Cybertruck tow testing during winter tests? Trailer spotted

[cvalue13]

A great spot by @greggertruck

 

[GSXR150]

Niiice! Can't wait to see the videos.

 

[ÆCIII]

Obviously some test weights / mass simulators on the trailer. Notice the tires setup as a bumper cushion; possibly some test drivers down there aren't well experienced with backing trailers? Great catch!

- ÆCIII

 

[greggertruck]

Thanks for crediting my Twitter.

Reasonable assumption is they're indeed doing some sort of cold tow testing.

Anyone that's loaded a trailer knows, the weights should not be sitting back that far.

With the tonneau sitting open, I'd venture to say they maybe removed some of the weights from the trailer and maybe put them in the bed of a / that Cybertruck now to do payload range testing. Or even just handling. Many possibilities. Just guessing.

 

[Ranulf]

Well. Well well well well.

 

[Luke42]

Well. Well well well well.

It looks like they're starting the process, not finishing it.

That's what I see with my Product Development hat on, at least.

Hopefully they'll finish testing and correct any bugs they find post-haste. It's always a shitshow if you get it wrong and have to make changes, but having that shitshow happen behind closed doors (instead of when the product is already in customers hands) is why we test.

I hope Tesla got it right, but my employer tests our products to make sure.

...What I see here makes me glad I have a higher reservation number.

 

[cvalue13]

Anyone that's loaded a trailer knows, the weights should not be sitting back that far.

it looks like the weights are centered over the tandem wheel?

 

[azjohn]

That’s not much weight when TFL Truck has tested towing capacity they use one of the large IBCs full of water in a covered trailer which is about 5k lbs

 

[CyberTW]

Well. Well well well well.

Beat me to the punch!

 

[scottf200]

That’s not much weight when TFL Truck has tested towing capacity they use one of the large IBCs full of water in a covered trailer which is about 5k lbs

How much are each of those weights?
5 or 6 high?
8 square stacks? or 4 rectangular stacks?

4400 lbs would be 100 lbs * 5.5 * 8

 

[greggertruck]

Well. Well well well well.

This is just the first time some idiot on the internet caught a trailer nearby even.

There's positively been more testing. This is simply traction and what not.

Figuratively, literally: bulletproof.

 

[ÆCIII]

No one knows how many towing tests Tesla may have done previously at other undisclosed locations. Surely not everyone in here believes every test is owed visibility to the public as a 'sighting'. Think of the other Cybertruck pictures Tesla has released to the public, where it was the first time anyone outside of Tesla had ever seen it.

I'm pretty sure Tesla didn't come up with towing specs out of pure whiteboard speculation in the manner that someone like Jason Fenske would. There's always a few who like to 'armchair doubt' Tesla, even after Tesla has repeatedly done what no other legacy auto company has been able to do, right in front of their faces. SMH.

Many legacy shills were expressing the same doubts about the Tesla Semi, but look what capabilities we are seeing Pepsico verify it can do now, and it's primary job is to 'tow'. So I think Tesla knows a thing or two in general about 'towing'.

- ÆCIII

 

[kev12345]

That’s not much weight when TFL Truck has tested towing capacity they use one of the large IBCs full of water in a covered trailer which is about 5k lbs

the YouTuber towing videos will be the real test.

 

[firsttruck]

That’s not much weight when TFL Truck has tested towing capacity they use one of the large IBCs full of water in a covered trailer which is about 5k lbs

Maybe the test weights on the trailer have inner core of depleted uranium.

Uranium is 18.7 times as dense as water.

---------------------------

Depleted uranium in Planes
Uranium is an extremely dense metal, and is highly chemically reactive, burning spontaneously when in contact with air. The main uses of depleted uranium depend on its high density. It has been used as a counterbalance weight in aircraft, missiles, and even forklift trucks and boat keels.
https://ec.europa.eu/health/scientific_committees/opinions_layman/depleted-uranium/en/l-2/2.htm

---------------------------

How much heavier is the same mass of depleted uranium
Depleted uranium is 19.1 grams per cubic centimeter, while lead is 11.34 grams per cubic centimeter. That means that the uranium has 68.4% denser than lead.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Depleted_uranium


Depleted uranium is very dense; at 19,050 kg/m3, it is 1.67 times as dense as lead, only slightly less dense than tungsten and gold, and only 16% less than osmium or iridium, which are the densest known substances under standard (i.e., Earth-surface) pressures.

---------------------------


U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) - Depleted Uranium
https://www.epa.gov/radtown/depleted-uranium

.....
Depleted uranium is used for tank armor, armor-piercing bullets, and as weights to help balance aircrafts.

---------------------------

Pen Duick is the name best known for a series of ocean racing yachts sailed by French yachtsman Eric Tabarly.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pen_Duick

The 22.25 m ketch Pen Duick VI was built in 1973 to an André Mauric [fr] design.
.....
used exotic material - depleted uranium ballasted keel.

Pen Duick VI is now sailed by Eric Tabarly's daughter, Marie Tabarly, who is racing it in the 2023 Ocean Globe Race (OGR)

------

Pen Duick VI benefits from a thorough refit before her world tour, 2023 Ocean Globe Race (OGR)
Chloé Torterat
Published on December 20, 2022
https://www.boatsnews.com/story/420...s-from-a-thorough-refit-before-her-world-tour


Pen Duick VI has undergone a long autumn refit before being relaunched on 14 December 2022

Pen Duick VI in navigation © DR

 

[TickTock]

I'm not concerned with towing in the snow. Mostly because I expect it to do better than ICEs thanks to the weight and better torque control. The testing *I* want to see is pulling a trailer with max tongue weight over washboard for 10,000+ miles. Without a frame, I am concerned how well the chassis can handle the sustained percussive impacts to the hitch.