A massive Tesla Cybertruck has been confiscated by police after being found parked up at a UK petrol station.
Greater Manchester Police officers spotted the Tesla in Whitefield, near Bury, on Wednesday night and officers had no choice but to seize it and report the driver.
Looking more like one of Elon Musk’s spacecrafts, the vehicle is not permitted in the UK. There are major concerns surrounding the safety of pedestrians, cyclists and those in smaller vehicles in the event of a collision.
The car is more than 18ft long, almost 5ft 10 ins tall and weighs up to 489 stone. And according to the company, it can go from zero to 60mph in 2.6 seconds.
All in, the Cybertruck is a colossus, and one that fails to meet the UK’s strict rules on road safety. Police found that the Tesla in Whitefield had been registered and insured abroad, by a permanent UK resident, which is illegal.
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A spokesperson for GMP Bury wrote on Facebook : “Officers from GMP Transport Unit stopped this Tesla Cybertruck in Whitefield last night (Wednesday). The driver was a permanent UK resident but the vehicle was registered and insured abroad which is prohibited in the UK.
“The Tesla Cybertruck is not road legal in the UK and does not hold a certificate of conformity. Whilst this may seem trivial to some, legitimate concerns exist around the safety of other road users or pedestrians if they were involved in a collision with a Cybertruck. The vehicle was subsequently seized under S165 of the Road Traffic Act and the driver reported.”
The Tesla Cybertruck has been on a promotional tour across the Middle East and Europe, including at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in the UK in 2024. However, it has not yet passed UK road safety tests.
Elon Musk has long claimed that the £48,000 Cybertruck is heavily resistant to damage, including being strong enough to withstand impact from a 9mm handgun round. In a memorable moment during the launch in 2019, the billionaire threw a steel ball at the window to prove that it was shatterproof – only for the glass to crack instantly on impact.
In a reply to a fan on Twitter a short time later, Mr Musk said the embarrassing gaffe resulted from a previous demonstration in which a sledgehammer was aimed at the door. The impact of the sledgehammer “cracked the base of the glass”, he said, which is “why the steel ball didn’t bounce off”.