Tesla Space #71: 22 things they changed on Cybertruck RWD

X OF THE WEEK

…went with something different for today here — just to show you the personas they’ve created for the official Tesla product accounts on X.

$TSLA

… is up 6.02% since our last week’s newsletter (Monday’s close), now at $252.35/share right as I send you this before the market open. Tesla now at $790.7B market cap.

We always share a bit more in this section for the Tesla Space Insider members.
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TESLA, GLOBALLY

Tesla is now officially open in Saudi Arabia!
Here’s their video from launch event, and another one from the country filled with pretty shots. With this, Tesla also opened the first three Supercharging sites in the country.

Oh, and did I mention — Saudi Arabia, UAE and Qatar will be the next countries Cybertruck will be introduced in? Confirmed by Tesla, deliveries start late this year.

Tesla US deliveries

The EV delivery numbers of Q1 in the US are in from Cox Automotive. The US saw 294,250 battery-electric vehicle sales in the quarter, and here’s how much Tesla took up of those:

Tesla Model Y: 64,051 (21.8% of all EV sales)
Tesla Model 3: 52,520 (17.8%)
Tesla Cybertruck: 6,406 (2.2%)
Tesla Model X: 3,843 (1.3%)
Tesla Model S: 1,280 units (0.4% share)

The Model Y and Model 3 were the best-selling EVs in the country as well, Cybertruck came in 10th, Model X 17th, and the Model S 35th.

In total, Tesla sales decreased by 8.6% in the US compared to Q1 of 2024, and it took a 43.5% market share of all EV sales in the US. Here’s the market share historically:

Quick takes:

• Giga Texas joins the automated (autonomous) new-Tesla journey from the production line to the outbound logistics lot! Previously we saw Tesla start that in Fremont. Over 50,000 driverless miles have been accrued between California and Texas factories so far. Here are three videos of these journeys from inside the Teslas.

  • “Model Ys autonomously navigate a 1.4 mile trip on a road shared with pedestrians, cars, semi trucks, construction equipment & more.”

  • “Cybertrucks autonomously navigate a 0.6 mile route traversing beneath one of America's fastest highways, emerging through a steep 17% grade to reach their destination”

Also, Giga Texas just produced their 400,000th vehicle!

• Tesla’s earnings call is on next week — you can see and vote the questions for Q&A on Say platform now.

• Elon, on China suspending exports of certain rare earth minerals and magnets — China’s dominance is not in supply of the minerals, but of refining them. By the way, we’ve seen Tesla plan towards using no rare earths on its drivetrains — we haven’t got any confirmation yet, but here’s one patent from Tesla late last year on slitted magnets that’d achieve that.

• The first Tesla sales, service, and delivery center in New Hampshire officially opened today, enabling direct sales and service for Tesla in the state. The 50,200-sqft building is located in Londonderry.

• Referral program changes in the US: Buyers now instead get 3 free months of FSD (Supervised) and referrers now get $250 of Tesla credits. Loyalty discounts stay at up to $1k off. It seems that the referral program in Canada is ended completely.

• Turns out that all the fuzz around Tesla’s iZEV incentive program claims in Canada was nothing special at all, per Tesla: “rebate claims were lawful, properly submitted, and fully compliant with the long-standing design of the program.” We’ll see if the government will unfreeze the $43M in rebates now.

• Wild timeline we live in — video of several drivers of large gas-guzzling pickup trucks and SUVs defending a Tesla location against (likely) climate change believers who wish to destroy an EV company.

VEHICLES

Cybertruck Long Range RWD launches

Tesla Cybertruck is now cheaper with RWD introduction — $69,990 ($62,490 including Fed EV credit). But this comes with significantly fewer features compared to the AWD.

It does gain in range: 350 miles now (363 miles with soft tonneau cover), and is lighter — 6,117 lbs compared to the 6,634lbs for AWD.

Here is all that the RWD will be MISSING compared to the AWD version. I arranged these by what I think are most surprising or important first:

• Standard bed with no tonneau cover included.
  You can get a soft tonneau cover for $750. This soft cover increases range to 363 miles from 350.

• No air suspension (adaptive coil spring suspension);

• No rear light bar

• No HEPA filter

• Textile seats, no heated rear seats & no ventilated front seats (Wes says “My favorite addition are the textile seats, comfortable, easy to clean and highly durable plus they look sharp.”

• No 2x 120V, 1x 240V outlets in the bed (and no 2x 120V outlets in the cabin).
  Do note that Powershare capability remains, and with the Mobile Charger outlet adapter you can still create your own 120VAC grid. No outlets in the bed is perhaps the largest change I’m surprised about.

• No sub-trunk in the bed; what’s the win there?!

• Lower 2,007 lbs payload (vs 2,500 on AWD trim)

• Lower 7,500 lbs towing capacity (vs 11k on AWD trim)

• No mechanical front locking diff (due to only single motor), does have all-wheel stability and traction control plus a rear locking differential.

• No L-track in bed

• 0-60mph in 6.2s (4.1s on AWD)

• 7 speaker audio (vs 15 speakers on AWD trim)

• No active noise cancellation

• Standard center console — no second-row screen

• 7 speaker audio (vs 15 speakers on AWD trim)

• 18" wheels with different wheel cover design (Cyber Wheels & Covers will cost an extra $3,500)

• No aluminum pedals, just the regular black plastic ones.

