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Tesla Cybertruck
Tesla unveiled the Cybertruck. Apparently, many people think it's ugly. I absolutely love it. It took the jellybean esthetic of modern vehicles and ran it over. Twice. There's simply no point in saying anything about this truck -- you have to look at the pictures:
In order to make this TFS less short, a few specs, but really, they don't matter until you see if it appeals to you which it either will or won't in spades. The low end 250 mile range version is supposed to be about $40k. The body is unpainted cold rolled stainless steel. Upmodels will have a towing capacity variously described as 10-14k pounds and at the top end, a 500 mile range. They'll cost a lot more.
"Bulletproof" Musk Cybertruck fail
Elon Musk bragged that his "cybertruck" was bulletproof to a 9mm round, but two separate attempts to demonstrate just how tough it is failed when ball bearings thrown by hand literally caused the windows to come crashing down in pieces. So much for safety glass; even on cyber trucks, windows sucks.
We created an exoskeleton," Musk said to rapturous whoops from those attending the Los Angeles launch. "It is literally bulletproof to a 9mm handgun."
Franz von Holzhausen, Tesla's chief designer, asked Musk if he could lob a metal ball at the window of the vehicle. "Really?" said Musk. The window smashed. "Oh my fucking God," said Musk. "Maybe that was a little hard."
Showing confidence in the vehicle, Von Holzhausen then suggested he should lob it at a second window. "Try that one? Really?" asked Musk moments before the rear window was also smashed. "It didn't go through, that's the plus side," a stunned Musk said.
Also at Ars Technica and Wccftech.
See also: Hot takes as opinion cools on Tesla Cybertruck
Tesla trademarked Cybertruck and 'Cybrtrk' ahead of its planned debut
(Score: 4, Insightful) by RedGreen on Friday November 22 2019, @09:19PM (24 children)
"Apparently, many people think it's ugly."
I think the word for that abomination has not been invented yet, you do the word ugly a disservice by using it in the same sentence.
"Cervantes definitely was prescient in describing a senile Don fighting against windmills." -- larryjoe on /.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 22 2019, @09:23PM (5 children)
Not only is it butt ugly but some people seem confused about the purpose and properties of safety glass.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by barbara hudson on Saturday November 23 2019, @02:22AM (4 children)
Form follows function, and this was obviously poor form causing poor functionality. Good functionality (strength) comes from proper, in-fight form.
SoylentNews is social media. Says so right in the slogan. Soylentnews is people, not tech.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 23 2019, @02:48AM
The solution is to make the Cybertruck's flat windows out of sapphire glass, transparent aluminum, or something.
(Score: 2) by Bot on Saturday November 23 2019, @04:20PM (1 child)
Also the coupling with the frame is important. A glass rigidly coupled is easier to break. Being a prototype means possibly shoddy assembly.
Account abandoned.
(Score: 2) by barbara hudson on Saturday November 23 2019, @07:41PM
SoylentNews is social media. Says so right in the slogan. Soylentnews is people, not tech.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 23 2019, @08:26PM
...the person responsible for the two shattered Tesla windows is Vladimir Putin... while the steel ball was thrown by Tesla’s chief designer, it was really Putin’s hand doing the throwing. [twitter.com]
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Sulla on Friday November 22 2019, @09:38PM (2 children)
I find boxy and angular things better looking than bulbous cancer vehicles of the past 20 years, so I found this vehicle to be nice.
Ceterum censeo Sinae esse delendam
(Score: 0, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 23 2019, @02:31AM (1 child)
It would be nice, if it had a full size bed and flat rails. Or he should have enclosed the whole thing like a van, down by the river, with a little turbo pump or water wheel to keep the battery charged, so Buzzard could listen to Limbaugh, or Baker, or any other one of those "healers", while he's out there fishing
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 24 2019, @06:12PM
yes, i'm sick of these fake ass truck beds. i don't need to haul a goddamn 50cc 4 wheeler, ffs! i need to haul plywood and shit. that shit is 4x8! 2x4's are 8 foot long. it's almost as if elon doesn't spend any time working on his shack...
(Score: 5, Insightful) by bzipitidoo on Friday November 22 2019, @10:52PM (5 children)
This is one of the things about so many people that drives me crazy. Focus on the superficial, on their totally subjective ideas of beauty, which are strongly influenced by what they find familiar, and ignore the functionality. They won't use wheel skirts or vortex generators, because that's "ugly". Used car shoppers are way too easily swayed by a car wash, and shiny applied to the black plastic and rubber parts of the engine and tires. It's not the paint that makes the car go!
