Tesla Cybertruck Winter Testing Continues With Mysterious “535” On The Body

New photos posted on Twitter show a Cybertruck prototype driving on a couple of inches of snow in the Southern Hemisphere.

Photo by: Twitter

By: Iulian Dnistran

Aug 4, 2023 at 3:52am ET

Comment

A Tesla Cybertruck prototype has been spotted once again during winter testing at the Southern Hemisphere Proving Grounds (SHPG), which is on New Zealand’s South Island, wearing a camouflage wrap similar to those spotted in California recently.

The two new photos, posted by Twitter user and Cybertruck enthusiast Greggertruck, show the prototype driving through just a couple of inches of snow, so not exactly hardcore weather conditions. The temperature wasn’t anything to write home about, either, with lows of about 30 degrees (-1 degree Celsius) and highs of roughly 48 degrees (9 degrees Celsius) in the nearby town of Wanaka.

With this being said, Cybertruck prototypes have also been to Alaska earlier this year, and the first units were shipped to New Zealand in June, so it has experienced colder temperatures and rougher weather overall during the whole testing period.

Last month, two Tesla pickup prototypes were spotted at the same winter proving grounds in the Kiwi nation wearing the “604” and “512” numbers on their sides. Back then, we found out that 604 is the area code for Vancouver, Canada, while 512 is the area code for Austin, Texas, but it’s unclear to this day what those numbers actually mean.

What do you think?

View

Comments

In this latest batch of photos, the camouflaged truck has “535” written on it, which doesn’t come up as the area code for any major populated area, so again, we don’t know what those numbers mean. Then again, they could just be internal designations for different testing procedures, with no real significance for the public. Let us know in the comments below if you have any idea as to what the numbers might indicate.

Initially unveiled in 2019, the Tesla Cybertruck is as close as ever to becoming a real product that people can buy, after years of delays. Currently, the Austin-based EV maker is building release candidate (RC) units at its Texas Gigafactory, with initial customer-intent production set to begin later this year, while a ramp-up in assembly is expected to happen next year.