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I Have Signed Up for a Tesla Cybertruck and I Never Wanted a Pickup Before

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I think Tesla will sell very high volumes of Cybertruck. I have never previously wanted a pickup truck and never owned a pickup truck. However, this Tesla Cybertruck asThe innovative and breakthrough styling will put off some people, but a vast majority will be passionate about it.

The pricing, range and features are all exciting.

My fourteen year old son says this looks like the future of cars.

EXOSKELETON
Cybertruck is built with an exterior shell made for ultimate durability and passenger protection. Starting with a nearly impenetrable exoskeleton, every component is designed for superior strength and endurance, from Ultra-Hard 30X Cold-Rolled stainless-steel structural skin to Tesla armor glass.

ULTRA-HARD 30X COLD-ROLLED STAINLESS STEEL
If there was something better, we’d use it. Help eliminate dents, damage and long-term corrosion with a smooth monochrome exoskeleton that puts the shell on the outside of the car and provides you and your passengers maximum protection.

The top of line cybertruck has over 500 miles of range.

106 thoughts on “I Have Signed Up for a Tesla Cybertruck and I Never Wanted a Pickup Before”

  2. I could give a rat’s ass whether a car is “pretty” or not. I care about price-for-performance. This is out of my range, but I’d happily plunk for it if it were in it.

    MY question is… is this the end of crumple-zone engineering resulting in cars being totaled for what is essentially aesthetic damage?

  3. Looks like you are correct. The sheets are flat and there will be no stamping required. I’ve come to the conclusion that this is a genius construction…

  6. Oh, just so everyone knows, I love 80s nostalgia. The 21st century futures envisioned in the 80s seem way cooler than reality today. This retro-futuristic design is a gamble that might just pay off for Musk.

  7. They tend to complain when it is at a high level. And Elon certainly has complained. And generally we avoid things we are wary about. Also when there are a lot of shorters they try to take over the news to frighten people into selling. That tends to make CEOs a bit upset especially when the things said are hogwash.

  8. I wasn’t saying to avoid shorted stock, I was saying to be wary of stock where the company is going on and on about how their stock is shorted and constantly complaining about it.

  9. There are advantages to buying a heavily shorted stock if the company is growing. Those shorters can be caught in a “short squeeze”. If it goes up and they start loosing significant money they have to buy the stock (cover) to get out (often they are compelled to if they bought on margin), which can lead to it going higher and more shorters getting nervous/compelled (margin call) and selling, etc. There are other disadvantages to shorting. Shorters can loose more money than they invested if a stock doubles. And can never more than double their money. The most serious possibility is a corporate takeover. If a company buys a huge number of shares there may literally not be enough shares for a shorter to buy to cover…then they are just ruined or have to pay insane prices.
    Tesla is the most shorted stock on the market. Elon was not exaggerating about their influence: https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/short-selling-stocks-15-most-shorted-companies-in-the-market-2019-6-1028318327#1-tesla15
    Probably a $450 stock without the shorters. If the price goes to $500 they will probably start covering like mad so they are not playing musical chairs and find they don’t have a chair.
    Some shorters are disciplined and always cover if they have lost 20% or some predetermined %.
    The ugly side is that shorters make up any BS they can on the financial sites: https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/TSLA/community?p=TSLA
    Go to “conversations” “newest reactions” to see some of their BS.

  10. I mean, obviously I have stainless steel appliances. Why else would I express this preference? They’re not even uncommon.

    Never noticed any scratches in my sink (although I didn’t bother to check, to be fair). Things which have a mirror finish are smudge magnets, but I’ve never had a problem with brushed steel.

    Of course, a car is not a toaster oven or a sink or a refrigerator. It will get more scratches and I’m sure it will be hard to buff them out, if for some reason I wanted to do so. I think the secret is to just ignore them. Scratches on painted vehicles are a lot more ugly, and I’ve always just lived with those too, honestly. Since this one is supposed to be a utility vehicle, I think I’ll live.

  15. Pinto, Aztec, any Japanese “box” car, AMC Pacer…

    If this is the ugliest you have seen, you have not been looking very close.

  16. I’ve heard that it’s a rule of thumb in financial reporting that if the CEO keeps complaining about his stock being shorted that’s a very good indication you should sell.
    A company with bright prospects neither has many shorts nor cares. Just have a few profitable growing quarters and those shorts will be wiped out. It’s the companies that have deep, dark rubbish hidden in their “profits” that both are attracting a lot of shorts and are most concerned about them because the insiders want to sell off their own shares before it all falls apart.

