Made a couple small changes to the Cybertruck. Thoughts?

[keeney]

Now that I would not even consider buying. Precisely what I do not want, a conceptual and functional splice.View attachment 481769

This is what it looks like to make it more true to the original "concept":

 

[PACEMD]

Who's original concept? That looks worse and loses the function. But it does satisfy the........a truck must have an abrupt bed transition because, well just because........crowd.

 

[PACEMD]

For that design to be an improvement the bed changes/function would need to overcome the significant aesthetic/visual hit, the functional loss of the exoskeleton structure, as well as the loss of the function of the vault. The bed is still too short to function as a full truck bed or to accommodate a gooseneck hitch. I can't see you have gained a thing, but you have lost quite a bit.

 

[Twiglett]

yep - looks just like a traditional truck with some angles on it.
Obviously also completely missing the fact that it isn't built on a great big frame underneath, which is why trad-trucks have disconnected beds and cabs.
With cybertruck there are no "body panels", everything you see on the outside is the frame. So pretending you can just edit out the sail sides is not realistic, they are there to hold up the whole back of the truck.
That's why photoshop isn't an engineering design tool.

 

[keeney]

yep - looks just like a traditional truck with some angles on it.
Obviously also completely missing the fact that it isn't built on a great big frame underneath, which is why trad-trucks have disconnected beds and cabs.
With cybertruck there are no "body panels", everything you see on the outside is the frame. So pretending you can just edit out the sail sides is not realistic, they are there to hold up the whole back of the truck.
That's why photoshop isn't an engineering design tool.

I was just kicking around some concepts. Obviously re-designing the truck will require re-engineering the truck,

But if you want to go there, I think this concept is entirely feasible. The entire height/length of the sails is not really needed for the stiffness. The outer panel of the sail in the tesla concept is a storage door, so its not even connected structurally. Just the top edge and inner panel.. The question would be how wide the C pillar needs to be. Note that part of the C pillar is inside the door, so its wider than it looks on the outside. Also its doubled up with a skin on the inside of the bed and the outside. And the door frame profile has some folds in it. The frame of a typical truck is what? 5" or 6" high box or C section with 1/8" walls? This section as drawn is probably 6" wide with 1/8" walls plus the other structure of the door frame hooks into the sides of the bed. Its probably still significantly stiffer than a typical truck already and you could make it taper back a few more inches if needed.

For those who want the "aesthetics" of the sloped sides and the roll top cover, the answer is simple - add an optional topper. Keeping the original roof line enables that option I'm just trying to point out some ways that the truck could have been designed to be more useful for people like me who want a more open cargo bed.

Traditional open truck beds are in the configuration they are for good reasons - ignoring that history without understanding how people actually use trucks is a great way to design a truck that's not as useful to people. Based on casual observation, I think maybe 60% to 70% of all trucks run without a cover or a topper.

 

[keeney]

For that design to be an improvement the bed changes/function would need to overcome the significant aesthetic/visual hit, the functional loss of the exoskeleton structure, as well as the loss of the function of the vault. The bed is still too short to function as a full truck bed or to accommodate a gooseneck hitch. I can't see you have gained a thing, but you have lost quite a bit.

6.5' is pretty much the standard size bed when you have 4-door seating in a 1/2 ton and many 3/4 tons. Its plenty useful. Gooseneck is doable with 6.5' bed with trailers that are pointy at the front or have an extended gooseneck. A lot depends on the location of the axle in relation to the cab.

 

[TjckTock]

I was thinking along similar lines.. except additive instead of subtractive. I think a utility rack like you see on service trucks that locks into the wings, squares off the top. Will give all the extra utility I want. And if done right, can be easily removed for family road trips where range is more important.

 

[Kuhz]

This is sort of what I meant. Looks better as an SUV to me:

THAT I would buy and replace my diesel Excursion with. Currently there is nothing on the market that can haul 7+ people and cargo and still be able to tow 11k lbs

 

[geoffmanley]

THAT I would buy and replace my diesel Excursion with. Currently there is nothing on the market that can haul 7+ people and cargo and still be able to tow 11k lbs

You're getting one regardless, just admit it.

