Tesla Cybertruck makes ASEAN debut in Thailand on April 6 – is the electric pick-up coming to Malaysia?

This just in – Tesla Thailand has announced that the Cybertruck will make an appearance at Tesla Center Ramkhamhaeng in Bangkok starting this Saturday, April 6. The Land of Smiles is the world’s biggest pick-up truck market, so the appearance of this polarising electric model is bound to cause a stir.

It’s a surprise for sure, given that this enormous stainless steel truck – a size larger than even the fairly massive one-tonne models like the Toyota Hilux and Ford Ranger – wasn’t expected to be sold outside the US, at least in the foreseeable future. The event is likely to be part of the Cybertruck’s Asia tour, which has already made stops in China and fellow right-hand-drive market Japan.

At the event, attendees will be able to get their hands on exclusive merchandise, and there will also be special promotions for the Model 3 and Y, including a four-year complimentary service package. Given its proximity of our northern neighbour, we wouldn’t be surprised if the Cybertruck makes an appearance in Malaysia as well, although no such announcement has been made just yet.

The Cybertruck has made waves thanks to its extremely angular design, formed by tough stainless steel panels (dubiously claimed to be “bulletproof”) that continues to drop jaws five years after it was first shown. It’s also pretty quick – even the base rear-wheel-drive model can get from zero to 100 km/h in just 6.7 seconds, and adding a front motor pushes power to 600 hp, slashing the century sprint time to 4.3 seconds.

But the one you’ll really want is the Cyberbeast, which pushes out a stratospheric 840 hp and gets to 100 km/h in just 2.7 seconds (with the rollout subtracted, as is typical for Tesla these days). Range is quoted at 402 km for the RWD model, 547 km with AWD and 515 km for the Cyberbeast.

Other features include steer-by-wire (which reduces the amount of turns lock-to-lock, finally making sense of the small, flattened steering wheel), rear-wheel steering and an 800-volt architecture that should allow for higher sustained charging speeds at DC fast chargers (including Tesla’s Superchargers).

Despite making its appearance in Southeast Asia, don’t hold your breath for the Cybertruck to actually be sold in Malaysia anytime soon. The truck isn’t likely to be built outside of the US and probably won’t be converted to RHD, due to a number of factors.

These include the difficulty in getting the “ultra-strong” stainless steel exterior panels and razor-sharp front end to pass global pedestrian protection legislation, as well as the arduous task of ramping up production just to meet demand in the US. Then there’s the fact that the Cybertruck won’t fit the relatively tiny roads and parking spaces outside of its home country.

It’s hard to overstate just how huge the Cybertruck is. Measuring 5,683 mm long, 2,032 mm wide and 1,796 mm tall, it’s 358 mm longer and 132 mm wider than a Hilux, which would make it a pain to manoeuvre in our city streets. It’s also ridiculously heavy, weighing at over three tonnes. As such, selling the truck in our region just wouldn’t make any sense – but we can dream, right?

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