Ever since the Tesla (TSLA) Cybertruck was released in November 2023, every automotive reviewer on print, video, and social media worth their salt has voiced their opinions about the polygon-shaped pickup truck.
Storied late-night talk show host and car collector Jay Leno has driven one on camera, as has tech review giant Marques Brownlee.
Additionally, YouTuber Jason Fenske, better known as the face behind the popular channel Engineering Explained exposed the truth behind CEO Elon Musk’s claim that the Cybertruck “can tow a Porsche 911 across the quarter mile faster than the Porsche 911 can go by itself,” before auto authority MotorTrend brought out Fenske for a test confirming the results.
However, one particular popular automotive figure has been absent from all the hoopla about the Cybertruck, but he has recently weighed in on Elon’s creation.
James May tries the Cybertruck
In a new video on his YouTube channel, storied automotive journalist and former host of BBC’s ‘Top Gear’ and Amazon Prime’s ‘The Grand Tour’ James May traveled to California to weigh in on the oddly-shaped electric vehicle.
As a proud owner of a Tesla Model 3 and a past owner of several alternative-fuel cars, including a hydrogen-powered Toyota Mirai and a Tesla Model S, May spent little time talking about how it drove. However, he had a lot to say about the car’s design, which is highlighted by its seemingly flat surfaces and stainless-steel construction.
Initially, he compared it to some notable sports cars and concept car from the 1970s and 80s; cars from his youth that incorporated “wedge” shapes.
“Is this the [Lamborghini] Countach of the modern era?” May asked. “Or maybe the [Aston Martin] Lagonda, or the DeLorean […] I’m talking about things from my youth that made us go ‘wow!’ and were angular and covered in flat planes.”
May was very fixated on the Tesla engineer’s decision to make the car appear to have flat surfaces. He explained that because of that decision, “every bit piece of the car has to be precisely made” because most cars (that have curves) can easily disguise any imperfections in the body panels.
“If you look here very closely; this piece here on the a-pillar doesn’t align absolutely perfectly. It’s only a millimeter or so out, but you can see that because it’s a straight line and a flat surface,” May pointed out. “It’s also got quite sharp edges, I wouldn’t want to be hit by it.”
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The former ‘Top Gear’ host was so fixated on the specific detail that he took out a metal ruler to find out if the body panels themselves were actually flat. He found that many of the body panels, like the hood and the front doors, are, in fact, very slightly convex or curved.
“I think they thought about this very carefully, they knew if they just made it as a folded cardboard design, it would look pinched and weird and the reflections would be all wrong.” he said. “They knew to make it slightly […] oblate.”
As for the driving dynamics, May did not have much to complain about, rather he praised Tesla’s idea of an ecosystem surrounding its cars and their owners.
“I think the clever thing that Tesla has done is to reassess what might be important to people in a car and even identify things that people didn’t recognize as being important,” May said. “I don’t think people just buy them because they think ‘oh, it’s green transport,’ it’s also because the things that matter are given precedents. They’re easy to drive, they’re quiet, they’re connected, and you can fuel them at home.”
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James May did share some criticism about a few details, including the car’s light bar, glare from the flat hood, and the pillars. He found that the pillars on the car are so thick that they obscure the view at intersections and in turns.
Overall, the storied car personality concluded that he actually likes the Cybertruck, calling it “quite humorous” and “actually very ballsy,” but added that he’s “glad it exists” and that he has no desire to own one.
However, he did make one request to Tesla CEO Elon Musk.
“If I can make a little appeal to Elon Musk, could you make something about the size of the [Tesla] Model Y or maybe even a little bit smaller; still like a Tesla, still with all this Tesla stuff on it, but styled like [a Cybertruck],” he asked. “I’d go for that.”
Tesla, Inc. (TSLA) was up 0.21% at last check on Sept. 13, trading at $230.29 per share.
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