This Release Candidate Tesla Cybertruck Appears Covered In Fingerprints

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There’s been a number of pictures of pre-production Tesla Cybertrucks spotted testing out in the wild, and the reactions have varied as wildly as you’d expect, with some eye-rollingly reverential and somewhere you can almost hear the near-vomiting of the commenter. It’s polarizing, and, honestly, I think that’s a good thing. The automotive landscape can use more of that sort of thing. As far as whether or not I’m on the it’s great or it’s hideous ends of the pole, well, I’m going to reserve full judgment until I see one in person, but so far I don’t think I’m going to be hacking out my middle kidney to make a down payment on one just yet. One exciting development, though, is that for the first time an actual, genuine Autopian Reader has spotted one in the wild, and sent us that picture up there! So let’s celebrate that.

The particular Cybertruck spotted is one that wears no camouflage or a wrap-costume of another truck, but instead bears decals that read “RC” which stands for “release candidate,” terminology that comes from the software development world and used to refer to a software build that is being tested for actual commercial release. So, based on this, I suppose we can assume this one is a late pre-production model, and what we’re seeing should be close to the actual, final product?

The reader, by the way, was named Alex, and gave us a bit of background what he was driving when he caught this San Jose-area Cybertruck spotting:

“It’s a ’94 2 door 5 speed that I have done so much work on that multiple people (the most recent one being last week) have called the ‘Jeep of Theseus. My goal has been to keep it looking as stock as possible while functioning as well as possible, and to accomplish that I have replaced a list of parts far longer than my arm. It has served me incredibly well for the last 6 years and is still going strong at 245000 miles and easily transports me, my wife, and our 110 lb poodle/mastiff/great pyrenees mix from CA to WA every winter to go skiing with my family.”

“I have recently been prepping it for a 2000 mile round trip from San Jose CA up to Spokane WA and back so I can pick up a VW Beetle frame and other parts needed to build my (electric) Meyers Manx SR dune buggy (one of the original 200ish kits that I bought from the widow of the original owner). We were out on a final test run of the steering box I just swapped in when I saw a giant steel polygon going down the road and asked my wife to get her phone out to take a picture of it.”

One thing Alex should be happy about is that they didn’t have an experience like these other Cybertruck-spotters who had a near-miss with a Cyberhubcap that was flung ninja-star-style off the truck:

One particularly noticeable thing about Alex’ shot of the Cybertruck that I suspect will become an issue for future owners is something anyone with human hands and a stainless steel refrigerator can tell you all about:

Fingerprints

Fingerprints! Stainless steel loves to show fingerprints! It’s possible these post-DeLorean stainless steeds are going to be absolutely Georges Seurat-ed with fingerprints. Based on my own stereotypes of the fussy sort of clean-handed core buyers of these things, I bet this will be a source of lots of owner irritation.

Also, the scale and shape and sharpness of the thing still leave me feeling like this thing will not be exactly ideal for, you know, truck shit. Can you imagine loading anything over that side? Or passing something heavy into the bed while leaning on one of those razor-edged sides? It doesn’t feel like any real truck-hauling-shit use has been thought through. Other recent pictures of the inside of the Cybertruck’s bed seem to bear this out, too:

Okay, sure, nice ambient lighting, but that bed’s inward-sloping sides make that bed deceptively small. The prototype’s bed was quite different, much larger seeming. This isn’t so great, and it’s not just me being a jerkhole and saying this.

One thing I do like, though, is the way that the Cybertruck is handling its brake lights:

What I like about this brake lamp approach is that there is a clear shift both in lamp brightness, as is traditional, but also in the visual graphic of the lamps themselves, switching from one long unbroken bar into three bright elements, and I think that does a lot to capture the driver’s attention. It’s also interesting how pretty much all of the main taillights are at the high level of the center-high-mount stop lamp (CHMSL), so they’re all on the same linear plane. It seems to work well.

There! I said something nice!

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Mercedes Streeter

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165 thoughts on “This Release Candidate Tesla Cybertruck Appears Covered In Fingerprints”

  1. I wonder if this could have been in production by now if they’d just done it with regular steel. Even aluminum. The styling is weird enough, they didn’t have to go weirder with stainless.

  5. I’ve got a question about tires – are these some pre-production customs or are these gonna be on the final models? And what are they? The sidewall seems to mimick the original proto wheel design, kinda interesting.

  6. Someone should retrieve that wheel cover and sell it on ebay. Fanboys will pay crazy for that.

    I HATE those bake lights. You shouldn’t have to interpret what the lights means.

  10. Was reading a cyberpunk story earlier performing a ditch accident test. There were no pics but reviewer stated major panel gaps prior to test, despite promises appeared unibody construction, and as a insurance industry expert despite not looking to beat up doubted anyone would deal with repairing it. Big suggestions gap insurance.

