Just saw one in Los Gatos, CA tonight. Cool, but still terrible build quality

[father_of_6]

What happens when you road force balance these and they're match-mounted? Then you can't use the aero caps because they don't align?

Just seems like a problematic design choice. I do think the design is visually interesting, just not sure how practical they are.

 

[Yelobird]

What happens when you road force balance these and they're match-mounted? Then you can't use the aero caps because they don't align?

Just seems like a problematic design choice. I do think the design is visually interesting, just not sure how practical they are.

Highly suspect the wheel caps are center hub locked unlike previous caps. Hence why we never see “T” caps in the center and the covers are very shallow in depth. Pretty sure they wouldn’t be stumped by something so simple.

 

[eclipsejka]

Still can’t wrap my head around how ugly that thing is

 

[bobbyjae]

Very interested to see how it does in crash tests. Doesn't appear to have crumple zones so does all of the impact hit the passengers?

 

[Yelobird]

Very interested to see how it does in crash tests. Doesn't appear to have crumple zones so does all of the impact hit the passengers?

Pretty sure they didn’t skip crumple zones in the design having the safest fleet in the market.

 

[rzn89]

100/10 on the pictures!

 

[Lance From Jax]

I would withhold any build quality judgement until we see them rolling off the line.

 

[bobbyjae]

Pretty sure they didn’t skip crumple zones in the design having the safest fleet in the market.

I think they may have changed the exterior design since the original release event. Musk touted that the Cybertruck had a rigid, exoskeleton as the frame.

 

[uscbucsfan]

I think they may have changed the exterior design since the original release event. Musk touted that the Cybertruck had a rigid, exoskeleton as the frame.

It doesn't have an exoskeleton now...whether it was ever really planned is unknown...

 

[asterothe]

Great pictures. It has the love child of a yoke and a steering wheel.

 

[Carsly2]

Thanks for the pics, very well done.

I have a 2021 Model S and yeah, there are some misaligned trim pieces and inconsistent gaps. But so what? Doesn't change the fact that it's a stunning machine with 1,000+HP.

I would buy a Cybertruck, the little details don't bother me. Ever look under the hood of a V8 diesel pickup truck? That's what bothers me.

 

[lowtek]

I would buy a Cybertruck, the little details don't bother me. Ever look under the hood of a V8 diesel pickup truck? That's what bothers me.

What's under the hood of a V8 diesel pickup truck that bothers you? (curious what you meant here)

 

[Carsly2]

What's under the hood of a V8 diesel pickup truck that bothers you? (curious what you meant here)

Many things, but in this case I believe we're discussing aesthetics. From that vantage point having a few body panels nice and tightly aligned but under the hood is an absolute atrocity of a labyrinth of wires, pipes, hoses, belts and more vs. a few slightly misaligned trim pieces and a nice, simple, clean arrangement of electric motors and a battery pack I'd take the simplicity of the latter (with simple and efficient software as a kicker). The rub is we've been trained over 100 years to accept the former as "normal" but the latter as "LOLZ, can't build a vehicle". I'd offer a different take, if a trade-off has to be made - and it really doesn't - the switch to electrification brings about a lot of simplicity in everything in/around/under the vehicle.

 

[texas_star_TM3]

Looks pretty nice to me as a pre-production build. Guess if we hunt hard enough it’s not impossible to find minor issues with most any car. Certainly draws a crowd.

lol. those open gaps, misalignment etc look worse than what you'll find on a Lada

 

[Yelobird]

lol. those open gaps, misalignment etc look worse than what you'll find on a Lada

Based on your 1k negative CT posts I would expect no change in your reply. Lol

 

[JoshG]

(OP here) I'm actually a fan and have an early reservation that I'm still keeping in for now. Want to get one, but starting to think the wise move would be to wait for around the 2nd year of production in hopes that the quality seems dramatically better than is on these prototype units.

I had an early Model S, an early Model 3, and a roadster, and also have a Lucid Air, so i've been there before... the good and the bad of getting early runs of new models of EVs from new factories and production processes. But with something this different, I'm starting to worry about the build quality issues, maintenance, repair costs (especially body work if it ever needs to be done), software issues, etc...

I think there's a reasonable chance that the first year of production and early ownership experience on the Cybertruck could be a real nightmare... for the company, but moreso for the early buyers. I hope I'm wrong.

 

[Yelobird]

(OP here) I'm actually a fan and have an early reservation that I'm still keeping in for now. Want to get one, but starting to think the wise move would be to wait for around the 2nd year of production in hopes that the quality seems dramatically better than is on these prototype units.

I had an early Model S, an early Model 3, and a roadster, and also have a Lucid Air, so i've been there before... the good and the bad of getting early runs of new models of EVs from new factories and production processes. But with something this different, I'm starting to worry about the build quality issues, maintenance, repair costs (especially body work if it ever needs to be done), software issues, etc...

I think there's a reasonable chance that the first year of production and early ownership experience on the Cybertruck could be a real nightmare... for the company, but moreso for the early buyers. I hope I'm wrong.

Cool, let me know if you want to sell that Early reservation. No sense getting something your unsure of.

 

[sleepydoc]

(OP here) I'm actually a fan and have an early reservation that I'm still keeping in for now. Want to get one, but starting to think the wise move would be to wait for around the 2nd year of production in hopes that the quality seems dramatically better than is on these prototype units.

I had an early Model S, an early Model 3, and a roadster, and also have a Lucid Air, so i've been there before... the good and the bad of getting early runs of new models of EVs from new factories and production processes. But with something this different, I'm starting to worry about the build quality issues, maintenance, repair costs (especially body work if it ever needs to be done), software issues, etc...

I think there's a reasonable chance that the first year of production and early ownership experience on the Cybertruck could be a real nightmare... for the company, but moreso for the early buyers. I hope I'm wrong.

there are a lot of good reasons not to get an early model of any newly designed (or redesigned) car. Even companies like Honda and Toyota that have a long and solid manufacturing history can see bumps in problems with new models. Tesla is getting more experience but is still a relative newcomer to the manufacturing world.

 

[cusetownusa]

(OP here) I'm actually a fan and have an early reservation that I'm still keeping in for now. Want to get one, but starting to think the wise move would be to wait for around the 2nd year of production in hopes that the quality seems dramatically better than is on these prototype units.

I had an early Model S, an early Model 3, and a roadster, and also have a Lucid Air, so i've been there before... the good and the bad of getting early runs of new models of EVs from new factories and production processes. But with something this different, I'm starting to worry about the build quality issues, maintenance, repair costs (especially body work if it ever needs to be done), software issues, etc...

I think there's a reasonable chance that the first year of production and early ownership experience on the Cybertruck could be a real nightmare... for the company, but moreso for the early buyers. I hope I'm wrong.

I hope you are wrong too but typically I always avoid the first model year. I have been burned too many times with other manufactures.

 

[Nack]

Sub 10 micron accuracy?!?

I haven’t even seen EV builds (Engineering Val) builds that poor, let alone QV, VV or pre-prod. For driving it out and about it should be at least a QV (Quality Val) so Im not sure if you can determine build quality from that!