You might have read about sightings of a strange alien craft on Wimbledon Common earlier this month.
For anyone unfamiliar with it, the Southside Hustle, which takes place in Wimbledon Village, south-west London, on the first Sunday of every month, has in the few short years it has been running become a mecca for petrolheads keen to show their cars—everything from wheezy classics to the latest exotics—to an admiring throng of fellow enthusiasts.
It was to this quasi-religious gathering that Sam Seppälä drove his Tesla Cybertruck a four-wheel-drive, tri-motor Cyberbeast variant, specced in limited-edition Foundation trim. Autocar joined him for the ride and the experience of showing his 833bhp Musk monster to the combustion faithful. How would it be received? Would they cheer or sneer?
Seppälä imported the Beast from California in January. Very few Cybertrucks have made the same journey because, for a variety of reasons, including concerns about its drive-by-wire steering system and safety standards, the DVSA won’t grant the model Individual Vehicle Approval, the final obstacle that a vehicle must clear before it can wear UK numberplates.
“No Cybertruck has passed IVA and so cannot be driven on UK roads as a DVLA-registered vehicle,” a DVSA spokesman told Autocar.
‘DVLA-registered’ is the important bit here. If the vehicle is taxed, registered and insured in its home country, it’s permissible to drive it in the UK for a maximum of six months.
In fact, when I meet Seppälä at his home not far from Wimbledon, he explains that he can have the vehicle here for 12 months and during that time drive it for a total of six months. As a result, he’s under no pressure to get a return on his not-inconsiderable shipping costs by driving the Beast solidly from January to July. In fact, he tells me that today’s drive to the Hustle will be the first time he’s driven it on UK roads.
Of course, the question uppermost in my mind is: why? Why bother to bring his Cybertruck here only to have to return it to the US in December? Seppälä explains that, as a tech entrepreneur living here and in California, the Tesla fascinates him.
“I love the reactions, both good and bad, that it provokes,” he says. “It drives and handles really well, too—not at all like other American cars. And it has a wealth of safety tech. In fact, it’s a very safe car.”
In the US he uses the Cybertruck to, among other things, tow his Bruder off-road caravan, when its range falls from 300 to 100 miles. (For other days he has a Ferrari 488 Spider, a Ford F-350 pick-up, a Volkswagen Type 1 split-screen van and a John Deere 4066 tractor.) It has full autonomous functionality, too, so it can chauffeur him to a friend’s home, two hours away, elsewhere in California. The feature doesn’t work in the UK, of course.
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