Tesla Cybertruck captured driving on public road – real or CGI?

The Tesla Cybertruck launched last Friday is not due to go into production until 2021 but it appears that one lucky spotter has already captured video of the rule-breaking electric utility truck near Tesla’s Hawthorne design studio.

It’s a reality-jarring capture, drawing the exclamation “What the heck!” from Instagram user @chicago_roy who apparently shot the video of the Cybertruck just days after the launch of Tesla CEO and co-founder Elon Musk’s “pet project”.

“Spotted @elonrmuskk and @teslamotors new Tesla Cybertruck driving with no driver inside through Hawthorne today,” wrote Roy (we note that in our screenshot above of the video it does appear there is a driver).

At its launch, the angular and unconventional Cybertruck electric ute (or, pickup in the US) design was met with varied reactions, particularly following a demonstration by Musk and lead designer Franz von Holzhausen of the ute’s ultra-hard steel exoskeleton and armoured glass that left the driver’s seat window cracked in two places.

Musk says the smashed window was due to Franz first smashing the driver’s side door with a sledgehammer (that left no marks), leaving cracks in the “base of glass “.

This didn’t however dampen the excitement that ensued around the jaw-dropping design and specifications and an equally surprising low price starting from $US39,990 ($A59,087 converted) for the base single motor version to $69,900 ($A103,413 converted) for the top-level tri-motor version.

It is the design – with it’s polygonal flat surfaces – that now has fans (and it would seem there are many of these given more than 250,000 fully refundable deposits for the Cybertruck have been taken in less than a week from its launch) exploring ways to modify or customise it.

From crazy wraps to way out renders, ideas are aplenty.

Take this six-wheeler version for example, with wing-tipped tray extension.

Or this white lifted Cybertruck, monster-truck style:

The Cybertruck design also has others now wondering, what would a Cyber series look like, such as this “Cyber S”:

But back to the video: given the ease that the polygonal design lends to computer graphics artists, we can’t help but ask: is it the real thing?

That question is followed swiftly by: who cares?

Well, the Californian roads authority for one, given the vehicle is to our knowledge not yet roadworthy. There would be all kinds of consequences for Tesla (and anyone who might be injured in such an accident) should an accident happen on a public road using an untested, unapproved vehicle.

Which leads us to believe that it is most likely CGI (computer-generated imagery). Either way, it’s a glimpse of a future, Tesla-style.