Designers say only way to fix Tesla Cybertruck is to start over

https://jalopnik.com/only-way-to-fix-tesla-cybertruck-design-start-over-1850789341

by ohjeez • 3 years ago

36 57 3 years ago

coldtea• 3 years ago

But we're getting to Mars soon, don't worry... /s

valine• 3 years ago

This is cringy. I’m no fan of Musk but SpaceX is making consistent progress on their fully reusable rocket. There’s plenty of reasons to criticize Musk without pretending SpaceX is a failure.

mcv2• 3 years ago

Are they? The Falcon is great, but I'm not quite as convinced about Starship.

coding123• 3 years ago

It should look more like a truck first of all. Second it should have truck-like capabilities: Camper NO, Fifth Wheel NO, Travel Trailer YES.

Most Normal trucks can do the other 2. It's not a truck.

jqpabc123• 3 years ago

Form over function --- the unescapable badge of inexperience.

toomuchtodo• 3 years ago

People are buying status symbols. Sell to them if they choose to.

https://www.thedrive.com/news/26907/you-dont-need-a-full-siz...

sidewndr46• 3 years ago

if you look back at the development of the Honda Ridgeline, the 1st gen had this weird bed structure where it was sloped. Structurally and aerodynamically this is great. From a functional standpoint it makes it difficult if not impossible to load and unload from the sides of the bed. They 2nd generation uses a more traditional bed design. I suspect the cybertruck will wind up with a similar makeover

bryanlarsen2• 3 years ago

I'm over 6 feet tall with unnaturally long arms, and I find it hard to load and unload a 2021 Silverado from the sides since trucks are so much higher today than they used to be.

ahahahahah• 3 years ago

I suspect the cybertruck will wind up with a similar makeover

They haven't been able to redesign or even facelift the 11 year old Model S. You may be right, but it'll be a while.

dangus4• 3 years ago

Look at your typical American luxury truck. Now look at your roofer’s work truck.

They’re practically not the same vehicles anymore.

The Cybertruck will sell well because it’s a status symbol for its demographic.

treis2• 3 years ago

Seems like there's little overlap between the Truck as a status symbol and Tesla as a status symbol crowd.

saiya-jin• 3 years ago

You mean like luxury SUVs for soccer moms? Yeah marketing can push people into some seriously weird choices, I guess that's why marketing was needed.

hindsightbias• 3 years ago

The real truck users, maybe 5% of owners now, can't afford a truck. The only new F250/350s I see now are optioned out vanity trucks, except the single cabs which probably nobody outside of utility-scale business can get.

h2odragon2• 3 years ago

Is it better than a LUV? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevrolet_LUV

Awful little vehicles. Used to burst into flames overnight an unattended without even the excuse of charging a battery. Always figured that they were self-immolating from shame.

rsynnott• 3 years ago

Looks like those haven’t been made in a decade, so presumably not the competition.

h2odragon2• 3 years ago

crappiest commercial truck that leapt to mind.

laweijfmvo• 3 years ago

It wouldn't be that hard. They already have great power trains. Just make it look like a normal truck.

neom• 3 years ago

Wasn't one of the big issues with the DeLorean that steel on the body is seriously difficult to deal with when it's damaged?

The guy from the LegitStreetCars youtube channel just bought one and he mentioned that if there is dents and dings it's really really hard to correct them, so when you're looking for a barn find DeLorean one of the most important things is the body is in good shape.

Seems like similar issues would be present in the cybertruck?

Edit: Quick google search turned up this article: https://www.autoblog.com/2019/11/22/tesla-cybertruck-stainle...

(Pretty interesting watch if you're into cars re: DeLorean https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCcrVF8sR8k)

matthewaveryusa• 3 years ago

There's damage and there's damage. If the cybertruck advents a culture of dents and dings being ok on vehicles that's a net positive. Perfection is not only a fools errand, but a burden. It makes the barrier of entry to enjoyment that much higher. Let your bumper get bumped, it's all better that way anyways.

porkbeer• 3 years ago

Sadly, It does the opposite. Dings and uneven grain in stainless drives people crazy. Think how many kitchen sinks have been replaced by a similar one because it 'looks old'. A look at the delorean market confirms that.

red-iron-pine• 3 years ago

the nominal point of the Truck, conceptually, is that it is a rugged work vehicle that can, if needed, take a beating. hauling heaving things, going off road, carrying construction supplies, etc.

taylodl• 3 years ago

The DeLorean was a legendary flop, and I mean that in the kindest way possible. The Cybertruck could do much worse than be such a legend. Maybe it will be used in a yet-to-be-announced Back to the Future franchise reboot!

justrealist• 3 years ago

Designers push for a redesign?

Next thing you know, you'll tell me that dentists like to find cavities. Or that scorpions like to sting frogs.

dangus4• 3 years ago

I think the headline makes this sound more dramatic of a problem than it really is.

The real question is whether any of the imperfections will stop buyers. I personally don’t think it will. The kind of person who wants a Cybertruck has their mind made up.

People buy rustic chic gear all the time.

