# Tesla Cybertruck

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tesla-cybertruck/843866>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [November 23, 2019, 10:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tesla-cybertruck/843866 "2019-11-23T10:32:34Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 20\
**Page:** 63

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**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\
**Post date:** [August 12, 2024, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tesla-cybertruck/843866/1241 "2024-08-12T21:19:10Z")

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Pack capacity, technically. The standard-range Model 3 has a 50 kWh pack with LFP cells. The long-range one is 82 kWh with NCA cells. For a while they decided it didn’t make sense to pair an expensive pack with a cheap drivetrain, so they only sold AWD long-range cars. Then they changed their mind (maybe as battery prices dropped).

The Cybertruck packs are all 126 kWh at the moment, and it probably isn’t cheap. So they again face the problem where it doesn’t make sense to pair an expensive pack with a lower-end model. But they could eventually offer a lower-capacity pack (maybe with LFP cells) and it’ll make more sense then.

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**Author:** ![zimaane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a3d4f5/32.png) [@zimaane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zimaane)\
**Post date:** [August 13, 2024, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tesla-cybertruck/843866/1242 "2024-08-13T22:18:47Z")

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I saw a CyberTruck in a grocery story parking lot that was painted or wrapped (?) to advertise a local real estate agent. Basically a mobile billboard that says “If you are buying or selling a home, contact Bob the Realtor at 301 555 1212”

Considering that CTs aren’t common around here and they are visually striking, it seems like a good idea.

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**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\
**Post date:** [August 13, 2024, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tesla-cybertruck/843866/1243 "2024-08-13T23:06:15Z")

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Of the five Cybertrucks I’ve seen so far in Chicago, two have been of the mobile billboard type which makes them look even uglier, if that can be believed.

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**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\
**Post date:** [August 13, 2024, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tesla-cybertruck/843866/1244 "2024-08-13T23:59:11Z")

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> [@Dr.Strangelove](#):
>
> The Cybertruck packs are all 126 kWh at the moment, and it probably isn’t cheap. So they again face the problem where it doesn’t make sense to pair an expensive pack with a lower-end model. But they could eventually offer a lower-capacity pack (maybe with LFP cells) and it’ll make more sense then.

Thanks for that. Makes sense.

> **Semi-related hijack about electric sports cars**
>
> I just bought a new serious ICE performance car. I wanted a pure EV performance car, but they don’t yet exist in competitive form. The various hybrid offerings by everyone from Corvette up or down are embarrassments, even for the much-trailed but so far nonexistent 2026 model year.
> 
> Even when price is mostly no factor the engineers can’t get enough oomph out of the volume, mass, or cost of batteries to make an EV zoomer. Yet. Just like in airplanes. Yet.
> 
> I remain optimistic for the 2028 or 2029 model year.

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**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\
**Post date:** [August 14, 2024, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tesla-cybertruck/843866/1245 "2024-08-14T00:05:31Z")

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What are your parameters for “pure performance car”?

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**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\
**Post date:** [August 14, 2024, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tesla-cybertruck/843866/1246 "2024-08-14T01:21:15Z")

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> [@LSLGuy](#):
>
> I wanted a pure EV performance car, but they don’t yet exist in competitive form.

I haven’t looked into them at all. But what did you think about the [Porsche Mission E](https://www.porsche.com/usa/aboutporsche/christophorusmagazine/archive/374/articleoverview/article01/)?

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**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\
**Post date:** [August 14, 2024, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tesla-cybertruck/843866/1247 "2024-08-14T01:48:52Z")

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It’s a concept they hope to deliver in 2030. Maybe. We’ll see. But it’s definitely the idea I was looking for.

Porsche now really does make and deliver in quantity the E-Taycan:

> **[Porsche Taycan](https://www.porsche.com/usa/models/taycan/taycan-models/taycan/)**
>
> A vast range of emotions. The all-electric Taycan with Performance Battery, sharpened driving dynamics and a pure proportions. Pure Porsche E-Performance.

It’s one hell of a performance sedan. In a body package that’s sorta swoopy, not boxy at all. In that it beats the BMW & Lexus sedans that look like sedans. The Audi e-sedans like the RS e-tron GT are also trying to straddle that same 4-door sports coupe / sedan styling gulf. With IMO less success than the Taycan.

But none of them look or drive remotely like a modern GT or a modern muscle sports car.

The 2026 soon to be released E-Corvette & the BMW I8 are attempts to hybridize the basic high end ICE sports coupe with an electric “afterburner”. So no real electric range, but insane short-burst acceleration with ~600 ICE HP and a further ~100 electric. In exchange for mongo complexity in a very limited production vehicle.

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**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\
**Post date:** [August 14, 2024, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tesla-cybertruck/843866/1248 "2024-08-14T01:52:35Z")

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> [@LSLGuy](#):
>
> If they have (indirectly) announced the cessation of the RWD-only version in favor of only the significantly pricier AWD models

Turns out the story is even less than it appears:

> <https://x.com/wmorrill3/status/1823535523027411282>
>
> Sawyer Merritt @SawyerMerritt

The only change is that the order page now only shows what is available now, not what might be available at some future date. IOW, it used to be reservations+orders, and now it’s just orders.

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**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\
**Post date:** [August 15, 2024, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tesla-cybertruck/843866/1249 "2024-08-15T01:32:54Z")

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Well, of course they decided to not work on the low cost option, they needed to concentrate on their next big rollout:

[![Imgur](https://i.imgur.com/26oVCIT.jpeg "imgur.com") ](https://imgur.com/26oVCIT)

Of course this is a joke, and my wife sent it to me after finding it on the interwebs, but it’s perfect.

