The ‘Waterproof’ Tesla Cybertruck Will Be Able to ‘Serve Briefly as a Boat,’ Elon Musk Claims

Who knows when, or even if, the Tesla Cybertruck will go into production, but that hasn’t stopped Elon Musk from making another outlandish promise about the vehicle.

On Thursday, the EV maker’s CEO announced out of the blue that the marque’s upcoming first truck will be able to “serve briefly as a boat.” Apparently, the vehicle will be “waterproof enough,” to cross short bodies of water, like lakes or rivers.

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Cybertruck will be waterproof enough to serve briefly as a boat, so it can cross rivers, lakes & even seas that aren’t too choppy

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 29, 2022

The bold claim, like so many by Musk, was made on Twitter. He followed up his initial tweet with another stating: “Needs be able to get from Starbase to South Padre Island, which requires crossing the channel.” Electrek points out that the shortest distance between the two points in southernmost Texas is about 1,100 feet. Amazingly, this also isn’t the first time that Musk has teased Cybertruck’s amphibious abilities. The website points out that he made a similar, though less detailed, claim in 2020.

As ridiculous as Musk’s latest Cybertruck tease may be, it’s not fully out of the realm of possibilities. Any truck with a fully enclosed underbody—which presumably the Cybertruck will have—can technically float for a short amount of time, according to Motor Trend. But there’s a difference between floating and actually functioning as a boat. To do the latter, Tesla has to figure out to keep the vehicle afloat and control it.

Musk and Tesla have had some difficulty delivering on their promises when it comes to the Cybertruck—at least up until now. The company has delayed the EV repeatedly since first unveiling it in November 2019. The most recent delay to sometime next year was also accompanied by a not-so-subtle hint that the pickup’s starting price would be more than the $39,900 first mentioned three years ago. Then there was the whole matter of the truck’s shatter-proof windows shattering during the debut.

Tesla isn’t the only one trying to figure out how to turn the Cybertruck into a boat. Earlier this year, one of the EV’s reservation holders unveiled an aftermarket accessory concept that could be used to turn the pickup into a pilotable catamaran. Best of all, once you’re off the water, the attachment can be easily stowed away in the vehicle’s trunk.

Authors

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  Bryan Hood

  Senior Staff Writer

  Bryan Hood is a digital staff writer at Robb Report. Before joining the magazine, he worked for the New York Post, Artinfo and New York magazine, where he covered everything from celebrity gossip to…

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