Home / News / Technology News / This YouTuber is building a working avatar of Tesla's Cybertruck

This YouTuber is building a working avatar of Tesla's Cybertruck

By Shubham Sharma

Dec 18, 2019

05:57 pm

What's the story

Last month, Elon Musk hosted the dramatic launch of Cybertruck, his company Tesla's first-ever electric pickup. The vehicle drew widespread attention with its futuristic design, and incredible powertrain. It will start shipping from 2021. But, a crafty YouTuber, going by The Hacksmith name, figured that he couldn't wait this long and decided to build his own functional half-scale Cybertruck. Let's look at his project.

Project

Half-scale but visually similar Cybertruck in the work

Soon after the announcement of the original Cybertruck, The Hacksmith, whose real name is James Hobson, prepared a plan and came up with the 3D model of the scaled-down Cybertruck. He reverse-engineered the small size of the vehicle using the original dimensions that Musk had revealed in November and then took a creative approach to bring the truck's iconic polygonal exoskeleton to life.

Design

How he created that angular Cybertruck design

As Hobson didn't have the machines that Tesla uses, he ordered 300 square feet of 1/8-inch 304L stainless steel and employed a plasma-cutter to cut out puzzle-like pieces in the required dimensions. Then, those pieces were bent into the desired shape with a metal brake and joined with a weld to replicate the Cybertruck's body with crude angles. The whole process took a day.

Drivetrain

Thereafter, Hobson sourced the drivetrain for his Cybertruck

To create the drivetrain for the scaled-down Cybertruck, Hobson got in touch with Accelerated Systems Inc.'s CEO and sourced three electric motors and a drive control unit from him. Of these, the YouTuber has installed two motors at the hub of the mini Cybertruck's front wheels and the third on the rear axle, sourced from a decommissioned golf cart, to power both rear wheels.

Progress

Work progressing swiftly to bring mini Cybertruck to life

Currently, the half-scale Cybertruck is still in development, with Hobson planning to source more drivetrain components, including the steering, brakes, and suspension, from decommissioned golf carts and give finishing touches. It's not exactly clear when the vehicle would be ready, but once the work is done, we're pretty sure it would be driven around under its own power, pretty much like the real deal.

Facebook Post

Here's the mini Cybertruck in action with two front motors

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