flashing screen paired with a loud, quickly-repeating alarm does take up some of your mental bandwidth. It could also panic an easily-flustered driver. I know a lot of people who would totally freak out if their car started going off like this.

All in all, I’ll give credit to Tesla for bringing a little bit of science fiction to real life. At the same time, I think the Cybertruck has, once again, gone totally overboard. To say nothing of the embarrassment of these early-stage failures. Lewin out.

Image credits: Gear Down via YouTube Screenshot, Lamar MK via Twitter screenshot

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73 thoughts on “The Tesla Cybertruck Throws A Huge Tantrum When Something Goes Wrong”

  1. Reminds me of those dumb “you have a virus!” pop-ups you get when you visit a sketchy site.

    This whole steer by wire nonsense is going to really backfire when it fails and someone gets hurt because there car encountered Error 6 (system exception:) var4 can’t be a float value.

  2. “Lamar called out to Elon Musk for help in multiple posts, much as Thomas laid the blame at the feet of the Tesla CEO”

    That’s stupid… as if Musk personally designed the steering system.

    Attention Whores are one type of person that annoy me. These are the types who who complain about shit to everyone except to the people who can actually help.

    And I’m talking about the type of people who complain about physical ailments, but don’t go to the doctor.

    Or they have problems with their computer, but don’t call IT (in the case of a company computer) or go to a computer repair shop (in the case of a personally owned system).

    In this case, the LOGICAL thing would be to go straight to the service center.. especially since it’s still under warranty.

    You know what’s really stupid? Continuing to drive a vehicle that has some sort of manufacturing defect that could make it dangerous to drive instead of just turning around and taking it back to the service people.

    Bitching about something on twitter or continuing to drive a vehicle with a problem (clearly hoping that it will lead to a bigger failure and more clicks) instead of going to the service center to get service that is covered under warranty is something only Stupid Attention Whores do.

  3. It’s almost as if most of the Autopian readers (and probably staff too) thought steer by wire was a bad idea.

    Others were like “pshh it’s fine! It’s the future! Mechanical steering isn’t needed”

    ….Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight

    I love how his immediate reaction to pull over was to reach for a turn signal stalk that wasn’t there….

    Then he had to take his eyes off the road for a very long period of time to fuck with the touchscreen to see if he can change anything.

    Funny to see 3 Cyberfuck failures happen so quickly, and in such a funny way (because no one was hurt or killed, this time) <- not a joke.

    1. That video does also feature him driving with no seatbelt, driving while using his phone, and a point where he appears to exceed 100 mph on public roads.

  5. This sort of reminds me of the Toyota Tacoma I used to have where it would start beeping loudly when the traction control kicked in. I never understand why it felt the need to distract you at the time when your full attention should be on driving.

  6. I will never own a steer by wire vehicle. Or brake by wire. Here’s the acid test; “in the event that the power system in the vehicle goes suddenly and completely inert, can the driver coast to the shoulder and stop in a controlled manner?” If no, then it doesn’t belong on public roads.

    1. I’ll give Infiniti some credit in this regard as their steer-by-wire has a fail-safe clutch that will recouple the steering wheel to the rack in the event of a power loss or other failure modes.

    2. So I’m not saying steer by wire is a good thing, but this is not as new or notable or dangerous as you probably think.

      Pretty much every tractor made in the last 50 years uses full hydraulic steering with no mechanical link. Also any heavy equipment that may be operating on public roads.

      Heavy trucks use a mechanical link to the wheels, but they’re so big and heavy and dependent on power steering that trying to steer with a loss of power steering doesn’t really work.

      1. The flip-side about those hydraulic steering setups is that they still work (with considerable effort) should the pump fail. Short of a blown hydraulic line or cylinder there’s still a fail-safe mode in the orbitrol valves used to convert steering wheel movement to hydraulic flow.

        You cut the pixies to a steer-by-wire setup and if you have no mechanical fail-safe you have no steering at all.

        That said, there is some equipment like self-propelled windrowers that have started going to full steer-by-wire systems controlling the hydraulic pumps that operate the drive wheels. There’s also some combines on the market with joystick steering that are true steer-by-wire. The industry is definitely trending that direction.

