Reason why man who bought UK's first Tesla Cybertruck may never be able to drive it
A YouTuber who imported a Tesla Cybertruck to the UK is facing several hurdles in making it road-legal.
Yianni Charalambous, owner of a luxury vehicle wrapping workshop in England, is determined to get his Cybertruck approved for British roads.
If successful, the vehicle would become the first legal Cybertruck in the UK.
Yianni Charalambous is known for his YouTube channel Yiannimize which has helped countless celebrities custom-wrap their cars.
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Last month, Charalambous announced he’d bought the Cybertruck from a previous owner in California.
The electric vehicle was due to be shipped to the UK but was denied transport due to its fire risk, according to Auto Evolution.
Instead, it was airfreighted to Italy, shipped to Albania and then driven to the UK with Albanian plates and insurance.
One of the many changes to meet UK road standards is getting the vehicle a British licence plate and swapping out the red indicator lights for amber.
As per The Sun, indicator lights are legally required to be amber so other road users can distinguish them from the standard red brake lights.
UK regulations also state that cars must have indicators on the side mirrors.
Additionally, the Tesla vehicle needs to have fog lights installed but only those that turn on with the car’s headlights.
One of the issues that the workshop owner is blunting the sharp, angular body of the Cybertruck.
Another reason that Charalambous has failed to get his Tesla on the road is because of its extremely sharp edges.
To pass, Charalambous would need to make the the vehicle's unsafe edges are covered up with rubber.
This may not be an easy task either as Tesla’s VP of vehicle engineering Lars Maravy previously told TopGear.nl that the Cybertruck requires a rounding of 3.2 millimetres on protruding parts to meet European safety standards.
“It is impossible to make a rounding of 3.2 millimetres on a 1.4-millimetre sheet of stainless steel,” he said.
Charalambous turned to the help of a mechanic to apply all these changes needed to pass the IVA (Individual Vehicle Approval) test.
“What is your honest opinion on getting this past?" the YouTuber asked the mechanic on one of his videos. "Online people are saying ‘You’ve got no chance’.”
The expert responded: “I have a history of importing cars and working with this kind of thing.
“There’s two types of approvals you can get. There’s the type approval which the manufacturer has to do, and it’s a lot more stringent.
Optimistic, the mechanic added: “IVA is not as stringent, you see. Everything is somewhat easier. So I reckon, if we can get all the lights working, they’ll register it.”
He hopes it will take him around one or two weeks to complete the required modifications, which will take us into the new year.
Charalambous predicted: “If we get to register this with English [number] plates, you’re going to see an influx of these cars in the UK."