I say that if it works, it is beautiful. Form follows function.
(Score: 5, Funny) by Bot on Friday November 22 2019, @11:10PM
Familiar? it looks familiar, if you know about the Pininfarina Modulo, the Carabo, the Countach, the Lamborghini LM001, and the cars you drew on your schoolbook in primary school. I'd say it's late 60s first 70s design. As seen by a kid. By a kid who hates automobiles.
Account abandoned.
(Score: 5, Interesting) by slinches on Friday November 22 2019, @11:17PM (3 children)
I wouldn't say that the design is ideal from a functionality standpoint, considering the limited bed accessibility and poor rearward visibility (it needs a video rear view mirror). Although, the overall shape really is functional from a structural perspective. It is shaped the way it is in order to be folded up out of a sheet of steel like origami. That means there's minimal tooling costs and special machinery required to produce the body. It's an entirely different way of thinking about constructing a vehicle.
(Score: 2) by barbara hudson on Saturday November 23 2019, @08:09PM (1 child)
So, replacement is the only option. And given the poor record of fit and finish for Tesla, and how the term FUGLY describes it to a T, it better be self driving because only incels would be caught dead driving it. Looks like an old Ranchero reimagined in aluminium foil.
SoylentNews is social media. Says so right in the slogan. Soylentnews is people, not tech.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 24 2019, @06:14PM
and that mac-using fag obviously pulled his swing when he hit the tesla.
(Score: 2) by barbara hudson on Saturday November 23 2019, @08:14PM
SoylentNews is social media. Says so right in the slogan. Soylentnews is people, not tech.
(Score: 2) by hemocyanin on Saturday November 23 2019, @12:10AM
This is the writer -- I'm also the one who modded you funny first. I don't know why, but I've never wanted a vehicle so much as I've wanted that. I'm putting my $100 deposit down after I'm done posting.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Ethanol-fueled on Saturday November 23 2019, @12:11AM (4 children)
Not nearly as ugly as the early-mid-90's Dodge Ram redesign and the faggotorious effects it had on Ford and other copycat truck designers thinking that feminizing their pickup trucks was a good idea. The pickup truck is supposed to be a boxy utilitarian vehicle, not a fucking vintage Rolls-Royce sedan. Even Chevy, who resisted feminizing their trucks and held onto decent aesthetics for a few more years, succumbed to preferring ugly truck bodies.
If we were judging purely on aesthetics, I'd much rather take the Tesla than a dodge. But the way I see it, the Tesla truck is nothing more than a mall-crawler for Silicon Valley yuppies who are too fat to fit in a standard sedan and are hiding behind "utility" as an excuse to get a trendy vehicle that they can enter and exit without wheezing and losing their breath.
The point of getting a truck, before it was to accommodate fat Americans and Mexicans packing their ride clown-car style for their family trips to Wal-mart, was utility. And utility is often simple and durable, not something with gazillions of sensors and valves and little niggling complexities of which any could go wrong with even the slightest tow and render the truck almost unusable.
Elon wants to make a point with this new truck, trick it the fuck out and race it in a real truck race like the Baja 1000 -- even if only for the range of the battery -- something like that would give a lot of cred to the Tesla truck. As it stands now, Tesla owners are the new Prius owners: insufferable smug douches who buy overpriced and underperforming trendy crap with Hillary 2016 and Apple stickers on the back, who have problems paying attention to the roads.
(Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Saturday November 23 2019, @01:13PM
You may or may not be right about the attitude. I don't know enough Tesla owners to say. The Hillary and Apple stickers you see on them could be a function of where you live more than the brand of car. In my experience BMW drivers are always the ones tailgating, swerving in and out of traffic, cutting others off, and generally behaving badly and dangerously on the road.
I would say you are demonstrably incorrect with "underperforming," though. Teslas can out-accelerate almost anything out there, and are further ahead on autonomous features than everyone else. Their fetch feature, where you can call the car in the parking garage to come get you, is awesome. The self-park feature, where you can get out and let it squeeze itself into a narrow spot, is awesome. And of course there's autopilot.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 3, Informative) by toddestan on Saturday November 23 2019, @06:36PM (1 child)
I'm not sure if we live in the same universe, or are you just being sarcastic? Are you referring to the 1994 redesign of the Dodge Ram where it adopted the semi-truck look? I'd argue that's the complete opposite - that's the start of where pickup trucks started becoming overly macho - testosterone-fueled, overly aggressive, form over function styling designed to appeal to those that desired a truck as a lifestyle choice as opposed to those that bought a truck because they needed a truck. The 1994 Dodge Ram arguably started us down the path that has led us to the huge, butch, overstyled, and hideously ugly pickup trucks that the big three sell today.
