For as big of a release as the Cybertruck was, we’re still uncovering random features from the fans and not Tesla itself. The latest feature we’re getting insight into is a boat-like “Wade Mode” which was discovered in the settings for the Cybertruck’s Off-Road Baja menu by X user @niccruzpatane. Elon Musk has also said there will be a “mod package” that will let the EV pickup traverse 100 meters of water as a boat.
As you can see in the image posted to X, Tesla’s settings read: “Raises ride height and pressurizes battery when driving through water.”
BOAT MODE ENGAGED
If you’ve been following the Cybertruck from the very beginning, this Wade Mode should be reminiscent of a wild feature that Musk previously teased. Last year, the Tesla CEO posted on what was then called Twitter that the Cybertruck would be “waterproof enough to serve briefly as a boat,” adding that it would be able to cross rivers, lakes, and seas that aren’t choppy.
That was a bold claim and one that generated some hype about how versatile the Cybertruck would be. After all, we’re talking about an amphibious EV here — one that would be able to get from SpaceX’s Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas to the nearby South Padre Island that’s separated by a channel of water, according to according to Musk.
The idea was certainly ambitious, but so was the Cybertruck. However, we can’t help but compare the Wade Mode that was recently discovered to Musk’s previous claims. We’re not seeing anything close to an alleged “Boat Mode,” but then again, the Cybertruck ended up softening up on lots of Musk’s wildest claims.
Musk has since said that there will be a “mod package that enables Cybertruck to traverse at least 100m of water as a boat” and that the modification would “mostly just need to upgrade cabin door seals.”
“The vehicle almost floats, maybe you have to add a little extra buoyancy just to keep it up,” Lars Moravy, Tesla’s vice president of vehicle engineering, told Jay Leno. “And if you’re creative, and you want, you could figure out how to put an outboard motor plugged in to your outlet there, turn it on from your screen, and go boating.” Moravy added that he “hasn’t engineered that one yet” but it’s not impossible to do so if you’re crafty.
LIVE DEMOS NEEDED
Of course, we’d like to see Wade Mode in action before we pass final judgment. There’s no telling when someone will take this feature for a spin, but we’ve already seen the first customers drive off with their Cybertrucks and YouTubers taking them out for first drives.
For now, Wade Mode feels like another compromise that had to be made to finally deliver the Cybertruck. There was a lot of overpromising and underdelivering — particularly with the range and price — and a Cybertruck that could navigate certain bodies of water might just be another casualty here.
