Soon after the Tesla Cybertruck was initially unveiled as a prototype in late 2019, the carmaker released a video depicting it engaged in a tug-of-war with a Ford F-150. However, skeptics pointed out that the clip, seemingly designed to showcase the Cybertruck’s capabilities, might have been biased. It appeared to show an F-150 with rear-wheel drive and an unloaded bed, potentially skewing the results in favor of the Cybertruck.
Fast forward to 2024 and customer deliveries of the Cybertruck are finally underway. And now, the owner of a Cybertruck has decided to see if it can dominate a combustion-powered pickup in a tug of war like Tesla has suggested, featuring a turbo diesel GMC Silverado. Unfortunately, the test didn’t go as planned.
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After purchasing a set of tow straps, the group found an empty piece of pavement and in the first attempt, the Silverado easily came out on top, pulling the Cybertruck like it was nothing. The same thing happened on the second attempt. The reason? It appears as though there is no way to disable the traction control system on the Cybertruck and it was freaking out on each attempt, aggressively cutting the power.
The group attempted to override this system by unplugging one of the ABS cables on the Tesla. Even though this trick did enable the Cybertruck to pull the Silverado while it was in Park, it didn’t translate into success beyond that.
It will likely be difficult for anyone to set up a tug of war with the Cybertruck until they can find a way to avoid the traction control cutting the power. One commenter on the YouTube video suggested a potential solution: plugging something into the trailer plug at the rear to trick the truck into thinking it’s towing a trailer.