  18. Mundane old-fashioned styles are for comfort for human passengers and sensible payload. Viewers were put off by the Cyber-Truck’s painful styling and impractical loadbed. The very practical battery bed and motors will likely succeed.

  20. If you ever owned brushed stainless steel sinks, cooking ware or appliances, you might have a different opinion…. they get scratched really easily and it’s a pain to buff out the scratches in a way that doesn’t make it look worse.

  22. Some people think everyone that has an issue with Tesla is trying to short their stocks. I certainly do, being a disappointed EV fan, criticize them, but I don’t want to have anything to do with their stocks.

  24. Actually unbreakable windows is a safety issue. Being able to break a side window to exit in case of an accident is important.

  25. It looks viable for towing and the cost of electricity verses gasoline will add up to big savings fairly quickly.

  26. That’s not an off-road vehicle so please keep it confined to easy trail or you’ll high center it or get stuck on a tight turn.

  27. A flat panel could be constructed as a composite structure, with either a foamed core, or a honeycomb layer, bonded sandwich fashion between two stainless skins.

    Would allow for creation of an almost optically flat surface of great stiffness, combined with minimal weight.

  28. Step in a helicopter and have a look at the windows. They have quick release hardware to allow fast egress.

    Not shattering upon suffering an impact is a desired feature for a window.

  31. Brett, Its a real issue, but the mind doth concentrate…
    So a long trip is premeditated by doing a search for chargers along the way. Might be an RV park, a motel or whatever when the supercharger is too far off. When I can go to historic mining towns in the hinterlands of Arizona during the height of winter…

  32. I don’t know about that. The current dual motor model 3 runs on a single motor until the car senses slipping. Where the advantage comes in is in regen.
    Two sources for regen without over braking on one axle.
    It will some down to battery cell count.Which is important as cell count depends on cell production.
    Tesla is riding a wave on cell production, and is very nearly constrained by that. Maxwell and other tesla developments are yet to make traction. ( at least as of about a month ago, could be all wrong by now)

  33. I’m with Brian on this. I’ve never wanted a pickup before and now I want this one. I want it to keep the brushed stainless steel look too. No paint.

    I’m really tired of all the cars that look the same. There are some really unique looking cars being made, but they’re niche cars that seem to always cost ~200 grand. This is finally a unique look that I can afford.

    It makes sense that not everyone would want it. That’s inherent in being different. He just lost half the potential customers who currently buy pickups. But he’s also gaining some people who wouldn’t normally buy pickups. Is it enough to actually make a profit at 40k? Time will tell, but I hope so. I hope all the car makers start to experiment a little more, to focus on enthusiastic slices of the market instead of chasing the median customer. Nobody gets more than a small fraction of the median customers anyway.

  34. You have your timeline wrong.
    The most beautiful Ferraris of all were the 308/328/288 Models of the 1970s and 80s.

  35. They could have some more efficiency since resistance losses in a given motor are proportional to the square of the current, while torque is proportional to the current, so doubling the motors could halve the resistance losses.

    Still, 50 miles from that is a stretch; 200 miles ( the difference between tri-motor version and the next best one) coming from more motors would be ridiculous.

  38. Plain?
    I can think of many, many ways to describe this vehicle but plain would be about the last possible word to spring to mind.
    It’s too boring for you? Needs a couple of machine gun nests at the top? Some scythe blades on the wheels? Flame throwers?

  39. I think the problem is that Steve Jobs died, so all the Jobs worshipers AND all the Jobs haters flocked to the new Techgod.

    And a lot of them didn’t bother upgrading the issues they were obsessed with. So we’ve got people criticising Musk about stories that were developed looking at early 2000s Apple and it just doesn’t make sense.

  40. I had to think about that one for a while before I realized you weren’t talking about the trolls not being tall.

  42. Are you suggesting that post-apocalyptic battletruck is a look that would not sell well? Because that remains to be seen.

  43. FFS never leave a Californian to design a Truck.

    Look first put a Brush guard on the front, second cut the cheese wheel thing, third put some modern foldable mirrors on the doors, third…..

    Look sometimes its cool to take something as a starting point inspiration then go with it but never get stuck on a single obsession like that point.

  45. Judging from the video, I would say that in many markets these sharp corners and edges will not be allowed. It looks certainly different and eye catching, but not in a good way. OK, tastes differ.