I also think that it wouldn’t be that hard for Tesla to make a non-stainless version in the future. Maybe I’m naive about the manufacturing process but I don’t think that would constitute “starting over.”

Or you can just get a vinyl wrap, which barely costs more than a typical paint upgrade.

doctorpangloss• 3 years ago

hmm, do you think a lucrative vehicle is like a lucrative video game, which recoups all its costs in the first week?

Or do you think it's like the other kind of lucrative video game, that was made very cheaply and is continuously delivered very slowly over time, usually for free, monetizing a very small number of very strange people?

A flawed vehicle is neither of these. It is really expensive to make, and must recoup its costs over a very long period of time, where the 100,000th buyer will have all the wisdom from the previous 99,999 buyers.

dangus4• 3 years ago

I think that customers very regularly buy flawed vehicles. Some of the most consistently popular SUVs and trucks are have had pretty low build quality for long stretches. Jeep Grand Cherokee, Ford Bronco, Jeep Wrangler…

It’s not like the biggest selling trucks are known for build quality. It’s Ford, GM, and Dodge we are talking about here.

Hell, Tesla’s existing lineup’s build quality is a running joke, that hasn’t stopped them from selling a lot of vehicles.

The article is bringing up a legitimate issue but I just don’t think it will matter for sales. The cyberbro demographic cares about panel gaps as much as the typical Escalade buyer.

The electric truck market in this price range is basically just the F-150, and while we don’t know the Cybertruck’s price, I think it’s going to launch in a way that is very cognizant of the street price of the F-150 and well below the Rivian R1T.

HlessClaudesman• 3 years ago

All those hard surfaces and sharp angles, looks dangerous to other road users. Have safety studies been done on this design vs. pedestrians?

Just because Elon Musk is enthusiastic about something doesn't make it a good idea.

mattlondon2• 3 years ago

Isn't it already the case in the US that trucks and large SUVs etc don't count as cars, so don't have to follow any crash safety rules?

I.e. they technically classed as agricultural vehicles or something, so like you wouldn't expect a combine harvester to be particularly nice to pedestrians or other road users either, these large vehicles are treated the same in the eyes of the law?

gottorf5• 3 years ago

The usual line is 10,000lbs GVWR, which is met only by three-quarter-ton and heavier pickups (think F-250, Silverado 2500 HD, etc.), among vehicles that people actually drive on public roads. That lets manufacturers skip having an MPG estimate, and some FMVSS regulations don't apply to trucks of that size, though it's certainly not a free-for-all once that line is crossed.

chrisfosterelli• 3 years ago

This article seems to consist solely of quotes from another article, which itself is based entirely on an email exchange with another reporter, thrown in with some jokes at Musk's expense. Musk is an odd one but I find the people obsessed with making everything about how much of a failure they think he is even weirder.

hathchip• 3 years ago

Can't see ISIS adopting this truck any time soon.

financypants• 3 years ago

Why are “dead straight panels” not advantageous in manufacturing or functionality? Are curved panels easier to deal with?

mattlondon2• 3 years ago

Getting all of those dead straight lines to line up perfectly and not look awful is the challenge I think.

The eye is quite good at spotting straight lines, so a tiny difference will be obvious immediately. On a more "normally" shaped car there are curves and sweeps and things that change radius and direction as they move down the car, and other straight things like window sills etc are broken up by door pillars etc) so it is harder for the eye to ntice when things are 2mm out front-to-back.

Geisterde• 3 years ago

An allegedly leaked email from musk described it as important that the straight panels are ruthlessly dimensionally accurate because imperfections are easier to spot. Real? Who knows.

csours• 3 years ago

Flat metal panels are subject to oil-canning, among other problems. Any distortion may cause ripples to show up. It can also cause a vibration due to airflow sometimes. Making the panels out of thicker metal help both of these problems, but also increase weight.

Using a curved panel gives you a little margin to move small problems to the top or bottom of the panel. A curve next to a curve doesn't give a strong visual cue for lateral offset, but a sharp angle next to a sharp angle does. This is also why a very slight orange peel texture in paint is not always a bad thing.

drcongo• 3 years ago

Me, 3 months ago: "The Cybertruck is unlikely to be sold in any market." - wasn't popular with the Muskbros.

[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35914808

4b11b4• 3 years ago

This article stinks of...

ericfrazier• 3 years ago

There are so many electric trucks out there that look like real trucks. Why would anyone buy the cybertruck?

orev• 3 years ago

To make a statement. When the Prius came out it was clearly designed to be very unique so people knew it was a new type of vehicle (hybrid). If you wanted to make sure everyone knew you were being environmental, you got a Prius because it was obvious.

The uniqueness was a driving force in getting the concept of hybrids to be more accepted, since at the time the whole concept of any type of electric vehicle was completely foreign, and seeing these unique things on the road actually helped them to be accepted.

jfengel• 3 years ago

"Real trucks" look the way they do because that's what is easy to do with the manufacturing techniques they use. The "Cybertruck" is manufactured differently and so you'd expect it to look different.

Time will tell whether it can do the job, assuming we ever see one. But there's no reason to think that only current trucks can ever do that job.

Designers say only way to fix Tesla Cybertruck is to start over

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