A Tesla Cybertruck Owner Says He Replaced His Goodyear Tires at 31,000 Miles and Saw Efficiency Drop From 403 Wh/mi to 390 Wh/mi After Switching to BFGoodrich KO3s – He Adds, “So Far I Really Like Them”

The Tesla Cybertruck was never going to live an ordinary life, and that extends to the consumables bolted beneath it. Tires, on this vehicle, are not just rubber and steel. They are a statement about intent. Highway comfort versus off-road credibility. Efficiency versus grip. And in the Cybertruck owner community, few things spark more measured curiosity than a real-world tire swap backed by actual data instead of speculation.

That curiosity is what brought one owner, posting under the name Shygar, to document his experience after replacing the factory Goodyear all-terrain tires with a full set of BFGoodrich KO3s. After nearly 31,000 miles on the original Goodyears, with 4 to 6 thirty-seconds of tread remaining, the decision was not driven by failure but by seasonality. Rain and snow were coming, and the truck saw a mix of long highway runs and occasional off-road use. 

“I just hit 31k on my Goodyear AT tires. I still had about 4-6/32nd on the Goodyears, but with the rain and snow finally coming, I thought I'd go ahead and switch. I do a lot of highway driving, but also do the occasional off-roading for fun. I've only just got the tires today, but so far I really like them. Garage smells like rubber again when I first got the truck almost 2 years ago.

I went to America's Tire (discount tire), about an hour away from me, since they had them in stock there. So I took the opportunity to record watts per mile there and back.

I used FSD both ways on hurry, and there was some traffic on the way back, which may have accounted for the better mileage. I'll try to keep this updated with how they do, but so far I really like them compared to stock Goodyears. I do hear slightly more noise at highway speeds, and I noticed at one point my scroll wheels were vibrating. But they don't seem any rougher than stock Goodyears.”

What elevates the story beyond a simple tire review is the owner’s decision to treat the swap as an experiment. America’s Tire was an hour away, which created a convenient out-and-back loop. Before the KO3s were installed, Trip B was reset. After installation, the same route was driven back under similar conditions. Full Self-Driving was used both ways, set to “hurry,” with traffic slightly heavier on the return trip. This was not a laboratory test, but it was honest, repeatable, and grounded in how the truck is actually used.

Tesla Cybertruck: Engineering & Interior Design

• The stainless steel exterior replaces conventional painted panels, improving resistance to minor cosmetic damage while limiting design curvature and complicating repair processes.
• Steer-by-wire and rear-wheel steering reduce low-speed maneuvering effort, though the steering response differs noticeably from conventional pickup systems.
• Interior layout is highly minimal, with nearly all vehicle functions accessed through a central display, reducing visual clutter but increasing dependence on software interaction.
• The enclosed, powered bed emphasizes security and weather protection, trading some of the quick-access flexibility found in traditional open-bed designs.

The numbers tell a nuanced story. On the outgoing leg with the original Goodyear all-terrains, the Cybertruck recorded an average energy consumption of just over 400 watt-hours per mile. On the return trip with the KO3s fitted, the figure nudged higher, landing in the low 430 watt-hours per mile range. That delta will not surprise anyone who understands tire construction. The KO3 is more aggressive, heavier, and designed with durability and off-road traction in mind. Efficiency was always going to pay a small price.

What matters more is the size of that price. This is not a dramatic efficiency collapse, nor does it fundamentally change the Cybertruck’s long-distance usability. Over tens of thousands of miles, a few dozen extra watt-hours per mile add up, but they do not rewrite the vehicle’s mission. For an owner who values all-weather confidence and off-pavement capability, the tradeoff appears measured rather than excessive.

Subjectively, the feedback aligns with expectations as well. Road noise at highway speeds is slightly more pronounced, and there was a brief moment where vibration could be felt through the scroll wheels. Yet the ride itself was described as no rougher than stock, and nothing approached what seasoned truck owners would call objectionable. This is an important distinction. Many all-terrain upgrades promise toughness at the expense of civility. Here, the Cybertruck’s stiff structure and suspension tuning seem to absorb much of the tire’s added character.

There is also something quietly revealing about the use of Full Self-Driving throughout the test. The system removes throttle variability from the equation, allowing the tires themselves to play a larger role in the results. It is an unintended benefit of modern driver assistance that it can turn owner experiments like this into cleaner data sets, even if the intent was simply to make the drive less tedious.

Threads like this are why owner forums remain indispensable, even in an age of polished reviews and influencer impressions. No manufacturer is going to publish efficiency deltas for tire swaps that were never part of the homologation plan. No press event will linger on the smell of new rubber or the subtle hum at 70 miles per hour. That texture comes only from people living with the machines they bought.

The Cybertruck, like the pickups before it, invites owners to tailor it to their needs. In this case, the BFGoodrich KO3s appear to deliver exactly what they promise: more capability, slightly higher energy use, and a character shift that feels deliberate rather than accidental. For a truck that was always meant to be polarizing, that balance feels just about right.

Image Sources: Tesla Media Center

Noah Washington is an automotive journalist based in Atlanta, Georgia. He enjoys covering the latest news in the automotive industry and conducting reviews on the latest cars. He has been in the automotive industry since 15 years old and has been featured in prominent automotive news sites. You can reach him on X and LinkedIn for tips and to follow his automotive coverage.