This truck design had better be a joke....

[wjsx9999]

But then there is this:

Leave the Tesla Cybertruck alone

Thanks for posting this. A helpful view from outside of our tesla-world now divided between "love it" or "hate it". I agree with the author that beyond all the analysis of tech specs, etc., Elon & Co maintain the nerve to keep pushing way out ahead of the rest of the industry and conventional cultural expectations.

It will be really interesting to see how everyone adapts to "the shock of the new".

My M3 now seems a bit more sedate

 

[Amp Dup]

Full disclosure: I'm not a truck guy. I had one 40 years ago and was glad to be rid of it.
I live in Southern California and there are a lot of trucks here. Many are used for work but I bet more are just the family vehicle. They never hauled hay bales or a load of gravel. They haul bicycles, barbecue grills, coolers and plants from Home Depot. I could see the Cybertruck fulfilling those demands easily. Presumably it will have the EV feel which we all love. Somebody pointed out the "blank canvas" aspect for custom wraps and paint. I can imagine by 2022 the look will have grown on us and become more of a "maybe" than "no way!" Will it be big in Wyoming or Iowa? Probably not. But is there market potential? I think so. We'll see...

 

[ricohman]

I'm still thinking this is a one-off prototype.
After the great success of the Model 3, why would Tesla waste resources on such a narrow focus vehicle?
It has to be a concept vehicle.

 

[qdeathstar]

Hadn't realized what I was looking at with the rear angled panel but your right!

that makes the truck even better% the more pictures i get the more i like it.

 

[SO16]

I would have to say the Pontiac Aztec looked like it was designed by skilled professionals. The Aztec may have not been accepted as desirable by the masses at the time it was introduced but on the other hand the thing that Tesla showed last night is still being questioned by many people as possibly an elaborate joke with the real vehicle yet to be released. I never liked the Aztec but I would lay money that more people would find the Aztec to be a better looking, nicer design, in comparison to the Cybertruck. There were far nicer photoshopped renderings online that certainly would sell better.

I literally was riding behind an Aztec today. For ANYONE to think it’s like the Cybertruck, is sorely mistaken.

 

[jhodgesatmb]

I didn’t see the presentation but I did look at the pics and read the articles on Teslarati and Electrek. I like it, and I like the idea of a stainless body for a truck. I wonder how many of the people whining about the design have owned a real utility vehicle and used it as such. I have and I have no issues with the design. Trucks have to be functional. If you don’t like the design, don’t buy one. And what is taught in marketing classes, really, has got to be the worst way to argue a point of any kind.

 

[Cattledog]

Full disclosure: I'm not a truck guy. I had one 40 years ago and was glad to be rid of it.
I live in Southern California and there are a lot of trucks here. Many are used for work but I bet more are just the family vehicle. They never hauled hay bales or a load of gravel. They haul bicycles, barbecue grills, coolers and plants from Home Depot. I could see the Cybertruck fulfilling those demands easily. Presumably it will have the EV feel which we all love. Somebody pointed out the "blank canvas" aspect for custom wraps and paint. I can imagine by 2022 the look will have grown on us and become more of a "maybe" than "no way!" Will it be big in Wyoming or Iowa? Probably not. But is there market potential? I think so. We'll see...

I live in Texas. Everyone is talking about it today, both good and bad. It will be big.

 

[Ludus]

I think the genius of this design is in the new approach to body manufacturing that it arises from. It’s not an elaborate steel Endo Skeleton that thin stamped and painted steel or Aluminum body panels are attached to as a skin. It’s a thick stainless steel exoskeleton made by a process like steel origami. (BTW another Blade Runner connection with all the origami references).

If you’re making the body by steel origami you don’t need giant stamping presses and expensive dies and elaborate industrial planning to work with them. You don’t need paint shops.

However any body you make this way won’t have arbitrary curves and sculpting. It will like origami tend to be faceted hard edged and geometric. That Brutalist look isn’t just an arbitrary decorative choice like most of what people are used to about car body design. It comes from the underlying manufacturing technology. Stamped body panels can look like almost anything. Steel origami bodies look faceted and hard edged.

