Not an exoskeleton- wait say what?

[Hookemhorns]

An engineer from Munro Associate, looking at the photos from the quarterly report, said the Cybertruck in progress shown at the plant is definitely not an exoskeleton. He likened it to a Model Y transformed into a pickup…longer, higher, and made of stainless steel panels.

Huh? Supposedly the strength and interior spaciousness were due to an exoskeleton construction. What happened? Did they make a change somewhere that delayed production for so long? This seems like pretty important news to the followers of this vehicle.

Hear him talk about it on this week’s Ride the Lightning podcast. Here’s hoping I misunderstood (fingers crossed)

 

[scottf200]

Yes, various conversations on this around the internet.
Try this search: "exoskeleton" cybertruck Cory Steuben Munro - Google Search

01:14:13 Tesla Cybetruck deep dive

 

[cusetownusa]

An engineer from Munro Associate, looking at the photos from the quarterly report, said the Cybertruck in progress shown at the plant is definitely not an exoskeleton. He likened it to a Model Y transformed into a pickup…longer, higher, and made of stainless steel panels.

Huh? Supposedly the strength and interior spaciousness were due to an exoskeleton construction. What happened? Did they make a change somewhere that delayed production for so long? This seems like pretty important news to the followers of this vehicle.

Hear him talk about it on this week’s Ride the Lightning podcast. Here’s hoping I misunderstood (fingers crossed)

I was wondering the same thing and was surprised there wasn't more discussion about this on this forum.

 

[TessP100D]

It’s just Musk vocabulary…. Like Self Driving. Lol. Sure it is….

 

[Nack]

People are surprised Musk hyped something up and delivered something much less?

I’m sure he has a “line of sight” to make the promises of Cybertruck a reality. The reality is “just around the corner.” Its just a very long and high radius corner….

 

[VIKING26]

If it isn’t an exoskeleton, which I believe it isn’t, why have the 3mm exterior panels? Make them normal truck panels ~0.65mm and give the truck more range. The extra weight of those panels just to protect against an occasional door ding isn’t worth it imo. I’d rather have a more capable truck for hauling and road trips.

 

[KJD]

An engineer from Munro Associate, looking at the photos from the quarterly report, said the Cybertruck in progress shown at the plant is definitely not an exoskeleton. He likened it to a Model Y transformed into a pickup…longer, higher, and made of stainless steel panels.

Huh? Supposedly the strength and interior spaciousness were due to an exoskeleton construction. What happened? Did they make a change somewhere that delayed production for so long? This seems like pretty important news to the followers of this vehicle.

Hear him talk about it on this week’s Ride the Lightning podcast. Here’s hoping I misunderstood (fingers crossed)

Sounds like a bait and switch deal to me.

I wonder how many fanboys will cancel their order. Probably not many.

 

[electrifyme]

Wow, didn't know this... That's a big change. Oh boy.... not in a good way.

 

[HitchHiker71]

Tesla Cybertruck Shifts From Exoskeleton to Unibody Design

The Tesla Cybertruck has undergone a transformation from its initial exoskeleton design, which was compared to something out of a Marvel comic book, to a more traditional unibody design similar to the Honda Ridgeline, according to recent reports. Initially unveiled in late 2019, the Cybertruck...

tsportline.com

There's been several reports recently that the design moved from an exoskeleton to a unibody some time ago. Exoskeleton was never going to work - it would never pass crash testing as crumple zones are required to minimize damage to both internal occupants and to the other vehicle's internal occupants. I have suspected this from the outset of the CT being announced. I think this change was made some time ago - it's been unibody for the past couple of years - just hasn't been public knowledge. The gigapresses for CT have already been designed, shipped and delivered to the Gigatexas plant. If this is a late design change for some reason (doubtful), then it will inevitably mean the existing gigapress machines are no longer relevant - and we're essentially delaying the timeline by many more months.

 

[HitchHiker71]

Actually now that I watched the video embedded earlier in this thread - it's obvious from the pics of the CT assembly line that it is using a unibody design already - so this means that this change was already baked in prior to the gigapress order and install. As is typical of Tesla, they don't really publicly admit to design changes like this as a general rule. Honestly, I'd actually prefer the unibody design - it will result in a pretty solid structure with minimal gaps and fewer rattles as the torsional rigidity of a unibody design is superior to a ladder on frame design or an exoskeleton design in many respects. I will be very curious if they stick with the steel plates for the exterior with this design change. The only net negative would be that this will never be a true heavy duty truck (like a 2500/3500 series truck) - as ladder on frame designs are capable of supporting much heavier towing and tongue weights as a general rule because they use a lot of high strength steel to support 20000-40000lb towing with much higher payload weight limits.