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**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\
**Post date:** [August 15, 2024, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tesla-cybertruck/843866/1250 "2024-08-15T01:53:14Z")

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I know some soccer Moms who would _kill_ for one of those.

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**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\
**Post date:** [August 15, 2024, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tesla-cybertruck/843866/1251 "2024-08-15T03:01:08Z")

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> [@ParallelLines](#):
>
> Well, of course they decided to not work on the low cost option, they needed to concentrate on their next big rollout:

That one uses a totally revised software configuration. While other Tesla products run on a custom Linux, the minivan runs on a Jawa virtual machine.

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**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\
**Post date:** [August 15, 2024, 10:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tesla-cybertruck/843866/1252 "2024-08-15T10:34:35Z")

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You should get a thread ban for that one. Bad **Darren**. Bad bad!

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**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\
**Post date:** [August 23, 2024, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tesla-cybertruck/843866/1253 "2024-08-23T06:21:18Z")

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> [@Dr.Strangelove](#):
>
> The frame didn’t fracture because he towed the other truck. It obviously fractured on the previous test where the entire weight of the truck slams down on the rear edge after dropping 18" or so onto concrete. The tow just finished the job. There are plenty of videos of the CT doing tractor pulls and the like just fine, which involve way more pulling force.

The Youtuber made a followup video specifically addressing this:

[![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/_scBKKHi7WQ/maxresdefault.jpg "Cybertruck Frames are Snapping in Half") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_scBKKHi7WQ)

Like, yes, obviously the prior tests weakened the frame but he puts the F150’s steel frame through far more abuse to demonstrate that steel can withstand the rigors by bending instead of cracking and also a steel frame is repairable whereas a cracked frame on the cybertruck totals the entire car since it can’t be repaired.

He also includes an unsubstantiated report from an observer who claims that a cybertruck towing on a freeway had the trailer break free and crash into the back of the truck.

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**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\
**Post date:** [August 23, 2024, 8:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tesla-cybertruck/843866/1254 "2024-08-23T08:26:58Z")

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If your usage model is to drop your truck multiple times onto concrete from several feet up, then I’ll allow that steel might be a better choice for your vehicle. You’ll still bust the shit out of the truck, but it will _probably_ be easier to weld back together. Steel doesn’t fracture the same way that aluminum can.

Is resistance to this kind of abuse at all important, even for people that are into fairly extreme truck activities, like rockclimbing? Probably not. Build any kind of machine and you have to decide what to optimize for. The Cybertruck design has high stiffness and relatively low weight. A ladder-frame stuck has low stiffness but the flexibility does seem to have some advantages under extreme abuse. I’d take that trade, but then I’m not a YouTuber that makes money from clickbait.

The lack of ridigity in ladder frames does have some risks, too…  
[![](https://tfltruckprod.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/midsize-truck-bent-frame-towing-overland.jpeg) ](https://tfltruckprod.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/midsize-truck-bent-frame-towing-overland.jpeg)

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**Author:** ![BeepKillBeep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9e8a1a/32.png) [@BeepKillBeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeepKillBeep)\
**Post date:** [August 23, 2024, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tesla-cybertruck/843866/1255 "2024-08-23T12:29:46Z")

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Out of curiosity, is there anything ever that would convince you that the Cybertruck is a poorly designed, poorly executed piece of garbage? If so, then what?

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\
**Post date:** [August 23, 2024, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tesla-cybertruck/843866/1256 "2024-08-23T20:08:52Z")

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An actual poll of owners reporting dissatisfaction would be a start.

I genuinely wonder where you’re going with this. You can’t possibly believe that some clickbait YouTube garbage is actually representative of the qualities of the vehicle. Most of the rest of the criticism has been no better. You simply can’t conclude anything based on isolated reports from forums.

EV owners as a whole have been through all this before. Range anxiety! Fires! Takes hours to charge! Poor quality! Just an absolute barrage of reporting on why we’re supposed to hate our cars, and yet actual owners love them.

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**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\
**Post date:** [August 23, 2024, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tesla-cybertruck/843866/1257 "2024-08-23T20:10:26Z")

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Saw my first Cybertruck in the wild yesterday!

I was surprised at how much smaller it looked in real life than pictures. Still just as butt-ugly to me.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\
**Post date:** [August 24, 2024, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tesla-cybertruck/843866/1258 "2024-08-24T00:17:40Z")

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Funny coincidence.

I’ve reported here on seeing several definitely distinct CTs over the space of just 30-45 minutes. I’d not yet seen two unrelated CTs simultaneously. But I said that, statistically speaking, it wouldn’t be too long before that happened.

I didn’t report it, but about 5-6 days ago I almost succeeded. Saw one go by on the cross-street while I was waiting for the green, then a block or 2 later saw one coming towards me. So definitely distinct vehicles, but not sighted simultaneously. Missed it by _that_ much.

Until this evening. Came up to a red light and noted a CT a few cars in front of me awaiting the same light. Then another one pulled up alongside me. First simultaneous sighting. They’re getting _almost_ common around here.

To me they don’t seem ugly anymore. Distinctive, oddly crude, and borderline eccentric. But not ugly.

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**Author:** ![Tatterdemalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/43a26b/32.png) [@Tatterdemalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tatterdemalion)\
**Post date:** [August 24, 2024, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tesla-cybertruck/843866/1259 "2024-08-24T00:36:31Z")

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Last week I saw a car carrier with 6 Cyber trucks on it.

I’ve only seen them one at a time on the road.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\
**Post date:** [August 24, 2024, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tesla-cybertruck/843866/1260 "2024-08-24T00:38:09Z")

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Seeing multiple CTs sitting at a dealership is cheating. 😉 Car carriers are borderline, at least if the vehicles are all new. 🙂

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