      2. As a CDL holder, I’ll counter that I could steer a class 8 tractor trailer just fine in the event of power steering failure, especially at road speed. Cranking the wheel when stationary would require some real elbow grease, granted.
        I will grant you the hydraulic steering point in farm tractors. I’d argue that their use case is different enough (mostly off road, mostly low speed) that the risk gets pretty low.
        Good points, and thanks for the discussion!

        1. I also have experience driving Class 8 trucks, including a power steering loss at low speed once. It was marginally possible to turn, but not sharp, and it was very terrible. If I was on off camber ground or something I likely would not have been able to keep the truck straight.

          I don’t know how it would feel at road speed. It would probably get a lot better with speed(light cars sure do), and would maybe be okay, but it would depend on the truck. I know that 900 series five ton army trucks had a series of crashes caused by loss of power steering. But those have huge wide tires and are significantly heavier than most civilian Class 8 trucks, and the 4wd probably means that the knuckles and everything are heavier and harder to move.

          Do you have any personal experience with a power steering loss? I really am curious as to exactly how bad it would be.

          1. Fortunately not! But I have steered a truck under tow in the yard and while it is difficult, it isn’t impossible. Tires and steering geometry matter a lot, so a military 5 ton truck with Rockwell axles and monster off-road tires are likely to be much worse than the non-driven steer axle with ‘highway rib’ tires inflated to 100 PSI that I was dealing with.

    3. This! Steering and braking are critical to every road-user’s safety, not just the driver. Having a techno-jizz feature with no mechanical redundancy should be prohibited.

  7. Look at this dude. Sheesh. One of the stranger things about growing old as a Gen Xer is how the jocks adopted full sleeve+ tattoos. This was purely the domain of the committed (and sailors) back in the day. In fact, no artist would tattoo your neck back then, that was strictly prison shit. I dunno if it’s 20 years of infantrymen coming home from Iraq or what, but now every flatbrim gymbro is inked up.
    TL;DR: My favorite band isn’t cool anymore.

    1. I live in Portland, and it is almost to the point if you don’t have a tattoo, then you are in the minority here. I don’t mind them, because there are some truly beautiful artists out there.

      1. Oh yeah, today’s talent and technical acumen is light years beyond what I got scratched into my arms. Especially the color. It’s just weird how mainstream it is now.

        1. I enjoy watching how for many, the overall outward meaning of having a tattoo has changed.

          As you point out, like 20 years ago, getting a tattoo often meant you were trying to get people to think of you in the same light as an outlaw biker or grizzled sailor – someone tough and edgy.

          But now that so many people have them, there are tattoo parlors in (dying) malls, etc. that meaning is getting largely lost and replaced by a different meaning – it’s hard to phrase, but seems to me similar to how “alternative” rock hasn’t been so for a long time.

  8. Thank goodness they have all these “influencers” to do the beta testing for them. They bought the mememobile for attention and views, so I guess they are getting it.

    1. If this was an ICE vehicle with a break-in period, I’d be inclined to agree. But one of the reasons we’re supposed to be embracing the EVolution is precisely because we’re not supposed to worry about stuff like this.

  10. on another note, I just realized the dash on the Cybertruck is huge. Like you could serve thanksgiving dinner on it huge. You could do so much up there…

    massage table (somewhere Deshaun Watson’s ears just perked up)
    4 simultaneous games of chess
    set up one of those old-school slot car tracks
    duck pin bowling?

  11. “Help me, what’s wrong with my CT?”

    Here is the answer, It’s YOU Lamar, and your POS Cyberwheels.

    You’re dumb enough to spend a lot of money on a vehicle that, maybe, is worth $5,000 with reliability on par with a 1980 Lada in Siberia.

  12. And so the anti-Tesla hate spew of vitriolic bile begins…

    I was a bit nervous when I noticed one of the staff writers here contributing to the toxic culture over at “the other site”. Now I’m downright scared one of the last bastions of an inclusive automotive enthusiast community might be burning to ashes.

    1. Dislikes when a company releases a product that doesn’t work yet.

      anti-Tesla hate spew of vitriolic bile

      Are … are you ok?

      Now I’m downright scared one of the last bastions of an inclusive automotive enthusiast community might be burning to ashes.

