It’s been a few years in the making, and it’s still in development, but the Tesla Cybertruck is starting to get out there: Tesla Cybertruck prototype spotted stuck in a field
There aren’t that many Cybertruck prototypes out in the wild, which makes every sighting quite interesting.
I personally am very surprised that it’s going to look like the early concept unveiled 3-4 years ago, but it looks like it sure will. This is the photo from the wiki page:
Note this information is from January, 2022. But considering the number of flaws, I would expect it would take quite some time to fix them.
Flaw #1 = its ugly design!
Flaw #2 = its ugly design!
Flaw #3 = its ugly design!
The first one is finally produced:
Will it have horrendous repair costs like the Rivian?
my last 3 or 4 cars together cost less than the dent in the rear bumper of the Rivian …
… and they transported me for 3 decades without much fuss…
I’m very surprised that it’s going to look like the early prototypes. But, okay! When I see one IRL it will be a moment I will remember.
You can order one today, with a $100 deposit —
Or, only $18 on Amazon for the Hot Wheels toy.
… and, I just bought one. The toy. The toy!
Does it fit the garage?
Would the wife ever approve of that purchase? Me thinks not.
When i first saw it i thought the entire audience was missing the point. I’ll guesstimate 80% of pick-up drivers will find the extreme ugliness to be the main selling point. It’s the truck your wife will never want drive.
Maybe that’s the real purpose of truck balls.
Unfortunately, I’m pretty sure that the Hot Wheels Cybertruck does not come with truck balls. When they arrive, I will check. (I bought two! [Trucks, not balls.])
There ain’t no balls. As we all knew.
Tesla Cybertruck: how’s its styling?
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder? Not this eye.
The Cybertruck is the rare vehicle that’s prettier on the inside:
Well, most other car companies operate that way. Tesla’s production versions generally match or exceed the first prototypes they show. Hardly anyone expected the Model X falcon-wing doors to make it to production, but they did.
The truck seems to be almost everything it promised to be, aside from being a bit late. Though it’s not quite the “exoskeleton” design that they suggested. Partly because they discovered in the meantime that enormous castings are possible and much cheaper than the normal approach.
Alright, I saw my first Cybertruck today, on city streets in the SFBA CA USA. It is big, awkward, ungainly, and did I say BIG?
It passed by me going the opposite direction. It was like a Bigfoot sighting! I flipped a quick U-turn and chased it down. It pulled into a residential driveway and parked.
I spoke briefly with the driver. It’s not his. He’s a Tesla employee, and he did not want me getting too close to it. He also asked me not to take pictures up close.
I snapped five pictures from the sidewalk. Here they are:
Heh, that thing need a wash. Cool that you got in-person pics, though.
Starts shipping Nov 30th. Looks like the first models will be the tri-motor performance edition and cost close to $100k. Not surprising that they’d ship the expensive models first (it’s what they’ve always done previously).
I think it’ll easily outsell the F-150 Lightning by mid-late next year. Not because the F-150 sucks or anything, but Ford just can’t seem to produce them cost effectively. Their EV margins are about -100% and I can’t see them massively ramping up production until they fix this. It only sold 3500 last quarter.
Rivian is doing a little better, but they’re still selling <10k trucks per quarter (16k total if you include their SUVs and vans). Maybe Rivian will ramp this up further, but the current numbers should be easy to beat once Tesla’s own production increases.
Their pilot line is built to support 125k units/year, though that’s theoretical. Sure, the truck is a bit too unconventional to attract massive demand, but I think they’ll easily hit those numbers (at least once the lower-cost versions arrive).
You can sign up for a lottery to attend the delivery event if you own some TSLA shares and can prove it:
https://www.tesla.com/cybertruck-delivery-event
Yeah, it was pretty dirty. I have no interest in buying the truck, except for only the Hot Wheels toy. It’ll be interesting to see more and more of them on the road.
I doubt the Cybertruck is going to appeal to traditional “truck people”. It’s going to appeal to the type of person who wants a vehicle that’s going to turn heads everywhere they go. Sort of like a Lamborghini Countach. Come to think of it, that’s what the general shape of the Cybertruck kind of reminds me of. It’s like a Countach that’s been doubled in size, especially with that windshield that’s basically parallel to the hood.
