Tesla’s futuristic Cybertruck catches a lot of flak around Jalopnik’s virtual water cooler. But in spite of the Cybertruck’s dismal sales, somebody must like the darn things because I can seldom leave my house without seeing one or two DePloreans in the wild. However, even the most hardcore Tesla stan might get a bout of indigestion when they see how quickly the Cybertruck decimates its giant tires down to the wear bars — and how much they cost to replace. According to some owners, the near-7,000-pound truck with over 500 pound-feet of instant torque from dual motors can chew through tires in under 7,000 miles.
Cybertruck tires are size 285/65R20, which equates to nearly 35 inches tall and just over 11 inches wide. Most versions of the Cybertruck have tires based on Goodyear’s Wrangler Territory RT, but with one very important difference. The sidewalls are custom designed to interface with the Cybertruck’s unique hubcaps aerodynamic wheel covers. Reliefs in the sidewalls let the wheel covers fit more flush while simultaneously making the wheel cover’s spokes appear to extend to the edge of the tire.
Retaining the futuristic wheel covers means that the bespoke original-equipment tires, at nearly $500 each, are the only game in town. However, ditching those aerodynamic wheel covers will open up a much larger selection of tires in the factory size, though without the customized sidewalls. Not only can you potentially snag better-quality or better-performing tires than the original-equipment Goodyears, but you could save some money, too.
Ditching the wheel covers is an option
Tesla isn’t like a regular car company, where design changes are well telegraphed and occur at logical intervals, like at new model years. Instead, Tesla is known to make engineering tweaks on the fly, and the Cybertruck’s aero wheel covers are no exception. It turns out that the original wheel covers were actually digging into the tires’ sidewalls, which caused premature abrasion and wear. Tesla has since redesigned the Cybertruck’s aero covers to fix this problem, but for a while, Cybertrucks were shipping with no wheel covers.
That wasn’t actually a bad thing. Lurking underneath the curb-rash-prone wheel covers are a set of fairly attractive 14-spoke (seven double spokes) black alloy wheels. If you like the way your Cybertruck looks with the naked alloys, you’ll greatly expand your selection of available tires. But do be warned that driving sans aerodynamic covers will slightly ding the EV’s maximum range.
To further confuse the issue like only Tesla can, there’s also a set of “Core Wheels” now on offer that mimic the appearance of the original Cybertruck “Cyber” wheel covers, but don’t extend onto the tire’s sidewall like the Cyber wheel covers. The newer Core Wheels come with all-season tires that supposedly increase range over their more aggressive all-terrain counterparts. But once the stock all-season tires kick, you could replace them with whatever style tires you want — no special sidewall-sculpting required.
Cybertruck tires are comparable to peers
So let’s get down to dollars and cents for a new set of Cybertruck footwear. It’s difficult to find current pricing for factory all-terrain tires, but as of December 2023, Tesla dealerships were selling Cybertruck tires for $470 each, not including installation. Some reports indicate that Tesla dealerships are the only source these unique tires, but we found two tire stores also selling them for $470 each.
Without worrying about the aero wheel covers, the selection widens to all tires in the proper 285/65R20 size. A quick browse of popular retailers like Tire Rack and Walmart shows some off-brand all-terrain tires like the Leao Lion Sport AT for as little as $175 each. However, searching for name-brand all-terrain tires like BF Goodrich or Yokohama quickly ratchets the pricing to well over $400 — comparable to the original-equipment Cybertruck tires. Albeit, performance might improve with one of the best all-terrain tires like Goodrich’s KO2 or KO3 replacing the stock Goodyears.
The bottom line is that 35-inch-tall tires to fit a 20-inch-diameter wheel just aren’t dirt cheap. That said, it’s still possible to buy a set of four off-brand tires to fit the Cybertruck for about $700 without factoring for sales tax or installation. Stepping up to original-equipment tires or a reputable alternative is likely to ring the cash register at around $1,800 sans extras. In the world of high-performance and luxury vehicles, spending that amount seems fairly normal. What stings here is the frequency.