• Headlights without signature lamps

• Standard bed lamps (vs premium lights on AWD)

Now, all that doesn’t mean the Cybertruck is worthless or anything, but it is a significantly stripped down version and still a relatively high starting price (we all are hoping it’ll drop towards the initial $40k price for base, or at least that plus inflation…).

That said, it is the longest range Cybertruck, still has steer-by-wire and 4-wheel steering, 6'x4' bed, still comes with all the cameras, AI4 computer and thus FSD-capable, Tesla’s largest infotainment display (if not counting CyberCab), and all the other good stuff that comes with the Tesla DNA.

The Cybertruck LR RWD deliveries begin in June 2025.

To be honest, I haven’t seen that much of Tesla community comment they don’t agree with a move from Tesla for a while — did they delete too much? Either way, the AWD trim that costs $10k more seems like a lot better deal now.

There haven’t been too many comments from Wes, the Cybertruck lead engineer, on the RWD version specifics, other than him announcing this new trim (here), the reply of “excited for people get a chance to see it in person and test drive to experience all the value packed into it“ and… this slightly surprising one:

This Cybertruck was split in half when hit by a G-Wagon driver having a medical emergency (CT was parked) — and it is now for sale on IAA auction site. What’s pretty wild is that the truck’s low voltage system still powers on, and the battery also remained intact.

We haven’t heard from Wes yet, but there seems to be a structural weak spot riiiight there which would indeed protect the people in the cabin (literally no visible damage inside). Can we expect more such sights soon?

Quick takes:

A video of an apocalypse of Cybertrucks passing over Belton Lake for Cybertruck Rodeo part Deux.

Also, someone made a huge jump with a Cybertruck there. Surprising there was no damage except for scratches on the skid plates. And this video might show the world’s first underground (as in, a mile deep into the cave) Cybertruck lightshow.

PS, if you’re around Florida, go check out TeslaSpaceJam — a Tesla Owners Florida community event at the Kennedy Space Center on April 26-27th (despite the name there, no, we’re not affiliated just letting you know. Code “TeslaSpaceJam” gets you in a bit cheaper.

Ending this section with a new close-up video of the new Diamond Black paint.

SOFTWARE

Tesla 2025 Spring Update (2025.14) is here

It has currently rolled out to employees. Here’s what it’ll include:

Adaptive Headlights (US + Canada)

High beams adapt to reduce glare for other drivers and cyclists. By detecting other road users, and selectively dimming individual pixels of the headlight, your high beams stay on more often for greater visibility at night.

If your vehicle has the necessary hardware, you will see the setting under Controls > Lights > Adaptive Headlights

Blind Spot Camera on Driver Screen (New Model S/X)

Dashcam Update & Side Camera (B-pillar) Recording (Newer S3XY)
The B-pillar camera recordings were highly requested from owners recently considering all the vandalism etc — great to see Tesla acted quickly! Now, 4 6 camera feeds can be accessed on your Tesla.

The Dashcam Viewer app has also been redesigned with a grid view and quick access to the next video, making it easier review recordings. Based on some videos around the community, the b-pillar cam will likely be available for the CT too.

Alternative Trip Plans (all models?)
You can now choose between Fastest (offers the quickest route); Best Amenities (prioritizes stops near open and highly rated restaurants, shops, and restrooms) and Fewer Stops (minimizes charging stops) for navigation.
Also, when viewing a charger location page, nearby restaurants, cafes, and shops within walking distance are displayed at the bottom.

(on a sidenote outside this release, it seems that ‘cheaper’ route option might be coming soon too)

Cybertrucks will now automatically transition to Comfort Drive Mode when Autopilot is engaged. Also for Cybertruck, Lane Departure Avoidance now warns you if your vehicle drifts near or out of your lane and can assist you.

Save Trunk Height Based on Location (M3, MY, New S/X, New M3)

Customize the opening height of your trunk & save it as the default for a specific location, such as your garage.

To set height, manually adjust the lift gate to your preferred opening height, then press & hold the trunk close button until you hear a chime.

You can now similarly also save Cybertruck’s Frunk height based on location.

Avoid Highways (all models?)

Navigation can now avoid highways when possible. Go to Controls > Navigation > Avoid Highways. Good to see they’ve carried this option over from China.

Keyboard Languages

Switch between different language input methods on your touchscreen. Go to Controls > Display > Keyboards

Keep “Accessory Power On”

Use or charge devices through USB ports / inductive phone charger / low voltage outlets (depending on what your vehicle is equipped with) after exiting your Tesla, as long as battery is >20%. You can do this without using Camp Mode.

Yes! This was an issue for a while for all campers which should remedy some of the issues — Tesla is actually re-enabling this feature here.

Minor Updates:

• Media search results are now filtered by sources, providing faster and more streamlined access to content

• You can now shuffle an entire Apple Music playlist that contains more than 100 songs

• Easily scroll through your SiriusXM favorites by tapping the steering wheel button left or right

• Sign in with your Amazon Music Free account. Requires Premium Connectivity or an active WiFi connection

• See what song will play next on YouTube Music playlists in the Up Next view of the media player

• If your hotspot is enabled, it will automatically connect to your vehicle once you start driving, so you won’t have to reconnect each time

On FSD

Kyle Paul has continued the tests to replicate the Wile. E. Coyote (aka fake wall) tests of Mark Rober — in this video creating ‘hurricane rain and wind’ together with a local fire department. New Tesla Model Y with HW4 on FSD (Supervised) stopped by itself before the dummy every single time.

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