  46. Elon has stated in the past that the 2 motor versions are more efficient because of where the force is applied in turns and such. That extra 50 miles could be coming from exactly the same battery.

  48. I don’t have any inside information. That metal just looks very flat to me. That’s a corner-cut no one–making cars, at least–has done. I think some armor personnel carriers and armored truck service have. And seems to me some old delivery vans similar to ice cream trucks used mostly flat metal.
    Some of the very old cars just had one dimensional bends.
    Most companies that make vacation trailers and one piece motorhomes are forced to make stuff with a combination of one-dimensional bends and flat pieces.
    The 2-dimentional curves were an innovation that gave increased strength to the panels. But this was strength for the particular body panel itself. Elon is doing something different. The compressive and tensile strength is being leveraged in the flat plane of the metal when combined with the angled welds like in a cardboard box.

  50. The old Chevy El Camino car-truck hybrid and older year models Honda Rideline truck share the similar slanted backside cargo bed design.

  51. Looks like a current phase in Musk’s designs: SpaceX Starship is shiny silver steel, simple retro look. Similar theme with this Cybertruck. Plus, could be harder (and/or more costly) to curve-form his “Ultra-Hard 30X Cold-Rolled stainless-steel” at the current moment, if it’s actually a new steel alloy/formulation.

  52. Of course not. Its about the design, utility, cost and performance. No one wants stink and noise, that’s you prejudice talking. It says more about your attitude towards your fellow Americans than something about them.

  53. Really? The sheets are not stamped at all? You could be correct, but I highly doubt it. I don’t think the surfaces look *that* flat. My guess is – but I could be wrong – that they still have to stamp the sheets.

  54. That’s possible. But there’s also the fact that the 500 mile version is a big step up in range from the 250 and 300 mile versions, and is an outlier among existing electric car ranges as well, whereas the 250 and 300 mile ranges are more typical.

    FWIW I hope that it is a better battery rather than just a really huge one, since I look forward to better battery tech becoming available.

  55. Wat-da-truck? Kinda plain for a Tesla.
    Think I’ll just go to Home Depot and buy a bunch of foil faced plywood, a box of deck screws, some rattle cans, and some sheets of dark polycarbonate and retrofit an old F-150 and cruise around Wilshire Bulevard in an Elon-Truk that can’t carry 10 sheets of plywood it takes to build it.

  57. Curvy shapes are fine as long as the metal is not thick. Though a single dimention curve should still be very easy with thicker metal.
    The stamping does cost money. You have each press modified for doing each piece. And therefore you need a lot of them. What he has done is allow a big sheet of steel to just be laser or water cut and welded…and there you go.

  59. Thomas, in my 35 years working job sites I almost never pulled anything over the side because there was no way to advert banging the side of the truck. Either my tool belt or the item I was getting. The only thing I would have liked to see was a lower bed elevation relative to the top. So I could cover taller stuff. Thinking about it now the tesla does have a high cover area.
    When the guys get over their preconceptions they will see how beneficial the stainless steel sidewalls are.

  60. People who use work trucks are already saying the sides are a non starter. They can’t reach their tools from the side making the truck useless to guys who are working all day long and don’t go to the back of the truck to grab tools. This is not a truck that most construction crews would utilize. The design aside, it is only marginally functional.

  61. This isn’t the final design. There are no side mirrors and no blinkers. There are numerous elements that don’t meet regulations. Additionally with the steel outside, it lend credance to the theory that this is the mars version of what Elon is ultimately thinking for this truck. This may not be the earth version. This seems like more of a concept vehicle at this point than a final product.

  64. Later. Musk had said they would revise if reception sucked too hard.

    I think it’s ugly. And I DGAF. Specs matter, not looks – I have a nice car and a sportsbike for that.

    Deposit down.

  65. Taste knows no bounds, but this thing is a flop. It looks like something out of an old sprite-based game from my youth in the 80’s. Some bad sci-fi car. Why pay extra money for the cost of “bullet-proof” cars if you don’t need it? I shoot guns a lot, and I doubt this thing is bullet-proof, but Musk lies all the time and gets away with it, so nothing new here.

  66. And the strength from the shape lets them use flat sheet steel and just bend corners. A curvy shape costs more to build.

  67. An OK first attempt at 3d modelling. You should try to add more indentations and shapes to break up the single polygon shape.

    Wait, it’s a finished car..?

