While waiting for the Cybertruck and the Cyberquad, sent back to the Greek calendars, Tesla is making its fans wait with the Cyberquad for Kids, a child version of its electric quad. We briefly tested a copy imported from the United States.
Tesla’s marketing strategy is at its peak: we tested the Cyberquad for Kids (the video is here), the spin-off of a spin-off of a product that may never see the light of day, or else not as planned (later, smaller, more expensive…).
Let’s rewind: on November 21, 2019, Tesla created the event by presenting the Cybertruck, an extraordinary 100% electric pickup. Like a “One more thingfrom Apple, it also presents the Cyberquad, a matching electric quad, designed to fit in the dumpster of the pick-up. The launch is initially scheduled for the end of 2021. But the cyberpunk range misses the appointment. In January 2022, Reuters sources indicate that production will not finally start until the 1st quarter of 2023, but Elon Musk this week announced a start of production for mid-2023.
So to keep fans waiting, Tesla launched the Cyberquad for Kids on December 1, a miniature version of the quad, sold for $1,900 excluding tax on its store. The manufacturer has again teamed up with toymaker Radio Flyer, which already markets a Tesla Model S for children, for $500.
An imported copy at Tesla Owners Day
It is this model that we had the opportunity to test briefly, on Saturday July 2, on the occasion of Tesla Owners Day 2022. This event organized by the Tesla Owners Club France brought together 200 Tesla cars on the Michelin site. in Clermont-Ferrand. One of the exhibitors, Green Drive, seller of accessories for Tesla cars, had brought a copy in its colors.
The Cyberquad for Kids has never been sold in France or Europe, but Green Drive imported it at its own expense from the United States to make people talk about it, with success: customers appear with it on social networks and your media takes the opportunity to try it out. A win-win operation and a fine example of the marketing strategy we talked about in the introduction.
Riding the Tesla Cyberquad for Kids
The Cyberquad for Kids is aimed at children aged 8 to 12, but Tesla also lists a maximum capacity of 150 pounds (about 68 kg) on its website. Above all, the official promotional video (unpublished since) shows it with an adult, Franz von Holzhausen, the designer of Tesla, at its handlebars.
YouTube linkSubscribe to Frandroid
Very slightly above its maximum capacity (72 kg), so I did a few laps on its handlebars. If he does not seem to have struggled to move forward despite the “surcharge“, it was my height that was, unsurprisingly, the most embarrassing: I am 1.86 m tall and I had the handlebars in my knees. To turn the handlebars freely, I had to sit behind the padded saddle and spread my legs. A handyman could certainly raise the handlebars to adapt the machine to the morphology of an adult. Likewise, I wear size 44 and my feet did not fit on the footrests.
It must be said that without thesedefaults“, the Cyberquad for Kids would be much more than a marketing stunt, which Tesla probably does not want.
The Cyberquad for kids is simple, but not mean-spirited. It benefits from real air tires and suspension on the rear axle. It has no front suspension, however, and the simplistic design of its steering column makes it easy for the inside wheel to lose contact with the ground. When maneuvering at low speed, on the contrary, one of the two front wheels rubs. Besides, there is no differential in the rear. But it’s certainly comfortable for those who can take advantage of its padded saddle. This will be the case of the main interested parties: the children.
The device is very easy to use: if necessary, insert the removable battery under the saddle, press the button for a long time on the “Powerand the machine is operational. The second button under the seat allows you to choose the maximum speed of the vehicle: 5 mph (8 km/h) in position I, 10 mph (16 km/h) in position II. However, we wonder about its usefulness since children in the recommended age group (8 to 12 years) will be perfectly capable of identifying and operating it on their own.
Two buttons in front of the handlebars allow you to choose forward or reverse gear (the speed of the latter is very limited). The accelerator under the right hand grip allows you to finely adjust the acceleration. Warning: it doesn’t smooth out full throttle starts, which are just powerful enough to tip a distracted passenger. The 500 W motor (0.68 hp) easily propels a 72 kg adult on the flat. With its large tires, it can even easily step over obstacles such as branches, as tests by American colleagues have shown. But for steeper or more loose terrain, it only seems sized for children. The quad is equipped with a single disc brake at the rear. It is operated by cable from the left handle. It is both easy to dose and powerful enough to lock the wheels and skid.
I couldn’t test the range, and I couldn’t find a test that tested the advertised range of 15 miles (24 km), but US owners report that it can run for several hours, enough to entertain the whole family and neighborhood for a day. The front light flashes when the charge level is low, a simple way to inform companions that it is time to bring it back, in order to avoid pushing its 55 kg. You can also check the charge level on a 4-segment gauge located on the battery. We regret, however, that there is no way to consult it from the driving position. Moreover, we would have liked a small screen displaying the level of charge, speed, an odometer, etc. Finally, we regret the absence of any form of buzzer, even if the transmission of the electric motor is quite noisy even at low speed.
Conclusion
In short, for a marketing coup, the Tesla Cyberquad for Kids from Radio Flyer is a good surprise. We have fun as an adult and there is no doubt that children have fun riding it. Anyone who has tried it throughout Tesla Owners Day can attest to that!
However, at 1,900 dollars excluding tax (nearly 1,900 euros excluding tax, or 2,250 euros with 20% VAT), we are paying a lot for the Tesla tax. Worse, the product immediately went out of stock and we don’t know if there will be a restocking, so it sells for 2 or 3 times that price on eBay. However, there are real electric quads for children, certainly less stylish, but more powerful (1,000 W, 35 km/h) and with independent suspensions at the front, for less than 1,000 euros.
Tech-savvy adults can otherwise turn to the Ninebot Gokart Pro, from the renowned Segway, a larger (adults up to 190 cm), more powerful (900 W), faster (37 km/h) and probably still more fun, sold for $2,000 in the United States. Unfortunately, it is not officially distributed in France or Europe either…
To follow us, we invite you to download our Android and iOS application. You can read our articles, files, and watch our latest YouTube videos.
You must log in to post a comment.