YouTuber ‘WhistlinDiesel’ destroys Tesla Cybertruck in durability test

The YouTube channel WhistlinDiesel tested a Tesla Cybertruck next to a Ford pickup to see if everything Elon Musk has said about his futuristic vehicle is true.

Cody Detwiler, otherwise known on YouTube as ‘WhistlinDiesel,’ is a YouTuber and stunt performer with almost eight million subscribers whose content focuses on crazy stunts surrounding cars, farm equipment, trucks, and off-road vehicles.

In his latest 20-minute video, which has amassed over nine million views, he tests Tesla’s apocalypse-proof Cybertruck alongside another generic pickup truck to see if the Cybertruck can withstand the torment he intends to inflict on it.

Spoiler alert: no car makes it out alive. Users of the forum ‘Cybertruck Owners Club’ noted that none of what Detwiler tested is “reasonable use.”

Game on Tesla @elonmusk pic.twitter.com/jgyFFMvFNv

undefined whistlindiesel (@whistlindiesell) May 22, 2024

Detwiler puts the Cybertruck through a series of rigorous tests to see how much damage it can withstand. The YouTuber drives the Cybertruck up a bank, through muddy conditions, over a mountain of logs, and over industrial concrete cylinders.

He tested the accelerator pedals' durability, as the trucks have been recalled due to faults in their design and the finger-snapping capabilities of the truck’s frunk.

The Cybertruck sustains a broken tow hitch after towing the Ford pickup, the bottom of the rear is completely loose and eventually detaches from the vehicle.

By the end of the test, the tonneau cover that protects cargo in the truck's bed was completely unusable. The destructive testing also shattered windshields, and Detwiler even tested whether the doors could withstand being violently slammed and still work. They couldn’t.

In a shocking twist, the YouTuber attaches explosive devices to the side of the Cybertruck to test whether Elon Musk’s claims about the Cybertruck are true.

Musk once tweeted that the Cybertruck is “an armored personnel carrier from the future – what Bladerunner would’ve driven.”

It’s an armored personnel carrier from the future – what Bladerunner would have driven

undefined Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 1, 2023

Despite not being completely wrecked by the explosive, the vehicle does sustain some damage, with the door’s interior almost blown off. The steel tailgate survived well compared to the aluminum of the Ford pickup.

In the final sequence, Detwiler gets into the Cybertruck while his friends and fellow YouTubers, like Jake Paul, batter the vehicle. The group uses various objects, such as tables, brooms, large pieces of wood, and whatever else they can find in the garage.

By the end of the video, the car is in tatters, so much so that Detwiler can pull off the steel surrounding the Cybertruck that seems to have been glued onto the truck. The wing mirrors are also shown coming off without much force.

In conclusion, the Ford pickup truck won the battle. But will Tesla’s Cybertruck win the war? By the end of the video, the vehicle is completely totaled, and the likelihood of it being repaired is slim to none.

The YouTuber contacted Tesla in an attempt to get these “critical issues” addressed and potentially work on fixing the truck.

Detwiler messaged a Tesla customer service representative, saying that he was doing a durability test on the truck and had tried contacting Tesla via Instagram, but they weren’t responding. “I’ve found extremely critical issues with it, and I think it would be in Tesla’s best interest to contact me whenever they can,” he said in the video.

The YouTuber concluded by referencing the power of the consumer and stating that manufacturers should remember who their customers are: the everyday individuals watching these types of videos.

Cybertruck testing spree

This type of testing isn’t uncommon in the Cybertruck community, as many people have tested the vehicle's supposedly hardcore capabilities.

The Cybertruck Owners Club showcased a shocking battle between the Mongolian desert and one of Musk’s electric vehicles.

According to user KuMX, the accident supposedly occurred in the Alxa Desert (Alxa Plateau), a portion of the Gobi desert covering the Western area of Inner Mongolia. The user alleges that the vehicle “rolled down a steep hill and… appeared badly damaged.”

After the crash, the vehicle was in bad condition. Parts of the truck were strewn across the desert. The windows were smashed, the doors were broken off their hinges, and the entire roof seemed to have been ripped out.

Another example of the Cybertruck’s untimely end was when a user on TikTok filmed the aftermath of a collision with a traffic light pole, leaving the front of the truck in a crumpled mess.

Despite being the newest combat vehicle in Fortnite, these Cybertrucks can’t seem to withstand the conditions that Musk claims they can.