  68. Whoever is programming spot.im commenting stuff is an idiot. This is just getting worse and worse and worse.

  69. Cheap is relative, a fully up-trimmed f150 exceeds the top end trim here. likewise the base f150 is more expensive than the base trim here. so as far as affordability, both from a capital outlay and maintenence perspective, this thing wins.

    I think there’s an argument to be made for truck fans that the towing capacity of the top trim is somewhat disappointing as compared to diesel. I think this was due to the air suspension more than anything else.

    Not that you were on the fence about it, but AC power is by a huge margin, orders of magnitude, the most available energy source. as soon as hotels start putting in electric chargers, my guess is 3 years or less for 80% adoption. the gas station argument will cease to make sense. It’d be just as easy to carry a portable battery of the same weight as say 3 gallons of fuel and charge it up enough for 20 miles or so elsewhere, a store, a gas station, someone (who consent’s) house…

    Again, I get the looks argument, and I think you can debate the merits of its “truck” cred but as for cheap and refueled anywhere. electric is already taking the crown.

  70. I think the Hummer H2 was the Homer 😉 They did sell well…then financial crisis, high gasoline prices and nosedive.

  71. I think the design can be modified a trivial amount to get a shape that still says “truck” to people. I would increase the height of the bed sides to be even with the roof height not angling down and where the roof slopes down, make that flat or slope much less. Have a small Bullbar. And have an internal winch.
    If changing the roof is major, then just extend those sides. That should still pass the “truck” image test.
    I think this will grow on people. Maybe it just needs a few more modest changes. I think his attraction to clean is hurting him a little here. Add a winch, a bullbar, mudflaps, a back bumper to stand on, totally rework the tires and a handle here and there, and I think it will do just fine.

  72. Somebody said that it has to break for safety reasons, when passengers need to get out and the door is locked. So maybe it works as intended.

  73. I think it is the motors. If you will recall the duel motor Tesla versions were after the single motor versions. The 500 mile range one has 3 motors.

  74. So the plan is to mindlessly drive 500 miles into the boonies to prove this vehicle is useless?
    I suppose you can put a little generator in the back as a psychological safety blanket. Charge with a regular cord for a couple hours and get the 5-10 miles of power you need.
    Most people charge their electric vehicles at home in their garage. Much easier than going to a gas station. You just plug it in every night as a habit. 15 seconds…of your actual attention.

  75. There are very few things that can actually be boiled down to engineering and mathematics, i.e. most questions only have probable answers, not mathematically proven answers.

    And looking at the stock price, the general answer is that the truck is ugly. The stock is down 20.66 USD despite the fact that the *engineering* behind the truck was great. 40 kUSD for the entry model, 2.9 seconds 0-60 for the upper model.. Allround great figures. On engineering alone the stock should be up 10 USD, but it is down 20 USD. So the design is worth a negative 5 billion dollars, give or take?

    If Elon had consulted with just a handful of people he would have gotten the message that this was not the right design. And it seems that he already new this, sort of. He has stated that he “honestly doesn’t know if it will sell” and that he “doesn’t care if the public likes it or not”. Honestly Bret, is that not a really stupid attitude from a CEO about a major project?

  76. I found this on the order page (not ordering, but checked it out):

    Fully refundable. You will be able to complete your configuration as production nears in late 2021. Tri Motor AWD production is expected to begin in late 2022.

    It seems to me this indicates that the Tri Motor AWD version (which is the top of line version with the claimed 500 mile range) is not going to be produced until after the other versions. This is a departure from Tesla’s past practices with the model 3 (and expected for the model Y) of producing the more expensive longer range versions first.

    So I’m wondering if that might mean they don’t have the battery technology for the longer range version yet, and are putting off production for that version until they expect the batteries to be ready.

  77. In this case, the body style is part of the engineering. The shape gives the vehicle its strength. This is a unibody exoskeleton. This is built like a house roof for structural strength.
    Sure it could be modified. But to get the same strength, it might weigh a bit more.

  79. Got to break it to you, but gas stations are a lot more common than charging stations, (That could change, of course.) and it’s easier to hike 5 miles with a small gas can than to file 5 mile long extension cords.

  80. Probably tested it too many times. I think it is better this way, or neighborhood kids will be throwing rocks at it…because it is “bulletproof”.

  81. Does anyone remember the Simpsons episode where Homer gets to design a car and the company goes bankrupt? I’m still not sure how this truck turns out for Tesla. The broken glass was embarrassing. How was that even possible, didn’t they test it before?

