Tesla has been granted a design patent by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) for the Cybertruck’s wheel covers. The patent was granted today, March 7, 2023 and is valid for a period of 15 years.
When the Cybertruck was first unveiled the original prototype featured unique wheel covers on the large 35″ tires. Those covers were only on the original prototype, with subsequent prototypes featuring the “naked” wheel only. This lead to many fearing the covers had been ditched, especially when the latest beta version of the Cybertruck was spotted in Palo Alto last month, to which CEO Elon Musk said was very close to production form.
Those fears were set aside when Tesla put that Cybertruck on display at Investor Day with the same wheel covers as the original prototype. In another sign that they will make it into production, Tesla was granted a patent for its design today. (h/t: @SawyerMerritt)
According to the patent approval posted to the USPTO website today, the aero covers were designed by none other than Tesla’s Chief Designer Franz von Holzhausen, along with Julien Bilodeau, David Imai, and Ivan Lampkin.
The patent has no technical details on the aero covers, but with it Tesla claims “the ornamental design for a vehicle wheel, as shown and described,” sharing the following diagrams.
Interestingly the design patent application was first filed on November 21, 2019, the same day Tesla unveiled the Cybertruck to the world for the first time.
Will you keep the aero covers on your Cybertruck, or take them off? Let us know in the comments section.
You can read the full patent below.
D980147