 

[Metralla]

Not really a lot of difference between an exoskeleton vs a unibody vs a monocoque. The structure looks the same as I'd seen before.

 

[FLRifleman]

Tesla Cybertruck Shifts From Exoskeleton to Unibody Design

The Tesla Cybertruck has undergone a transformation from its initial exoskeleton design, which was compared to something out of a Marvel comic book, to a more traditional unibody design similar to the Honda Ridgeline, according to recent reports. Initially unveiled in late 2019, the Cybertruck...

tsportline.com

There's been several reports recently that the design moved from an exoskeleton to a unibody some time ago. Exoskeleton was never going to work - it would never pass crash testing as crumple zones are required to minimize damage to both internal occupants and to the other vehicle's internal occupants. I have suspected this from the outset of the CT being announced. I think this change was made some time ago - it's been unibody for the past couple of years - just hasn't been public knowledge. The gigapresses for CT have already been designed, shipped and delivered to the Gigatexas plant. If this is a late design change for some reason (doubtful), then it will inevitably mean the existing gigapress machines are no longer relevant - and we're essentially delaying the timeline by many more months.

The problem with unibody on a truck, is they aren't great for either the stresses of towing or off-road. That's why they are typically limited to models like the Santa Fe.

 

[VIKING26]

“So the Cybertruck is a hard car to make. Because it’s such a radically new design, you can’t just use conventional methods of manufacturing. We had to invent a whole new set of manufacturing techniques in order to build an EXOSKELETON based car instead of an endoskeleton based car.”

-Elon Musk
2023 Tesla Shareholder Meeting

Apparently Elon has different views of what exoskeleton means vs everyone else.

 

[jabloomf1230]

A lobster has its hard parts on the outside and like all arthropods it has an exoskeleton. Can you explain what you mean by an exoskeleton for a vehicle? I always assumed that when Elon said that the CT would have an exoskeleton, it was just hype, since all cars have the hard parts on the outside.

 

[TjckTock]

Maybe wishful thinking but it is possible to have the best of both worlds. I want the hard SS exterior for durability but like having unibody components as well if it provides better safety and a more robust tow hitch. Why does it have to be all one or the other? I think they had a first-principles meeting early on and realized getting religious about ES was not optimal. Look at the whole truck and do what makes sense. Let ES do what it does best and re-optimize the rest of the components rather than just deleting them.

 

[electrifyme]

“So the Cybertruck is a hard car to make. Because it’s such a radically new design, you can’t just use conventional methods of manufacturing. We had to invent a whole new set of manufacturing techniques in order to build an EXOSKELETON based car instead of an endoskeleton based car.”

-Elon Musk
2023 Tesla Shareholder Meeting

Apparently Elon has different views of what exoskeleton means vs everyone else.

Maybe he didn't the get the memo yet... too busy tweeting on Twitter.

 

[ThomasD]

Musk hasn't mentioned towing capacity in a long time. Will the quad motor have the 14,000 lb tow capacity? Or will the tri motor still have the 14,000 lb
tow capacity and the quad motor higher than 14,000lb towing?

 

[uscbucsfan]

Musk hasn't mentioned towing capacity in a long time. Will the quad motor have the 14,000 lb tow capacity? Or will the tri motor still have the 14,000 lb
tow capacity and the quad motor higher than 14,000lb towing?

There won't likely be a quad and a tri motor.

 

[doghousePVD]

Musk hasn't mentioned towing capacity in a long time. Will the quad motor have the 14,000 lb tow capacity? Or will the tri motor still have the 14,000 lb
tow capacity and the quad motor higher than 14,000lb towing?

The number of motors is not the criteria for tow rating. Tow rating includes brake capacity, suspension, strength of chassis,tires, etc. I really doubt the Cybertruck, smaller than a F-150, will have capacity over 14,000 lbs.

 

[texas_star_TM3]

The number of motors is not the criteria for tow rating. Tow rating includes brake capacity, suspension, strength of chassis,tires, etc. I really doubt the Cybertruck, smaller than a F-150, will have capacity over 14,000 lbs.

plus you ain't towing 14k lbs for long... what's the point of such an absurdly high tow rating (nearly 40%+ higher than full size F150s/ Silverados) aside from "bragging rights" ? Your range towing that much would likely be under 150 miles...