The Tesla Cybertruck was one of 2019's biggest stories. Elon Musk's idea of an all-electric pickup truck is very different than what anyone expected. Its science fiction-inspired design is either love it or hate it. Mainstream traditional truck owners despise it while younger people and non-truck owners are more akin to appreciate the radical styling. Existing Tesla owners, many of whom are known to be extremely loyal to the brand, have showered it with praise. Without a doubt, the Cybertruck will continue to be a big newsmaker in 2020. Might as well get started today.
As we previously learned, Russia's garage_54 began work on its own Cybertruck replica several weeks ago. They started with an old UAZ 4x4 covered in snow and concrete. Don't ask questions. It's Russia. Anyway, a lot of progress has happened since as the body is apparently done.
An entirely new frame was constructed before the new sheet metal was added. It's hard to make out the truck's exact dimensions, but it appears fairly close in size to the real Cybertruck. However, the finished product won't be electrified, evidenced by the remnants of an internal combustion engine upfront. Looking at this fake Cybertruck's new body more closely reveals surprising attention to detail. For example, notice the angled wheel arches and front and rear bumpers. Even the tires are pretty similar to what Musk showed in late November. The hand-written "Tesla" on the tailgate, however, doesn't help. It's sort of a dead giveaway this thing is fake. With the body now completed, we assume the next step would be the powertrain.
As noted above, it'd make sense to utilize an existing combustion engine instead; developing an all-electric powertrain from scratch is not only extremely difficult but managing to build one with enough power to move around something this heavy makes the task all the more challenging and expensive. Even ripping out the electric motor and batteries from, say, an old Nissan Leaf isn't easy and probably still wouldn't provide adequate power. But we gotta give credit where credit is due. This fake Tesla Cybertruck is one of the better ones made so far.