Last year, when Tesla launched the Cybertruck, they made a video of it racing against a Porsche 911. The catch? The Cybertruck was towing another 911 on a trailer.
From a marketing perspective, the stunt was spectacular. It underscored the power of electric vehicles and suggested that the long-awaited Cybertruck might have been worth the delay.
“It can tow a Porsche 911 across the quarter mile faster than the Porsche 911 can go by itself,” Tesla CEO Elon Musk declared during the Cybertruck’s launch event in November.
But was this feat genuine, or just another of Musk’s marketing tricks? The team at MotorTrend decided to find out by recreating the race. You can watch their full video and breakdown below.
The short answer is: No, a Cybertruck towing a 911 can’t beat even the slowest 911 in a straight line. According to MotorTrend, Tesla employed a few tricks to make it appear otherwise.
MotorTrend conducted six quarter-mile races, all of which the 911 Carrera T won.
After Tesla posted its original video, Jason Fenske of the YouTube channel Engineering Explained revealed that Tesla actually ran the race on a 1/8-mile strip without clarifying this. (Tesla later admitted to it).
MotorTrend also ran several 1/8-mile races and found that the Cybertruck occasionally won. However, even when comparing the best times from both vehicles, the Porsche still emerged victorious. It’s important to note that the standard measure for drag races is the quarter-mile. Choosing a 1/8-mile race without disclosure suggests Tesla knew it couldn’t compete over the longer, standard distance.
Does this mean the Cybertruck is slow? Not at all. The high-performance Cybertruck Beast can accelerate to 60 mph in just 2.5 seconds.