With that said, I actually consider the 1994 Dodge Ram a rather handsome, attractive design that has aged well. It was kind of out there in 1994, but by today's standards it's tasteful and restrained. Dodge really hasn't given us anything but constant reiterations of that design ever since either. While none of the followups match the good looks of the original, that the current Ram is basically a ripoff of the 1994 Ram makes it far better looking truck than what the other two of the big three are offering at the moment.
If anything, it's Ford that made the most feminine truck when they redesigned the F150 in 1997. The previous F150, which was basically a new front clip on a design that otherwise dated back to 1980, was arguably the last "real" pickup truck on the market with its simple, no-nonsense design, base I6 engine and manual transmission. The 1997 design was a very much a product of the 1990's with its jellybean look and extensive use of plastics where there used to be steel. Not a bad looking truck, especially by today's standards, but was a big turning point for Ford in terms of their design language.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 24 2019, @06:27PM
i agree. the reason the 94 dodge sold well is because it had a dick nose and all the buyers were like "i, being dickless need to show may massive dick nosed truck to the world!".
(Score: 2) by barbara hudson on Saturday November 23 2019, @08:18PM
SoylentNews is social media. Says so right in the slogan. Soylentnews is people, not tech.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 23 2019, @02:13AM
It looks like something right out of the A-Team. But not rusty enough.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by sjames on Saturday November 23 2019, @03:24AM
My favorite description I've seen so far is "angry triangle".
(Score: 2) by shortscreen on Saturday November 23 2019, @10:57AM
Maybe the word you're looking for is badass? ;)
I approve of the stainless steel, but they can keep the touchscreen.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by ze on Friday November 22 2019, @09:29PM (5 children)
All those light bars and not one Larson scanner? What kinda Cylon Truck is that?!
Seriously, though, I dunno that it looks ugly OR cool, kinda something else entirely tbh.
Strikes me like a 90s/00s movie version of a futuristic military vehicle prototype that would later get some more details and proper paint job...
I guess this is already how the final model is supposed to be(?), but I'm kinda curious what it'd look like if they "finished" it ;P
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 22 2019, @10:50PM (1 child)
However, that wraparound front headlight is probably dozens or hundreds of high intensity LEDs, so a similar white effect is no doubt just a software update away!
Hell if they are the right LED modules they might even have 5 wire color adjustment and allow full RGB alterations for selecting your own cylon/knightrider sweep while cruising the harsh streets of panopticon/depressed but not yet dystopian America!
(Score: 3, Informative) by Immerman on Saturday November 23 2019, @01:40AM
If only, that would be awesome.
LED strips are almost always wired as a group - two leads leave the strip and you supply power to all the LEDs or none of them. The individual control needed for animation requires one wire per LED, and a far more comples box of electronics to supply power selectively.
Bottom line - it's considerably more expensive, and so is unlikely to be done unless there's a specific plan to use the ability from the outset.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Bot on Friday November 22 2019, @11:24PM (2 children)
They tried to paint it, but the paint went all "the thing" and scrambled away [youtu.be]. Can't blame it.
Account abandoned.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 23 2019, @01:50AM (1 child)
One article mentioned that if you don't like stainless steel, Tesla will wrap it for you (infinite variety of colors and designs--look at the NASCAR cars, they are all wrapped, sponsor decals all printed on.)
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 23 2019, @02:04AM
ib4 the solid gold Cybertrucks
(Score: 5, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 22 2019, @09:32PM (1 child)
A DeLorean mated with a VW Thing at Chernobyl.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Friday November 22 2019, @11:18PM
Stainless steel is obviously on Musk's mind given Starship, and maybe not a bad choice.
As for the design, they should have made it more like the Batman tumbler [wikipedia.org] given how much they want to shoot at it.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2, Interesting) by Sulla on Friday November 22 2019, @09:41PM (7 children)
I'll go ahead and order one I think. That was the timeframe I was looking at upgrading to a F250 anyways and after I consider the cost of upgrading the 250 to propane the Tesla will be cheaper.
Biggest complaint is it doesn't have an 8ft bed so I would be eating a lot of crow.
Ceterum censeo Sinae esse delendam
(Score: 5, Informative) by Sulla on Friday November 22 2019, @09:50PM (5 children)
As a followup comparing capabilities vs my current F150.
