Mechanical Engineer Argues Elon Musk Should Apologize to Porsche

Saying that the Cybertruck was last year's most anticipated vehicle wouldn't be an exaggeration. The all-electric pickup truck benefitted from a lot of hype. Characteristics like being bullet-resistant and having rock-proof glass were the things that convinced many to place a deposit for a reservation.

Initially, Tesla's first 800V EV with a 48V electrical accessory system was also supposed to have an impressive 500-mile range on a single charge. Now, we know that's not true. Even prospective customers who opt for the extra cells (the $16,000 range extender) that go in the bed of the pickup truck can't get 500 miles out of a full charge. The maximum manufacturer-rated range is 470 miles.

But despite looking like a triangle on wheels with an iPad slapped onto its dashboard and generating a ton of consumer interest worldwide, Tesla's Elon Musk still decided to take it up a notch. It showed everyone that the Cybertruck could outrun a Porsche 911 on a track while towing an identical 911. Nobody's denying that the idea was great. The problem is that it was packaged nicely as a lie.

Netizens who doubted what Tesla achieved in that drag race quickly discovered that the track was at the Sacramento Raceway Park. They looked at the videos and the track length. Their conclusion? That wasn't a quarter-mile drag race.

However, Elon Musk was adamant that the Cybertruck beat the 911 in a quarter-mile drag race (while wearing Goodyear off-road-y tires, mind you). He said in front of a live audience that the pickup truck "can tow a Porsche 911 across the quarter mile faster than the Porsche 911 can go by itself." The slideshow also included the "faster than a 911" message, which just isn't true. Not even the Cyberbeast can reach the top speed of the most entry-level 911.

That statement triggered a few alarms for two main reasons: we weren't told what type of 911 was used (there are a bunch of them), and since when can a pickup truck with a top speed of 130 mph outrun a sports car while towing another one without needing special tires? It just didn't make sense. Keep in mind that for that stunt, Tesla used the tri-motor 845-hp Cyberbeast, not the dual-motor 600-hp Cybertruck that's reaching customers as I'm writing these words.

However, not much was discussed about that afterward. The hype surrounding Tesla's first pickup truck overshadowed Elon Musk's statement and the misleading video that provided the quarter mile time of "under 11 seconds" after the drag race was done.

But an engineer-turned-YouTuber looked into all that and discovered two things. First, netizens who initially contested the drag race were right – it was an eighth-mile, not a quarter-mile drag race. Second, the Cybertruck was never going to embarrass a Porsche 911 in the way Elon Musk described it.

He figured out that the sports cars used by Tesla had to be a manual 911 T with 379 hp on tap, an 181 mph top track speed, and a zero to 60 mph time of 4.3 seconds (when equipped with the Sport Chrono pack). Two independent sources also confirmed that the 911 T could complete the quarter-mile in 12.2 seconds.

On the other hand, the Cyberbeast can run the quarter-mile without towing anything in 11 seconds. As such, it would have easily been faster at Sacramento Raceway Park than an entry-level 911 with a manual gearbox. For some reason, Tesla thought that wasn't good enough. It just had to exaggerate everything.

Using the drag race video and the data that confirmed the Cyberbeast could cross the eighth-mile finish line in 6.94 seconds, the engineer figured out that the pickup truck towing a 911 needed 12.3 seconds to cover a quarter-mile in a best-case scenario – 0.1 seconds more than the manual 911 needed.

In conclusion, Tesla shot itself in the foot for nothing. It created an impressive, quirky-looking vehicle that didn't have to prove itself that way. The engineer thinks Elon Musk should apologize to Porsche "for misrepresenting the true gap in pace."

Now, it's your turn. Let us know if the man is right or not. Is Porsche owed an apology?