  82. Procrastinating fueling up can put you on the side of the road just as easily. 500 mile range, and a charger in your garage and you can’t be troubled to put the plug in? No gas pump in your garage.

  83. OMG! It’s the batmobile!!! The only thing missing is a raptor rocket engine on the tail and a nirtro switch to turn on the rocket engine…

  84. I imagine they tried that demo many times. I would have, at least. Maybe the windows were rolled down or something?

    I think the thing to have done would be to compare on a conventional truck. The window would have completely shattered and a 5lb steel ball would have flown through the cabin.

  85. The military should love it. Designed for stealth like the F-117 or IX-529. No need for police radar gun jamming.

  86. Well, no, I like cheap and can be refueled anywhere. I actually dislike the noise and stink, but just not as much as running out of juice 5 miles short of the next charging station.

  87. I tend to agree, the look may be non-traditional, but it isn’t that bad, and the SS body has a lot going for it. If you took that camping version, and added a trailer with a generator and large fuel tank that I could use for my house in emergencies, or on a trip to extend the range to a thousand miles or so, (Electric car and wilderness trips, not obviously a good combination.) I’d find it tempting.

  88. “There does not seem to be anyone that can tell Elon when he is doing something stupid.”

    Evidence suggests that, on objective engineering questions, Elon is perfectly open to evidence that he’s wrong about something. The problem here is that “That truck looks butt ugly” isn’t an objective engineering judgment, it’s a matter of taste. And the guy with the money gets to indulge his personal tastes.

    Look, the real engineering is in the drive train and suspension, anyway. They can swap out and offer different body styles relatively easily.

  90. My first look said no, by the time the unveiling was over I was on the order page.
    Ugly, think a minute on what ugly is. I’d suggest this is the ultimate utility look. The ugly part is the departure from the norm. The departure from the gorgeous Ferraris of the 1960s to the super cars of today, well there is a transition that wasn’t all good. But it was accepted because it was such a change in innovative tech.
    Now for something completely different: (speaking of the late 60s), As a truck it’s pretty much all it needs to be. Tough, driving around desert bushes won’t imply the application of organic pinstriping. Door dings are no longer accidents. Beautiful curves come from the occupants, I think woman will love this truck.

  91. The platform of the truck could be used to make a real SUV, not a model “X”, which would be a great hit. But if so, for the love of god, let that design be more traditional…

  92. The people sticking their nose up at this were never interested in a Tesla to begin with. They like fuel guzzling and making a lot of noise and stink.

  93. HOT dog! Forget the Delorian! Put a flux capacitor in this thing!
    12 years ago I bought a Corolla, telling people it would be the last car I would drive. (The next one would drive me). Now, Brian, I’m also thinking I may eventually go “cybertruck” when the Corolla quits. 🙂

  94. I like Tesla and hope this sells well. But WTF is the window smashing about?
    I’m guessing someone is dreading going to work today.

  97. Funny that Brians kid liked it a lot. It seems to be a pattern: the vast majority of adults think the cyber truck is embarrassingly ugly, and the kids from 7 to 12 are overwhelmingly for it. But here is the thing, I don’t think these kids will hold on to this notion when they grow up, just as they will not hold on to the belief that the best food in the world is spaghetti and meat sause or that girls are icky.

    In ten years when they can afford a car, these boys will see that this car is ugly. And I mean ugly with a capital U. And this brings us to a problem with Tesla. There does not seem to be anyone that can tell Elon when he is doing something stupid. It looks like they are all afraid to get fired on a whim. So this is a wasted opportunity, when Tesla could have had a real winner on their hands and done some serious displacement of ICE-trucks with electrical trucks.

    As it stands, they will sell the truck to a – in my guess small – group of people that like avant garde things. And when they have each gotten a Tesla pickup truck, the sales of this will go down to perhaps come tens of thousands per year….

  98. Not enough welded steel mesh over the windows. Though if that’s an optional extra, along with the crow-picked skulls of your enemies as hood ornaments, I wouldn’t be surprised.

  99. Three? More like 6.

    I get the fandom revolving around him is annoying, but when ever I hear someone call him overrated, I think clearly they don’t know what they are talking about.
    The guys has disrupted 5 completely different industries. Started from 0 and delivered a multitude of things people said and thought were impossible.

  100. As much as I love the Tesla sedan, SpaceX and the other
    companies, I have to say this is the ugliest car I have ever
    seen. Let’s hope it’s just a “concept car.”

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