Chevy Silverado Beats Tesla Cybertruck in Tug of War Thanks to Tech

This Tesla Cybertruck doesn’t stand a chance against a diesel Chevy Silverado HD for one very frustrating reason.

It goes without saying that the Tesla Cybertruck has been in the press for years now, and not necessarily for the best reasons. Rather, the Cybertruck has quickly become the most divisive vehicle in recent history, accumulating as many fans as haters, which we suppose is to be expected for a vehicle with such, well, controversial styling. Regardless, the Cybertruck touts some impressive statistics for a truck by anyone’s admission, and that’s why we were rather intrigued to see how it performed in a good old fashioned tug of war against a Chevy Silverado HD in this recent video from Cyber Hooligan.

As many may well remember, when the Cybertruck was unveiled in 2019, Tesla famously showed it soundly beating a Ford F-150 in a tug of war showdown. Now, we’re getting to see if that is in fact possible in the real world, but this time, it won’t be as easy a task – after all, it has to deal with a four-wheel-drive diesel-powered HD pickup this time around, but that’s something that it’s well-equipped for with 845 horsepower coming from three electric motors – not to mention a hefty curb weight that’s just a hair under 7k pounds.

Thus, our team headed out to an empty piece of tarmac with some tow straps to see how this scientific experiment might pan out. At first, it was no contest, as the Chevy Silverado simply pulled the EV pickup like it was broken down or something – a feat that it repeated on the second try. It’s a bit puzzling, honestly, but after a little bit of critical thinking, the crew figured out the culprit – the Cybertruck’s traction control system.

Turns out, the Cybertruck wasn’t designed to participate in tug of war competitions (is any truck, really?), and is was reacting by cutting power in a big way to prevent wheel spin. Thus, our crew attempted to circumvent that by yanking an ABS cable, which helped a little, but not to the point where it resulted in what anyone might call success. It’s possible that one might be able to plug something in to the EV pickup to “fool” it into thinking that it’s pulling a trailer, but ultimately, it seems as if Cybertruck owners won’t be winning any tug of war contests anytime soon – though we doubt most will care, honestly.

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Brett Foote

Brett Foote has been covering the automotive industry for over five years and is a longtime contributor to Internet Brands’ Auto Group sites, including Chevrolet Forum, Rennlist, and Ford Truck Enthusiasts, among other popular sites.

He has been an automotive enthusiast since the day he came into this world and rode home from the hospital in a first-gen Mustang, and he's been wrenching on them nearly as long.

In addition to his expertise writing about cars, trucks, motorcycles, and every other type of automobile, Brett had spent several years running parts for local auto dealerships.

You can follow along with his builds and various automotive shenanigans on Instagram: @bfoote.