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.
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.
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.
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.
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:
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.
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.
The Youtuber made a followup video specifically addressing this:
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.
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…
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?
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.
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.
Car carriers are borderline, at least if the vehicles are all new. 