      I have no clue how complaining about an expensive product not working makes the community non-inclusive. Seriously, are you ok?

      1. They would post the exact same article if people were bricking any other brand new performance vehicle by doing what it’s meant to do. Just like the GTR blowing up it’s transmission

    3. Today I learned holding manufacturers accountable for their failures is known as “hate spew of vitriolic bile”.
      A+ for the use of colourful language, D- for your footing in reality.

    4. You do realize that it’s very common for writers to contribute to multiple publications as freelancers? And that each publication sets its own tone? Just because someone who contributes here has a post on the other site doesn’t mean they are bringing the same culture over.

      Did you see Jason’s mea culpa about Adrian’s article recently? Putting aside whether it was necessary, I can’t see anyone at the lighting site ever putting out an editorial like that. This place will be just fine.

    6. We post a ton of content that celebrates smart engineering decisions by Tesla. I wrote one the other day about the floorless design.

      We call it like we see it – good or bad.

  14. If you’re going to be a rock star CEO you have to expect to be called out when you promise another “Use Your Illusion” but instead deliver “Chinese Democracy”.

    1. Really it’s more about using Rumors to Ride the Lightning and become Master of Reality. Unfortunately, he’s running his company Like a Virgin.

  16. “Thomas isn’t the only one out there having problems, either.”

    That’s for sure. *Every* Tesla owner is in the same boat to one extent or another.

  17. “It’s akin to Tahoe owners calling out to Mary Barra when their truck breaks down.” If Mary Barra insisted the Tahoe consist almost entirely of gimmicks and be offered up for sale in spite of still being beta tested. Without all the still in beta gimmicky click bait nonsense the Cybertruck would probably be just fine.

      1. I think slantsix hit the nail on the head. Elon presents himself as both the face of the company and the chief decision maker. When he goes on a bat shit rant about some easily disproven conspiracy, announces impossible new features or promises things that won’t be ready in the foreseeable future it puts into questions his decision making ability. There’s a reason companies hire entire marketing teams and celebrity spokespeople at great expense.

  18. So interesting thought just occurred. Due to the lack of physical connection you need redundant systems. Get that… But then, if even one fails, it’s bricked. So you essentially have twice as many failure points. Fun.

    1. To play devils advocate here, it does seem like the redundancy at least worked from a safety perspective. A sensor went out (or connection was bad) and the redundant sensors were able to handle things to get the angry triangle pulled over safely.

      That said, you’re exactly right, it’s a ridiculous system that is needlessly complex, inherently failure prone, and I’m sure going to be heinously expensive to repair out of warranty, or in warranty when Tesla denies a claim for your car getting wet when its raining

    2. That’s one of the reasons safety critical systems on aircraft are triple redundant. If one system fails, you can keep going and get it fixed when you land. If two systems fail, you have the ability to get somewhere safe. A double redundant system like the Cybertruck’s steering is there to help keep users from losing control on the road, but it still results in a critical failure that needs immediate attention.

      1. Totally get it. Just hadn’t thought about the spiraling number of failure points. Triple redundant sounds more convenient since you can keep using it. But 3x the failure points sound insane. But this is really just a Tech Lambo so overcomplicated, expensive, and failure prone are just fine. I just hope it doesn’t become a trend.

    3. It even starts to dramatically implode like a spaceship set to self destruct, flinging wheel covers hither and yon to make sure everyone gets a piece of the action.

      (I always appreciated that Star Trek TNG did not actually start blowing up the ship first)

  20. That screen has irrefutable proof that Tesla is composed of morons. “Auto-Shift out of Park (Beta)” should never ever have seen the light of day.

  23. This seems like a particularly insane example. But warning systems lately are getting so extreme that they seem more dangerous than the underlying issue they are warning about.

    Recently while driving my new car it started beeping at me and flashing red all caps: “TAKE OVER STEERING IMMEDIATELY!” I thought it meant my steering system was malfunctioning so I braked hard and pulled over. Turns out the car was just upset that I had drifted in the lane.

  25. The Tesla Cybertruck Throws A Huge Tantrum When Something Goes Wrong

    At least it has the decency to wait until something goes wrong, unlike the ever-flowing bottle of crappy Muskatel himself.

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