With how my F150 is currently provisioned (2016 extended cab longbed with HD suspension for better payload) I can have a payload of 2,300lb. The Tesla is supposed to be able to have a bed payload of 3,500lb. A yard of gravel is ~2,800lb. The Tesla easily beats my F150 in this aspect, especially with air suspension for load leveling. Price is very competitive to the F150 without risks of bed damage (aluminum, or previously, thin steel).
While it doesn't have the 8ft bed like it should, the images showed it comes with a center seat, a real center seat, in the front. Not some shitty console, an actual seat. I am impressed that they did this, and the decision to do this makes me have more faith in the idea that they are trying to make a truck out of this by designing it toward industry instead of just the consumer truck market. I assume they will have a console option, but I am impressed that their release had a center seat.
Only question is whether to get the cheaper one motor or the two motor.
Ceterum censeo Sinae esse delendam
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 22 2019, @09:56PM (1 child)
Just so you know... The 1st model year of new designs are bug prone.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Sulla on Friday November 22 2019, @10:01PM
I am well aware. But if you want a 2nd model year you unfortunately have to put your cards on the table.
A successful Tesla truck will force Ford/others to consider what they can do to not lose any market share. In the same way his electric vehicles kicked the movement into high gear this will force a response.
Ceterum censeo Sinae esse delendam
(Score: 5, Informative) by Spamalope on Saturday November 23 2019, @01:32AM
Get a binding insurance quote before deciding. Tesla's opposition to repair drives up costs and thus insurance expense.
(Score: 2) by epitaxial on Saturday November 23 2019, @02:53AM (1 child)
I can count the number of times on one hand how many pickup trucks I've seen actually hauling gravel.
(Score: 1) by Sulla on Saturday November 23 2019, @07:20AM
When I get gravel or dirt anymore I just use a trailer. I don't own a 250 or 350 it would be advisable to do a half yard max to avoid causing damage to the vehicle.
With the exceptions of the drawbacks from the 8ft bed (personal complaint), distance (reasonable complaint), and the looks (wah wah wah) - this thing accomplish pretty much anything you need it to when compared to a 1500, 150, or Silverado.
The trade-off for the 8ft bed is better payload and trailer handling. So just use a trailer for those large boards.
Ceterum censeo Sinae esse delendam
(Score: 2) by Pslytely Psycho on Saturday November 23 2019, @01:40AM
Ah, then you'll want to be able to prepare it properly!
http://www.crowbusters.com/recipes.html [crowbusters.com]
Alex Jones lawyer inspires new TV series: CSI Moron Division.
(Score: 2) by MostCynical on Friday November 22 2019, @10:08PM (1 child)
after aiming for coefficient of drag in the 0.2-0.25 range for all the other vehicles, and 0.36 for the semi [teslarati.com], this thing looks like it is competing with refrigerators.. but then, with Ford F trucks managing 0.42 [newcartestdrive.com] and other vehicles not much better [ecomodder.com], it really isn't about mileage with US gasoline prices [globalpetrolprices.com].
Compared to some [fuelcheck.com.au] parts of the world, the US has it easy [globalpetrolprices.com]
"I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
(Score: 2) by richtopia on Saturday November 23 2019, @08:48PM
I suspect this design won't be too bad for Cd. The sloped bed cover is a huge improvement over traditional pickups. The air suspension will also help with overall drag (although Cd is dependent on the cross-sectional area... so reducing the profile might increase Cd). Lastly, electric vehicles remove the large radiator and typically have smooth underbodies which are very costly in terms of drag for vehicles.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by DannyB on Friday November 22 2019, @10:15PM (2 children)
This truck, made of steel, is shaped perfectly for driving under a semi trailer that is stopped perpendicular to the roadway. This is especially important considering that the truck has Autopilot.
For some odd reason all scientific instruments searching for intelligent life are pointed away from Earth.
(Score: 2, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 22 2019, @11:58PM (1 child)
And it looks like a coffin.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Monday November 25 2019, @02:28PM
That makes the vehicle dual use. And saves a lot of effort for the mortician.
For some odd reason all scientific instruments searching for intelligent life are pointed away from Earth.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by dltaylor on Friday November 22 2019, @10:33PM (1 child)
What sort of strangely-shaped people is this supposed to serve? If it's for for work, then how are any grown men (and a lot of the working women I know) supposed to get into the back seat? One of the things making tall station wagons (pseudo-SUVs) popular is that so many sedans have no usable access to a rear seat for other than children, whereas the straight roofline of a station wagon makes it easy to have adult-size doors.
