The Tesla Cybertruck isn’t just a truck, according to Tesla’s marketing, which shows the vehicle traversing deserts, mountain ridges and water crossings: it’s an ultra-durable truck, ready for adventure , capable of tackling just about any backcountry terrain, and it has the camping accessories to prove it.
Tesla sells a line of accessories specifically designed to turn the Cybertruck, which sells for up to six figures — if you can even get your hands on one — into a camp on wheels.
Top Gear, the British automotive magazine and television show, borrowed a fully equipped Cybertruck and drove to Johnson Valley, Southern California, to spend a night camping in the vehicle in the desert. They also brought a Rivian R1T equipped with a more standard roof top tent to compare.
While both setups could provide a very cool backcountry camping experience, the more custom Cybertruck tent seemed much more complicated and time consuming to set up. Top Gear didn’t declare a winner between the two, but they did note that setting up the tent on the Rivian was faster.
In the Top Gear video, shared on YouTube on Wednesday, editor Jack Rix encounters metaphorical obstacles while installing the Cybertruck Cybertent, which fits snugly in the vehicle’s trunk and costs $2,975.
“Almost $3,000 for one of these tents, which is, let’s face it, an obscene amount of money,” Rix said, while noting that the tent was designed and produced with Heimplanet, a brand high-end tents.
Setting up the tent involved unfolding the base platform, which is raised above the truck bed, attaching several straps to the roof of the Cybertruck, manually pumping the inflatable frame and installing an awning if you wish.
At one point, Rix accidentally deflated the tent and had to inflate it again.
It’s unclear from the video exactly how long it took him to set up the tent, but it was pretty light outside when he started. It was almost completely dark when he finished, and he relied on his headlamp and the camera crew’s lighting.
“A few setbacks, I’m not going to lie, but the tent is fully pitched,” he said.
As someone who has camped in a variety of settings: in a car, in a van, in a rooftop tent, in an RV, in a regular tent at a campsite, and in the backcountry, this has seemed like a huge amount of work. , especially since one of the advantages of a typical rooftop tent is its ease of installation.
To be fair, Rix noted that this was his first time setting up the tent and he could probably cut the time in half on his second attempt.
However, if you plan to go off-roading on your camping trip – one of the perks of having a Cybertruck – it would be a real pain to take down that tent every morning just so you can drive the vehicle during the day and have to put it back in place every evening.
Top Gear’s head of car testing, Ollie Marriage, showed up with the Rivian R1T and a fairly standard rooftop tent.
Setting up this tent seemed to take only a few minutes and required opening and unbuckling the cover, then simply unfolding the tent, which immediately popped up. If you wanted to take the Rivian off-road during the day, taking this tent down and back up seemed a lot easier.
The wedding appears to be using Yakima’s Skyrise HD mid-sized rooftop tent, which was released in partnership with Rivian and costs $2,800. Yakima’s similar model, without the Rivian branding, costs $2,499. Other Rivian drivers online also appear to have outfitted their vehicles with rooftop tents that sell for well under $2,000.
Top Gear noted a lot of interesting things about the Cybertruck camper setup, including how well integrated the whole design was. The complete setup included a Cybertruck cooler, Cybertruck storage bins, and Cybertruck crossbars which all fit seamlessly into the vehicle to maximize space.
Tesla also recently announced upcoming updates to the Cybertruck, intended to improve the off-roading and camping experience.
While Marriage said it’s good that some cars are designed for camping, Rix noted that a potential problem with introducing electric vehicles into the wild could be range.
“These cars could take you out into the wilderness,” he said, adding that you just need to make sure you can get back to a charging station.
Tesla, Rivian and Top Gear did not respond to Business Insider’s requests for comment.
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