Other features just arise from Steel Origami too. The exoskeleton is structural so it’s a lot tougher than stamped body panels. You can hit it with a sledge and not dent it like a tank. It’s extremely durable and tough. Pickup Trucks with painted stamped body panels are snowflakes by comparison. You can key the CyberTruck and besides being caught by Keep Summer Safe mode, nothing happens.

Why Steel Origami? It may be that it so simplifies body manufacturing that it let’s Tesla make a profit selling this vastly superior sports car/tank of a pickup for $40k. CAD can design an origami folding pattern for sheets of steel that robots can score and bend into complex structural shapes. This may eliminate a lot of expensive industrial processes. It may be quite flexible letting a set of robots produce different Origami shapes every time more like 3D printing that traditional assembly lines.

Since I’ve seen the presentation, driving around, I can’t help but look at every vehicle on the road as a sort of primitive Victorian steampunk thing, covered with a delicate purely decorative fanciful skin that’s expensive to produce and not very functional.

 

[jsight]

I didn’t see the presentation but I did look at the pics and read the articles on Teslarati and Electrek. I like it, and I like the idea of a stainless body for a truck. I wonder how many of the people whining about the design have owned a real utility vehicle and used it as such. I have and I have no issues with the design. Trucks have to be functional. If you don’t like the design, don’t buy one. And what is taught in marketing classes, really, has got to be the worst way to argue a point of any kind.

I get that, but there are some pretty major functional issues here too. How are you going to reach over the side of this thing to load from somewhere other than the very rear? And as cool as the rolltop cover is, what about reliability of that mechanism? Trucks tend to be very long lived utility vehicles and unreliable components get avoided as a result. Even the rear gate looked gimmicky and weak.

Add to that the triangle top and this just isn't a great product right now.

 

[A.N. Gineer]

This is not the final Truck. Looking at it right now, it does not look like it will pass any safety test exterior wise

What safety test?

Ever notice that pickup trucks don't even have energy absorbing bumpers?

The only safety tests done on trucks are by IIHS, a private insurance consortium.

Most trucks fail miserably because crash performance is not a federally mandated requirement.

 

[A.N. Gineer]

The near indestructibility aside, there are things they will surely do to make it cover even more truck functionality bases, and at that point if as a workhorse it provides great value and performance, and you can run a welder and air tools off it

Air tools?

Musk said, on stage, that it's a tap off the compressor from the air suspension. It'll inflate tires, an air mattress, and run an air brush (if you must list an air tool that will work), but real air tools?

Um, no.

You heard what wasn't said, but what you wanted to hear.

You can plug in a real air compressor into the 220V outlet, possibly (we don't know how much current it will deliver) and run air tools of that external machine, but not off a suspension compressor. No way.

This is a truck for non-truck people. The F-150 is safe. The Honda Ridgeline girlyman truck is in serious trouble.

 

[qdeathstar]

is it just me or do the doors loook fat?

 

[A.N. Gineer]

My theory on the window demo: the team was scrambling to get the prototype ready for the reveal. They were behind schedule. The armor glass wasn't ready so they used standard auto glass just to get through the reveal. No one bothered to tell the boss because throwing a ball bearing at the truck window was not part of the show plan.
The ball drop demonstration on the individual panes is the evidence I need to show the armor glass (which is also being used on the Semi) lives up to the hype.
I'm already on my 2nd M3 windshield thanks to a tiny pebble. I could really use some of this tough glass.

My theory on the window demo: the team was scrambling to get the prototype ready for the reveal. They were behind schedule. The armor glass wasn't ready so they used standard auto glass just to get through the reveal. No one bothered to tell the boss because throwing a ball bearing at the truck window was not part of the show plan.
The ball drop demonstration on the individual panes is the evidence I need to show the armor glass (which is also being used on the Semi) lives up to the hype.
I'm already on my 2nd M3 windshield thanks to a tiny pebble. I could really use some of this tough glass.

The windshield has to meet federal standards in enabling you to live when you smash your skull into it.

Laminated glass that doesn't break up into lethal shards like Gorilla Glass (same as what's on your iPhone, but next gen) does.

 

[patrick40363]

It is 236 in long. There is no way it will fit in most garages.

 

[Glamisduner]

Man tires to key tesla truck caught on sent mode.

Air tools?

Musk said, on stage, that it's a tap off the compressor from the air suspension. It'll inflate tires, an air mattress, and run an air brush (if you must list an air tool that will work), but real air tools?