 

[Icer]

It's not aero the shape is for strength of the exoskeleton

Yup. The body is the strength. Changing the line from the peak back would weaken it.

 

[Kuhz]

You're getting one regardless, just admit it.

Not at this point. It still looks weird to me and I’m not in a market for a truck.

 

[Saghost]

I was thinking along similar lines.. except additive instead of subtractive. I think a utility rack like you see on service trucks that locks into the wings, squares off the top. Will give all the extra utility I want. And if done right, can be easily removed for family road trips where range is more important.

That has possibilities. There’s even a pretty good chance Tesla will offer a factory version of this for the contractor market that has to be one of their key targets.

 

[PACEMD]

6.5' is pretty much the standard size bed when you have 4-door seating in a 1/2 ton and many 3/4 tons. Its plenty useful. Gooseneck is doable with 6.5' bed with trailers that are pointy at the front or have an extended gooseneck. A lot depends on the location of the axle in relation to the cab.

A 6.5' bed is not a standard, it's a poor modern compromise. What it is, is not uncommon. Pointy trailers? What? I've been pulling goosenecks for a lot of years and a 6.5' bed can be made to work, yes, not at all ideal, but that's not the only design issue or problem with a short bed. For the Cybertruck it's beyond hard to see how that 6.5' bed could work with a gooseneck, for many reasons as I have discussed elsewhere. Whacking off the sails does not solve those issues and introduces many more. No matter, heavy hauling does not have to be purposed in the Cybertruck. The fact remains, the design above sacrifices function and aesthetics and gains nothing except a slanted tradition.

 

[PACEMD]

Listen, pitch your ideas to Tesla, Elon, or get a job with their design team. Or better yet get some funding and produce that vehicle yourself. Alternatively, you could just chop your own Cybertruck till the cows come home..........show those simple-minded folks at Tesla how much better sail chopping makes reality.........

 

[lookmtb]

The entire height/length of the sails is not really needed for the stiffness

I don't think you have any credibility to say that. Unless you have access to the CAD data that is... This truck will have the greatest towing capacity of any "unibody"/exoskeleton truck ever. That's gonna need some serious strength.

 

[Ehninger1212]

I like the ruck just as it is.. i see so many possibilities for the aftermarket on this truck!

 

[DMC-Orangeville]

6.5' is pretty much the standard size bed when you have 4-door seating in a 1/2 ton and many 3/4 tons. Its plenty useful. Gooseneck is doable with 6.5' bed with trailers that are pointy at the front or have an extended gooseneck. A lot depends on the location of the axle in relation to the cab.

Agree fully.
I have hauled a gooseneck 2 horse trailer for 17 years. First with a 1/2 ton Dodge, and now with a 3/4 ton Ford. This puts the revealed Cybertruck as a "no" for me, for practical reasons. The OP's vision might work.

 

[keeney]

I don't think you have any credibility to say that. Unless you have access to the CAD data that is... This truck will have the greatest towing capacity of any "unibody"/exoskeleton truck ever. That's gonna need some serious strength.

Hardened stainless has a yield strength similar to other hard steels. Probably something like 140,000 PSI. It doesn't take many square inches of cross section of hard steel to make things strong. Those square inches add up quick in 1/8 wall thickness.

 

[Electruck]

Cyber spy fly on the wall says; those "sails" are cavernous storage compartments............need em........want em......

 

[CoyoteJim]

It's not aero the shape is for strength of the exoskeleton and a restriction of the material they're using The alloy they're using can't be stamped and is cost prohibitive to put compound curves into

Yup. The body is the strength. Changing the line from the peak back would weaken it.

It's both...changing the shape would ruin the aero AND weaken the body...

Are the boxy Tesla Cybertruck's aerodynamics any good? An engineer found out - Electrek