Tesla Cybertruck Owner in Canada Says the Truck is “Dangerous” After Experiencing First Drive in the Snow; Forced to Slow Down to 25 Mph on the Highway & Stop Multiple Times to Clean the Headlights
Brock Nanson is a new Cybertruck owner from Canada, and after experiencing his first drive in the snow, Brock says the Cybertruck “is not just inconvenient but dangerous.”
Brock also adds that he can’t believe Tesla wasn’t able to catch all the cold weather issues during testing and says the last vehicle he drove, which was this bad in the snow, was built in 1976.
The issue with the Cybertruck’s recessed headlights and snow accumulation has been covered extensively, and during his drive, Brock had to deal with this design oversight; however, surprisingly, according to the Canadian Cybertruck owner, the most frustrating part of driving a Cybertruck while it’s snowing isn’t the headlights but the light bar.
These are the large daytime running lights on the Cybertruck hood extending from end to end. Although seemingly large and impressive, the light bar is only there for aesthetic purposes and the real headlights are situated recessed between where the hood meets the front bumper.
Brock says the diffuse light coming off the light bar reflects light from the falling snow and completely shrouds what’s going on the road.
Couple this issue with the headlights that let snow accumulate in front of them, and Brock says he had to slow down to 25 mph on the highway because of bad visibility.
The frustrated Cybertruck owner describes all the issues he uncovered while driving his truck on the snow during the night time.
Here is what he wrote…
“Well, I had my first night drive in the snow tonight. Admittedly, it is probably the worst combination of conditions. The temperature was right at zero, and the snow was coming down in big chunks.
The first problem, which I consider to be a complete fail that absolutely needs to be addressed, is the light bar across the front of the frunk. It's a giant frosted bulb that doesn't focus the light anywhere. Instead, it lights up the falling snow as you drive down the highway as if you have your high beams on. Actually, it's worse than high beams because they at least have a cut-off line.
I was down to 40 or 50 km/h (24 mph) because all I could see was snow. It felt as if I was jumping to warp speed. This was not just difficult—it was actually dangerous.
The second problem was the snow sticking to the headlights themselves. I was forced to stop every few kilometers to wipe it off the lenses so the headlights could form an actual pattern and not just add to the frunk light bar light pollution.
Sure, I've had this sort of problem with cars in the past, but the last one that did this was built in 1976. Seriously! The aerodynamics of the Cybertruck plaster the snow on the lights instead of blowing it by. Maybe I hit the worst-case set of conditions tonight, but those conditions are far from rare.
I've been living with only Tesla vehicles since the beginning of 2015, so believe me, I've put up with growing pains along the way. I've been willing to forgive Tesla for everything through those 10 years. But this is not just inconvenient - it's dangerous. And I can't believe that winter testing didn't reveal it to be a problem.
At the very least (VERY LEAST), there needs to be a toggle in the lighting settings that allows you to have that band of light automatically go off when the headlights go on, and it's obviously getting dark.
I'm incredibly disappointed. I expected better from Tesla, especially at this price point. I would have been much safer in my 2015 Model S 85D. I've never had this sort of issue with it. Photos from when I got home. It was worse on the highway, but I wasn't going to stand next to the traffic to take a photo.”
Below his post, Brock included a picture of his Cybertruck with the headlights occluded by the snow that has frosted over them.
A brand new $165,990 CAD truck that can’t handle the snow is certainly frustrating, especially when the truck is being sold in Canada.
However, fellow Cybertruck owners say that the truck is fine, and Brock seems like the kind of person who could never be pleased by anything and shouldn’t have bought the truck if he can’t handle these minor issues.
Fellow Cybertruck owner Doug Lukinuk writes…
“I live in Canada and drive regularly through all kinds of snow. The Cybertruck works fantastic. Some people are just very picky. The people who when you look online at a resort or reviews, you see hundreds of 4 or 5-star reviews and a handful of people you will just never please as they can't be pleased and find fault in everything.
Cybertruck is a new build with steer-by-wire and 48-volt architecture, etc, so if you didn't expect a few small detail issues, then you shouldn't have been an early adopter.
Yes, a bit of snow accumulation on the headlights can happen, but it's not like it makes you blind yourself or others. Driving in snow is easy in the cybertruck.”
Personally, I would categorize being forced to lower your speed to 25 mph on the highway and having to stop multiple times to clear the snow off the headlights as major problems.
However, please let me know if you disagree. Share your ideas by clicking the red “Add new comment” button below. Also, visit our site, torquenews.com/Tesla, regularly for the latest updates.
Image: Screenshot from Now You Know YouTube channel
For more information, check out: I Ordered a Cybertruck Today and Was Assigned a VIN Immediately; Now I’m Afraid Tesla Has Matched Me With a Rejected Truck
Tinsae Aregay has been following Tesla and the evolution of the EV space daily for several years. He covers everything about Tesla, from the cars to Elon Musk, the energy business, and autonomy. Follow Tinsae on Twitter at @TinsaeAregay for daily Tesla news.