  11. The night shots under the streetlight look the worst. But I suppose you could clean this with some paper towels and a spray bottle of Weiman Stainless Steel cleaner

  12. We have one at the Petersen Museum right now and I thought it was a pretty dumb looking thing until I saw it in person. Now I like it. It’s outrageous and weird and kind of arty and we need more outrageous and weird and arty things. Not a practical truck for sure, but it’s not going to be bought by people who need a practical truck. Who is going to buy it besides some wealthy Tesla worshippers? I don’t know, but I’ll like seeing the random one I come across on the road. Incidentally, the design is based on an art car called the Lo Res Car that is somewhat renowned and is also here at the Petersen. This was kind of a secret for a while, but Musk has now admitted that Tesla designers were inspired by a trip to the Petersen even if he doesn’t specifically call out the Lo Res Car since I believe the maker of it sued Tesla.
    https://s1.cdn.autoevolution.com/images/news/gallery/the-lo-res-car-is-what-happens-when-you-deconstruct-a-lamborghini-countach_1.jpg

    1. Come upto Arcata CA they have a yearly festival of extremely creative and unique rides. What makes Arcata better is each is a one off and each builder knows putting it into mass production is stupid. Only Elon is high enough to make that bad decision.

    4. we need more outrageous and weird and arty things

      Totally agree, but something like this should be coming from a boutique maker, not from a now-mainstream automaker whose espoused mission is Accelerating the World’s Transition to Sustainable Energy. This has just become a pet project of the world’s richest man (see also Youabian Puma).

  13. Look! A modern day Edsel.

    I truly believe Ketamine is the reason for this insanely stupid ego trip. There is no false equivalency of greatness here. Just a mistake from beginning to end.

  14. I like it. Not only because I’m a connoisseur of prismatic vehicles, but also it’s just Different. My take on the automotive design landscape is that it’s reached the point of “Any publicity is good publicity” when it comes to stuff that isn’t an angular egg-shaped crossover.

    I look forward to buying one out of someone’s yard in 23 years for 950 Bezos Bucks.

  16. I appreciate the detailed critique of the utility of the truck bed while knowing that the most these trucks will ever be hauling is their owners’ insecurities.

      1. Some day I’d like to see the data supporting auto-blog commenters’ firmly held beliefs on how everyone else in the world uses their personal vehicles.

        2. People who have never been anywhere you would need a truck assume that nobody uses a truck.
          If the only place you drive is the office and the grocery store, of course you only see trucks with empty beds.

          1. Eh, it’s less of an assumption when you get a close up look and see that the bed and receiver are absolutely pristine. I’ve got more trail damage on my Hyundai Santa Fe than most Wranglers I see around here. Trucks and Jeeps purchased as purely a symbol are definitely a thing. So are trucks and Jeeps purchased for what they were intended.

            1. Oh jeeps for sure.
              But with trucks it’s far from a majority, you don’t see them if you have a white-collar job because the trucks being used for work are on worksites

              1. Company trucks are a no-brainer. The implication behind peoples’ dislike of others buying pickups for them to be commuter vehicles is that you’ll find your answer in residential areas. I can almost guarantee you 17 of the 20 pickups in my neighborhood are in the “pristine” category. The other 3 are a company work truck that its driver is allowed to take home because he is on-call, an old squarebody Chevy project truck, and one belonging to a neighbor who owns a landscaping business

                If, tomorrow, people magically stopped buying pickup trucks if they weren’t actually going to use them as a truck doesn’t mean that pickups would disappear from the road, not by a long shot. But we might just see the resurgence of the sedan or the 2 door sports coupe.

                Or about a billion more crossovers.

  18. So, which is it that indicates braking? The entire bar lit up like most of the video, or the one where only a part of the bar is list up?

  19. From where I live…That CyberTruck bed looks EXACTLY like a galvanized cow tank I saw at Tractor Supply last week. At least that galvanized tank holds water to feed bovines to create genuine bullsh*t.

      1. I’m a bit tipsy right now, but I plan on keeping a few of my kid’s drawing attempts and refrigerator magnets in my car to slap on to parked Cybertrucks once these abominations are on the road.

        1. I have never wanted a trend to happen more than this, people putting kids drawings on the side of Cybertrucks hahahahaha

          Please make this happen

  21. I’m on the earlier part of the list for one of these and will definitely be buying it, because electrons are cheaper than gas and rear wheel steering is lovely when you need to maneuver in tight spaces. Anyone who’s had a stainless fridge knows how to deal with the fingerprints (keep the kid aways from it!) But this is going to be simple to wrap, if we care. What most folks haven’t internalized yet is no paint + stainless steel = a vehicle you can scrape on anything. Buff out things with a grinder and go on with your day. Much better than dealing with paint if you actually use your truck.

    1. It’s harder than that, a pass with a grinder isn’t going to duplicate the factory grain on the stainless steel, it takes some finessing to make a proper repair. That’s why so many DeLoreans ended up painted after collision damage, even though the panels were straightened out perfectly

    2. If you use a grinder on your stainless steel panels, they’re gonna look like trash afterwards. Stainless steel has texture, it’s not a uniform silver, and a grinder will ruin the consistent appearance. Also, my stainless steel coffee mug begs to differ with your assertion that you can scrape it on anything. Stainless steel is not immune to scrapes.

