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Walk me through the design decision for the cybertruck

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Heavy trucks are exempt from many of the safety standards, at least in the US, and Bollinger is making trucks heavy enough to be exempt as The Bollinger B2 Is the Beefy Electric Truck We've Been Waiting For mentions; I don't know whether Tesla is doing likewise.

I remember Electrek last night mentioning that weight was similar to the F-150, if I heard correctly.

I believe that you can also get around safety standards if you produce a very limited number of units (see Morgan), but I doubt this would apply here.
 
I wonder what the "stealth factor" of the truck is?
Stealth airplanes use a lot of flat surfaces to deflect radar off at odd angles (and not back to the radar receiver).
I would guess that the Cybertruck has a low radar profile.

iu
 
Believe the Tesla truck was designed from determining what makes a truck good, then making a design that gives you a good truck.

The roof is that way, because the toneau cover needs to slide into the roof. The sides are that way so the toneau cover can give a tapered aerodynamic shape. The body panels are because they needed to make the truck fit an affordable price point. Tires and suspension allows off road, snowy roads, construction site use. Rear bumper like that to store the drive up ramps and pull out tables.

Designed more like a swiss army knife than a pretty mall crawler.
 
I wonder what the "stealth factor" of the truck is?
Stealth airplanes use a lot of flat surfaces to deflect radar off at odd angles (and not back to the radar receiver).
I would guess that the Cybertruck has a low radar profile.

iu

The lower front valance looks to be fifteen or twenty degrees below vertical, and is perpendicular to the line of travel. Radar signals will bounce beautifully off of it back to cars in front of you, with a ground bounce - at least at certain ranges.
 
Not in this case. Think of it as a vehicle, not an F-150 replacement:

Base RWD truck is $8,100 less than base RWD Y
AWD truck is $2,100 less than AWD Y goes further, and is faster 0-60

Base truck is only $410 more than base 3
AWD truck is only $1,410 more than AWD 3 and has more range and near equal 0-60.

Now that's an interesting perspective. We've mostly looked at it in comparison with other pickups instead.
 
If everyone thought the same... what a terrible world that would be. No offense to 100 years of pickups being the same. Or all those business users who thought iphones were only good for kids and would lose respect for themselves if they couldn't have a keyboard. God bless Steve. Think different indeed. My opinion: you are seeing a step change. And not just in good old trucks. Think bigger.
 
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If everyone thought the same... what a terrible world that would be. No offense to 100 years of pickups being the same. Or all those business users who thought iphones were only good for kids and would lose respect for themselves if they couldn't have a keyboard. God bless Steve. Think different indeed. My opinion: you are seeing a step change. And not just in good old trucks. Think bigger.
Stainless, no paint shop, flat surfaces, no stamp presses. Also, much cheaper batteries.
Everything else is obsolete.
 
If everyone thought the same... what a terrible world that would be. No offense to 100 years of pickups being the same. Or all those business users who thought iphones were only good for kids and would lose respect for themselves if they couldn't have a keyboard. God bless Steve. Think different indeed. My opinion: you are seeing a step change. And not just in good old trucks. Think bigger.

The Model T wasn't even close to the best or best looking car of its era. It became the car that revolutionized the world because it could be built so much more cheaply and in such volume.

If Tesla can build more pickup for half the price and it happens to be electric and weird looking, I think the market will follow.
 
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The Model T wasn't even close to the best or best looking car of its era. It became the car that revolutionized the world because it could be built so much more cheaply and in such volume.

If Tesla can build more pickup for half the price and it happens to be electric and weird looking, I think the market will follow.
Half the price of what? Market is not following this vehicle
 
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... Most "truck guys" are going to look at this thing and laugh.
Until they figure out cybertruck is much quicker, can tow more, looks bigger and girls like it.
And it's not like they can say it's feminized or anything... It could become very quickly manliness personified.
And then these guys will feel like their trucks are not up to par, and they will be jealous...

Not sure this will happen - but it may. Especially that I expect some celebrities, some tough celebrities (rappers?) will jump on this and make it 'tough' and popular.
 
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Despite the big towing numbers, I think the target here is more F150 and Raptor than F350 5th wheel.

The wind resistance and weight of a 5th wheel that would require something like a F350 etc would have ridiculously low range in an electric personal use truck like the CyberTruck. The 500 mile Tri-motor would get like 100-120 miles at best towing a 5th wheel RV weighing 20K lbs.
 
Half the price of Rivian. 30% the price of Bollinger. Less than Ford truck EV.
If they don't follow, Tesla will have the market to itself... just like the Model S, Model X, Model 3.
This “truck” is not comparable to an S,X or 3. This vehicle will never pass 5% of the “truck” market. It’s for Tesla fans who think they need to haul stuff
 
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