Redesigned Cybertruck Wheel Covers Fix The Problem Tesla Made For Itself

A view of a Tesla Cybertruck parked in Noe Valley of San Francisco, California, United States on January 6, 2024. Image: Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu (Getty Images)

It has been about six months since Tesla’s Cybertruck made headlines for its unique aerodynamic wheel covers. The wheel covers eventually caused a stop-sale because they gradually ground holes in the tire’s sidewalls every single time the tire rotated. Now though, some Cybertruck owners have reported receiving updated wheel covers that should cause less damage to the tires. Should.

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The new wheel covers look exactly the same as the originals, just with shorter protrusions that overlap less with the tire. This is another example of the Cybertruck attempting to reinvent the wheel, only to suddenly be reminded that the wheel worked fine without a wheel cover extending onto the side of it and chaffing a hole through the tire. From a photo posted to Twitter, it still looks like the new wheel covers extend onto the tire sidewall a tiny bit, but significantly less than the discontinued ones. Should someone take their Cybertruck off-road or over a few too many curbs, however, it’s distinctly possible that these wheel covers will still chew into the sidewall as the 7,000-pound truck’s tires flex going over obstacles like rocks, bumps, or curbs.

Tesla issued a stop-sale on the original Cybertruck aero wheel covers in February when users shared photos of the gashes the wheel covers carved into their tires after just a few thousand miles. The wheel covers should help owners get a few extra miles out of their Cybertruck on a charge, but it won’t be anything too drastic.

Will these redesigned wheel covers actually solve the problem that Tesla created for itself with the originals? Only time will tell, but if I had to guess, probably not. In this photo you can see the tire sidewall bowing out where the tire makes contact with the ground, as tires do, but the new wheel cover protrusion still looks precariously susceptible to contacting the tire.

There have been many issues with customer Cybertrucks not living up to the promises that Elon Musk made about the truck, including sharp doors sending folks to the hospital, shorter than advertised bed length, a bad windshield wiper motor and slipper accelerator, both of which required recalls.