I hope I’m not the first to tell you that the Tesla Cybertruck is a heavily flawed vehicle. The headlights on the polygonal pickup are particularly impractical, specifically the front bumper just under the lights. Tesla has fixed several issues with the Cybertruck through recalls, ranging from a throttle pedal install problem that caused unintended acceleration to its windshield wiper motor that continually failed due to excessive electrical current. However, the bumper’s design won’t be amended by a recall. The owners simply have to live with the annoying design flaw.
The Cybertruck’s headlights can be easily blocked by ice and snow. The light bar across the top of the pickup’s front end is just a massive daylight running light. The high and low beams you use at night are placed lower, just above the bumper, as are the turn signals. While the placement was an aesthetic choice to make the Cybertruck look sleeker during the day, it puts the lights at the back of a shelf. If left outside during a winter storm, the lights can be caked with ice. A user on the Cybertruck Owners Club forum said they needed a hammer to clear the shelf.
The snow shelf isn’t the only issue with the Cybertruck’s headlights
The snow shelf isn’t a problem if you live in Southern California or anywhere with regular icy precipitation. However, the Cybertruck’s headlights are divisive even among the people who handed over the money for the truck. Returning to the owners’ forum, there’s a thread about the purportedly weak headlights. Owners were quick to defend the pickup by claiming the opposite. Tesla’s position on the matter seems set if it’s offering a sketchy light bar as an OEM accessory. The light bar comes partially installed, and owners have to solder wires together to finish the job.
Despite the design problems caused by the Cybertruck, Tesla rolled out a Model Y refresh in Asia with similarly styled headlights in January. Fortunately, the Model Y has no snow shelf under its high beams. It’s not unusual for automakers to restyle their product lineup to match a halo model, but the vehicle at the pinnacle is rarely this recall-riddled and poorly received. I don’t expect things to improve at Tesla, especially with Elon Musk returning from his stint as a special advisor squatting at the White House.