      Also “electrons are cheaper than gas?” It’s still an unnecessarily huge truck, give me a break. You will save no money powering this, don’t pretend the cost of fuel/electrons is a factor here. If it was, you would drive a Chevy Bolt, which is the most car most people need. Also LOL on the rear-wheel-steering and maneuverability, also because giant truck, and again just buy a smaller car if you actually care about that. I guarantee any compact car is easier to park than a Cybertruck no matter what the rear wheels can do.

      1. No, I also drive a model 3, which is like a Bolt but not boring. And I know the Bolt — bought one for my Mom. However, I *do* tow. Utility trailers, camp trailers, cars… I have an F150 hybrid for that now and the Cybertruck will replace it. And I spent yesterday driving all afternoon in the 3 in the mountains, and it cost $4 in power. My power is cheap. Gas isn’t.

      1. Have you driven a modern 1/2 ton truck lately? I have a 2021 F150. I tow things. Rear wheel steering will be a game changer. What other potential electric or regular truck that’s smaller can tow a 25 foot 8k lbs Airstream?

        1. Honestly, I’ve always been perplexed at the lack of interest in rear wheel steering, GM had Quadrasteer on their pickups 20 years ago, but nobody ordered it. I think it was badly marketed, at least in their case

          1. Honestly confused about this too. GM is supposed to do this with the new EV Silverado, and I love that they’re doing a midgate too. I just have very little faith that they’ll be able to ship many given how bad they’ve screwed up the Hummer EV.

    4. I worked for a company that manufactures appliances for about a decade. Taking a grinder to stainless steel in your home garage is not going to “buff out” anything.

    5. troll, you cannot buff out stainless.

      I’m sure we’ll see some wraps, but this thing is going to cost extra because of the stainless (all the expense involved in using it), why just put wrap over it?

      I’d rather have a cybertruck made out of plastic, and then put a stainless wrap on it.

        2. It’s the obviously ridiculous comment that you can “buff out” stainless that the troll comment was (kinda jokingly) directed at. When someone makes a statement like that it’s usually because they are just trolling for someone to jump in and comment on it. I bit.

    6. Electron is cheaper than gas > talks about a 100k+ truck

      Talk about rear stear to maneuver in a tight space > why not start by not buying an immense truck

      You can’t buff it and get it look like factory, you have to buff the whole car, also, you can’t correct a dent.

      Suggest actually using a truck, let me laugh…

      If you are a real truck user, there is some extended cab long bed useful trucks that are 3times cheaper, and probably way less ressources consuming to produce, the price difference will buy you 10life of gas.

    7. Electrons are cheaper than gas for now. As demand goes up, so will price, then we’ll be right back to where we are now with people having a hard time affording to fuel their vehicles.

      1. If power prices rise to parity with gas costs, we’ll have a revolution. But there’s another thing to ponder: can you refine your own gas? I’m sure there’s folks out there that can, but it’s not easy. Can you make your own power? Heck yes! There’s a lot of folks that will sell you turn key systems that do that — even Tesla. There’s a lot more pressure in the market to drive down power costs than there is to drive down fuel costs.

        1. Fair point. I’m sure folks with the property and means to do that will figure it out. Apartment dwellers (such as myself) and people that can’t do solar for whatever reason will still be screwed. Just another thing that will be disproportionately more expensive for lower income people.

          1. That is possible, and if we keep rewarding stupid behavior with how we vote (red vs blue) and how we manage our grid (PG&E, SoCal Edison, etc,…) folks that don’t own a home are screwed. I do know one org that gets charging right and at this time it’s Tesla, hands down. The apartment issue could be solved with some power-walls and L2 chargers, but the power companies don’t want that. It’s a screwed up situation, agreed.

    8. You’re likely going to have huge trouble insuring that thing. No one else except Tesla will not be willing to do repairs on it so it’d just get written off very easily and no insurer will want to do that.

  22. Look I hate this thing, but Jason is right about the brake light. Not a terrible thing.

    That said, check out the indicators. They’re tiny. I can’t attach an image here but they’re just the ends of the wide brake light that aren’t on the tailgate. No bigger than 4″x6″. They’re way too small, and way too high up. They’re going to get people killed, especially with the blindspots this thing definitely has.

    1. Oh the lights work great. But am I the only person expecting to see salvage titled Cybertrucks with plywood repairs? I mean it is only logical.

  24. I don’t want one, I do not like them, and I would never willingly or knowingly put money in Musk’s piggy bank. That said, I don’t hate it any more than the HUMMER EV. Still holding out hope for the Canoo pick up even though I know my dreams will be horribly crushed (looking at you Santa Cruz and Maverick).

    1. I hear Elon had come up with a means to permanently erase people’s fingerprints and will require all humans to undergo the process. This was deemed more cost effective than redesigning the Cybertruck.

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