(Score: 1) by Sulla on Friday November 22 2019, @10:56PM
So far what I have read from the people who were there in person is that even tall people were comfortable in the back seat. I don't know what their definition of comfortable is or how much they were paid to believe that they were.
Ceterum censeo Sinae esse delendam
(Score: 2) by legont on Friday November 22 2019, @10:36PM (1 child)
Zombiemobile is how Russians designated the thing.
"Wealth is the relentless enemy of understanding" - John Kenneth Galbraith.
(Score: 2) by Pslytely Psycho on Saturday November 23 2019, @01:47AM
Well they should just slide right over the top as you mow them down, not much splash so the wipers should keep the wind screen clear. Finding a functioning Supercharger during the zombie apocalypse might be a bit of a challenge however.....);
Alex Jones lawyer inspires new TV series: CSI Moron Division.
(Score: 2) by RamiK on Friday November 22 2019, @10:53PM
Or something that came out of one.
Also, before someone mentions the drag coefficient, it's possible the weight distribution calls for a spoiler and this, eh, design, serves such a purpose.
compiling...
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Appalbarry on Friday November 22 2019, @11:04PM (3 children)
I'm one of the people who has actually been looking forward to trading in my F150 for an electric pickup. This not it.
Those of us who actually use a pick-up truck for work don't need this kind of angular gee-whiz crap, we need a cab big enough for two people, a suspension that can handle more than just pavement, and most importantly a box big enough to haul things in the back, with or without a canopy to keep stuff dry. This thing is pretty much useless to anyone in construction or other trades - the people who are actually prepared to put money down for an e-truck that will charge over night and handle 200-300 miles each day.
More to the point, the guy who is willing to spend six figures on an F350 isn't going to give this thing a second look because it's a stupid toy designed by people who have no clue what a work vehicle looks like or how it functions.
(Score: 4, Funny) by Ethanol-fueled on Saturday November 23 2019, @12:24AM (2 children)
You'd think from a design perspective angles and simple polygons are more simple to draw than all the smooth contours in all those other modern truck bodies.
Either that or Tesla is in such serious financial trouble that their design team had to downgrade to 386 workstations and use Sierra's Stunts for design inspiration. I'd believe both possibilities.
(Score: 2) by Immerman on Saturday November 23 2019, @02:52AM
I heard somewhere that the faceted design is imposed by the thick Starship-steel alloy of the structural panels. Stamping it would me an expensive nightmare, but they can fold it into flat planes.
(Score: 2) by corey on Sunday November 24 2019, @09:42AM
Ethanol, I usually disagree with and don't like many of your comments, but you deserve a +1 on this one, because you mentioned Stunts! Kudos.
(Score: 2) by fliptop on Friday November 22 2019, @11:43PM (2 children)
At least hers looks like a pickup truck [youtube.com].
Ever had a belch so satisfying you have to blow your nose afterward?
(Score: 2) by hemocyanin on Saturday November 23 2019, @12:31AM (1 child)
Don't like it. Looks like a car with the back cut off.
(Score: 2) by Pslytely Psycho on Saturday November 23 2019, @03:28AM
When I was a kid it was quite popular to convert late 1950's Cadillac's into pickup trucks. They were damn near tanks as it was and could even haul a decent load.
And they could actually be beautiful:
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/8a/20/0a/8a200a6be45ba1fe501572377c041a94.jpg [pinimg.com]
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/a8/43/4e/a8434e1d855778e02b5eed01110bd884.jpg [pinimg.com]
Alex Jones lawyer inspires new TV series: CSI Moron Division.
(Score: 2) by Spamalope on Saturday November 23 2019, @01:29AM
I can't wait to see what it looks like after it's updated to support at least DX4.
Snark aside, I'm curious to see if this prompts more stainless in car bodies to control corrosion.
Tesla opposes repair with such vigor that the longevity advantages of stainless are unlikely to apply here. (get an insurance quote if you're considering one - and be sitting down...)
(Score: 1) by daver!west!fmc on Saturday November 23 2019, @01:32AM
Can one haul a proper minicomputer in it? I'm thinking "maybe" but that pretty glass cover would probably get scratched or something.
(Score: 2) by Snotnose on Saturday November 23 2019, @01:51AM (1 child)
With a 7 ton towing capacity, can you put batteries in the trailer and up your daily mileage? The name for these trailers escapes me now (3rd wheel or something), but if you don't need to sleep 5 you have lots of room for more batteries.