Um, no.

You heard what wasn't said, but what you wanted to hear.

You can plug in a real air compressor into the 220V outlet, possibly (we don't know how much current it will deliver) and run air tools of that external machine, but not off a suspension compressor. No way.

This is a truck for non-truck people. The F-150 is safe. The Honda Ridgeline girlyman truck is in serious trouble.

You sure? I had a couple small compressors on my last truck that would run an impact. For a couple seconds anyways, it only had a 200psi 2 gallon air tank. I hope they ditch the idea of having high sides on the bed, or add a door to the bed so you can get stuff over the side.

 

[Sunshine State]

I literally was riding behind an Aztec today. For ANYONE to think it’s like the Cybertruck, is sorely mistaken.

People are just agreeing that the Cybertruck looks much worse than even the Aztec. That I think everyone can at least agree on.

 

[Evbwcaer]

Air tools?

Musk said, on stage, that it's a tap off the compressor from the air suspension. It'll inflate tires, an air mattress, and run an air brush (if you must list an air tool that will work), but real air tools?

Um, no.

You heard what wasn't said, but what you wanted to hear.

You can plug in a real air compressor into the 220V outlet, possibly (we don't know how much current it will deliver) and run air tools of that external machine, but not off a suspension compressor. No way.

This is a truck for non-truck people. The F-150 is safe. The Honda Ridgeline girlyman truck is in serious trouble.

You might want to rethink this position. Tesla has compressors for rocket thrusters in the next gen Roadster.

 

[pdx_m3s]

Took me some time to process the design and not rush to judgment, but I quite like it.

 

[Brian's ReX]

I think the genius of this design is in the new approach to body manufacturing that it arises from. It’s not an elaborate steel Endo Skeleton that thin stamped and painted steel or Aluminum body panels are attached to as a skin. It’s a thick stainless steel exoskeleton made by a process like steel origami. (BTW another Blade Runner connection with all the origami references).

If you’re making the body by steel origami you don’t need giant stamping presses and expensive dies and elaborate industrial planning to work with them. You don’t need paint shops.

However any body you make this way won’t have arbitrary curves and sculpting. It will like origami tend to be faceted hard edged and geometric. That Brutalist look isn’t just an arbitrary decorative choice like most of what people are used to about car body design. It comes from the underlying manufacturing technology. Stamped body panels can look like almost anything. Steel origami bodies look faceted and hard edged.

Other features just arise from Steel Origami too. The exoskeleton is structural so it’s a lot tougher than stamped body panels. You can hit it with a sledge and not dent it like a tank. It’s extremely durable and tough. Pickup Trucks with painted stamped body panels are snowflakes by comparison. You can key the CyberTruck and besides being caught by Keep Summer Safe mode, nothing happens.

Why Steel Origami? It may be that it so simplifies body manufacturing that it let’s Tesla make a profit selling this vastly superior sports car/tank of a pickup for $40k. CAD can design an origami folding pattern for sheets of steel that robots can score and bend into complex structural shapes. This may eliminate a lot of expensive industrial processes. It may be quite flexible letting a set of robots produce different Origami shapes every time more like 3D printing that traditional assembly lines.

Since I’ve seen the presentation, driving around, I can’t help but look at every vehicle on the road as a sort of primitive Victorian steampunk thing, covered with a delicate purely decorative fanciful skin that’s expensive to produce and not very functional.

This. Nicely stated, my friend. I was trying to figure out how to verbalize these thoughts... but thankfully you nicely put my thoughts in words.

Think it looks 'cool' or not... there's no denying the engineering beauty of this beast.

Thus, my deposit is placed, and I wait. And wait. And wait.....

 

[djlott]

I have to say...at first I had the same initial ...WTF?!? reaction everyone else did. But by the end of the reveal, it was growing on me. Today, I cant stop thinking about it.

Admittedly, a truck to me is mostly a vehicle that provides good utility, hauling and something fun to drive. Construction?! No thanks. There are plenty of urban cowboys in CA and I'd be one of them.

Now, is Cybertruck justifiable solely for these reasons? Sure. I mean I bought a $100k Model S as a commute car. So I could easily see myself driving a Cybertruck for $50k. It's half the cost!

Getting the wife to agree, different problem.