While initial speculation online was that the Cybertruck’s aero Cyber Wheel Covers were impeding brake rotor cooling, the true culprit has been confirmed to be excessive tyre wear.
The Tesla Cybertruck has only just started reaching customers in meaningful quantities, and issues are still cropping up. Aside from the glaring safety issue that arose a few weeks ago regarding the vehicle’s sharp stainless steel edges, it was recently revealed in a post on the Cybertruck Owners’ Club that Tesla would stop delivering the Cybertruck with its customary Cyber Wheel Covers, due to an originally-unspecified ‘technical issue’.
According to the user posting to the forum, Tesla is delivering Cybertrucks to customers sans aero covers and without any real indication as to why. Tesla did later inform the customer that their aero caps were on hold until March because Tesla was investigating the covers on all Cybertrucks. The part is also listed as out of stock on the Tesla accessories store.
While online sleuths initially suspected that brake cooling was the reason for the retraction of the Cybertruck aero wheel covers, it was later revealed by T Sportline on YouTube that unusual tyre wear was the likely culprit. As the host, Brian, explains in the video, the issue with the aero cover is the rubber buffer that is meant to protect the tyre from the hard plastic of the Cyber Wheel Cover.
When the vehicle is stationary, there is a small gap between the aero cover and the tyre. However, as soon as the tyre bulges slightly under the pressure of normal daily driving, the sharp edges of the Cyber Wheel Covers make contact with the tyre’s sidewall, slowly wearing away at the tyre’s integrity.
This is obviously not the intended effect, so Tesla has momentarily pulled the aero covers from new Cybertruck deliveries, although since the Cyber Wheel Covers are so integral to the electric pickup truck’s aesthetics, it’s likely that a revised version will be released soon. Whether Tesla makes the promised March update window, however, remains to be seen.
Presumably, Tesla will replace any Cyber Wheel Covers with the flawed design after conducting the investigation and redesigning the part, but the damage to the tyres of the Cybertruck is both unsightly and could cause a safety issue. Since it’s a design and manufacturing flaw, it’s to be expected that Tesla replace any parts that were damaged as a result of the ill-suited components, but this has not yet been confirmed.
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Julian van der Merwe – Magazine & Specialist News Writer – 569 articles published on Notebookcheck since 2022
My interest in tech started in high school, rooting and flashing my Motorola Defy, but I really fell down the rabbit hole when I realised I could overclock the i7 930 in my Gigabyte pre-built PC. This tinkering addiction eventually lead me to study product design in university. I think tech should improve the lives of the people using it, no matter the field. I like to read and write about laptops, smartphones, software and trends in technology.
Julian van der Merwe, 2024-02- 3 (Update: 2024-02- 3)
