‘The 11,000lb Tow Rating Isn’t Absolute’

Tesla has faced a lot of criticism over the Cybertruck due to it being a rolling disaster with a list of issues so long, it’s hard for even people trying to pay attention to keep up. Aside from the five recalls, the most infamous issue with the Cybertruck has to be when YouTuber WhistlinDiesel tried to pull out a stuck Ford F-150, which resulted in the Tesla losing its rear bumper, causing others to stop towing with their Cybertrucks. Now, the Cybertruck’s lead engineer has stepped in to give some guidance, saying, “The 11,000lb tow rating isn’t absolute.”

Wes Morrill, who is also Tesla’s senior director of engineering overseeing reliability, testing and analysis, posted on Twitter last week to “answer tow hitch accessory questions with a few examples.” And while the points he made may not be revolutionary for anyone who’s generally familiar with towing, remember, we’re talking about incEl Camino owners here. It’s hard to imagine that many of them have ever towed anything before, much less hooked it up. Musk Daddy says it can tow 11,000 pounds, so you can tow anything that weighs that much or less, right?

As you see in the tweet embedded above, Morrill also included two screenshots of the updated Cybertruck owner’s manual, pointing out that the further a trailer is from the trailer hitch, the less weight you’ll be able to tow. So while the maximum tongue weight is 1,100 lbs, and that does work out to an 11,000-lb tow rating if you stick to the 10-percent rule, lessons learned in middle school physics still apply, and the weight you can safely tow drops significantly with different types of carriers. If you’re towing a motorcycle carrier, for example, tongue weight drops to 375 lbs.

Now, that’s all well and good. If people are going to tow, they should know what will and won’t put other people in danger. Heck, even some actual truck owners occasionally tow more than they should without a commercial driver’s license. Safety third if it’s just your own life we’re talking about, but when other people are on the road, let’s not go risking their lives just because you can’t be bothered to read the manual or follow the law.

On the other hand, the rear bumper snapping off this easily still seems bad, and maybe Tesla should do something to make sure more owners don’t drop their bumpers in traffic. You know. Just a suggestions.

H/T: TorqueNews