When Tesla first started to ship the Cybertruck it immediately became a viral sensation, for both good and bad reasons.
A lot of people started chatting about the truck's safety features. In particular, clips started to spread on social media of people putting crunchy vegetables in the way of the Cybertruck's power-closing front hood, to see if they would get damaged - the so-called "Carrot test".
Well, damage them it did, chopping carrots in half without any hesitation and making it clear it wouldn't be smart to place your own actual finger in the same spot.
Advert
Since then, though, Tesla has actually deployed a software update should largely fix this problem, making the front trunk more sensitive to pressure when it's closing, and in theory making it a whole bunch safer.
To put that to the test, this week YouTuber Jeremy Judkins put the software update to the test with his own Cybertruck, and the results were pretty interesting.
Judkins uploaded a video where he showed what happened to various bits of fruit and veg - both before and after the update was deployed.
Advert
He did indeed find that the update stopped the truck from doing nearly as much damage to cucumbers and bananas - with only the thin end of the carrot damaged in any meaningful way.
When Judkins moved on to his finger, though, things got really worrying. After the hood bounced off his arm and hand without any damage, his finger test went way worse.
The Cybertruck closed its hood on his extended finger, and Judkins' worry was immediately obvious.
He had to use his other hand to pry the hood back open, at which point the Cybertruck detected the resistance and opened it up fully, but it really seemed to have hurt his finger by that point.
Advert
Close-up shots showed a deep welt that was starting to bruise, and skin that had almost been cut, and Judkins admitted that he "feared for his finger" at one point.
He seemed to be shaking from the pain, and he concluded by saying that Tesla still "has some work to do" on the safety side of things.
It turns out that the Cybertruck now has a programme to close its trunk more firmly each time the trunk fails to close - so that it can push over any obstructions and close when you're repeatedly asking it to.
Advert
This doesn't account for tests like Judkins', where he rotates through different objects so, in theory, in real-life situations it should be safer than this video indicates. Still, even with that technicality accounted for, this isn't great PR for a truck that's already suffering on the publicity front.
Tesla has been contacted for comment.