- A dual-motor Tesla Cybertruck was put on rollers.
- The test is meant to simulate driving scenarios where some wheels don’t have traction.
When deliveries of the Tesla Cybertruck began at the end of 2023, it wasn’t exactly ready for prime time. The so-called Full Self-Driving advanced driving assistance system (ADAS) didn’t work, and neither did the mechanical differential lockers.
As a result, the controversial electric pickup struggled off-road, relying on just the traction control system to get it out of sticky terrain. However, the truck’s off-road abilities improved dramatically after Tesla pushed a software update that included something called Off-Road Mode last summer.
One of the headlining features was the ability to finally lock the mechanical differentials that were fitted from the factory but couldn’t be activated until the update. The dual-motor Cybertruck has two diff locks–one at the front and one at the rear–while the tri-motor Cyberbeast has just one mechanical locker on the front axle and a virtual lock at the rear.
Several owner videos have already shown the big improvements in traction after the Off-Road Mode was beamed to all the Cybertrucks, but the ultimate test is to put the car on rollers and see how the electronics try to figure everything out. And that’s exactly what the video embedded below shows.
With two wheels touching the asphalt and the EV in the Comfort driving setting, it had no issues moving forward. The harder test, however, is with three wheels on rollers and just one wheel with traction. But even so, the angular pickup had little trouble driving off the rollers. In Comfort mode–that’s the one where none of the diff locks are engaged–it took a few seconds before the car figured out where power needed to be sent, but in Off-Road Mode with both lockers engaged, the truck drove off without hesitation.
That’s the magic of diff lockers. When engaged, both wheels on an axle move at the same speed, so even if one wheel is in the air, the other one will pull the car forward. Lockers have been around for decades, helping off-road-oriented cars get unstuck in all sorts of sticky scenarios, and it’s good to see that manufacturers haven’t turned their back on this trusted solution as they transition to EVs. The Tesla Cybertruck, Ford F-150 Lightning and GMC Hummer EV have mechanical differential locks, so if you’re into electric off-roading, you have a few cars to choose from.