It was a once in a lifetime experience. Which means I'll never do it again.
(Score: 2) by Pslytely Psycho on Saturday November 23 2019, @03:33AM
I believe you're referring to 5th wheel. Similar to the larger 5th wheel attachment for articulated semi-trucks.
Pickup version:
https://www.etrailer.com/Gooseneck-and-Fifth-Wheel-Adapters/Draw-Tite/9480.html?feed=npn&gclid=Cj0KCQiAq97uBRCwARIsADTziybChOCrKCu12ij1miqrgig7PO015nig-m_RXBav9oCAW4OorwF9nPMaAtEKEALw_wcB [etrailer.com]
Alex Jones lawyer inspires new TV series: CSI Moron Division.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by Rich on Saturday November 23 2019, @03:04AM
When I saw the first picture of the Cybertruck, I instantly thought that it has the lines of an old Giuigaro (1975-1988) Lotus Esprit. And indeed, it seems to be the key inspiration - I read that Musk had even said so. In fact, not only that, but he bought the Esprit that served as submarine in "The spy who loved me" and put it into the Tesla design studio. With the flat panels, it squarely oozes the Giugiaro spirit of the old cardboard-folded classics like the VW Scirocco I, the original Seat Ibiza, Lancia Delta, Fiat Panda and Uno, and so on.
Now, that heavy monster is miles away from the lightweight ride&handling-focused thinking of Lotus - but from being designed so radical I think that it's an instant classic because of that alone. I'd dare to mention it in one sentence with the Chevrolet El Camino and the Toyota Hilux, as far as seminal pickups go. And if it becomes the first car being driven on Mars, it would actually earn its merits.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 23 2019, @03:16AM
Journalists like to write about other peoples failures. So there has to be at least a partial failure so they have something to feel superior about.
Though one problem I can see right off the bat is that trim line down the whole side. No way that ever gets straight again after somebody fucks it up. Don't care how strong they say it is. It won't last around a forklift. It was funny seeing journalists talking about colors. Its stainless. You just costing yourself more money, and making future repairs expensive by painting it. That is the whole point of using stainless dumbass. Of course while stainless is weldable, it isn't the kind of thing your average knucklehead mechanic or body man will do. So the body, once bent, is going to pretty much stay bent.
Not that I would have a problem with that. Its a truck, not a prom dress. But Americans are vain. Some people will see a contractor drive up in a tin accordian, and not want to hire them because of it. Doesn't matter how recommended the guy is. So yeah, how it looks does matter to commercial buyers.
I actually like it though. Would consider buying it if it were used, already beat to shit, and had a diesel conversion kit for it. Which is to say after one of the douchebag journalists spent 10k$ over book, and another 20k$ paying dumbass tax (repairs on first adopter equipment), and 30k$ in market depreciation for a product they can't unload for the remaining financed balance.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 23 2019, @03:52AM (2 children)
in the world. Just not sold in the U.S.
I can think of three 4 cylinder diesels used in trucks in the U.S. and the only one that was ever available in a pickup was the golf pickup from the 80's. Which was a pretty terrible engine. But the 3.9 isuzu and 4bt are generally regarded as quality easy to maintain engines. So why can I only get a diesel V8 in a pickup? And if you look at the power to weight ratios, those V8's have less steel per cubic inch than the four bangers do by a scary margin.
Same old same old. Corruption graft and protectionism.
But what happens if somebody puts out a 4 litre inline 4 with a close ratio 6 speed in a heavy duty pickup. A proper all-steel bosch-indirect-injected no-fucking-around diesel engine. I'll tell you what. Truck guys would buy them to save on gas tires and oil, and the V8's would vaporize.
And if that was the case, it speaks to the viability of an electric. But it also speaks to a precarious market condition where a price point is only competitive because market conditions are artificially inflated.
(Score: 4, Touché) by dltaylor on Saturday November 23 2019, @09:55AM
You mean, like the Chevy Colorado with the 2.8L turbo-diesel?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 24 2019, @06:37PM
i find it annoying as hell that africa and the middle east get all the old toyota trucks and SUVs for decent prices while in the US and toyota with 300k is sold by weight in gold.
(Score: 2) by DavePolaschek on Saturday November 23 2019, @01:25PM
Aren’t those supposed to be popular
againnow due to Breaking Bad?(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 23 2019, @02:43PM (2 children)
heh, cool, no worries about dents and scratches on a tired building site.
will be super simple to clean; no useless nokes and crannies to dig dirt and grim out of.
but need to tie stuff into the bed? how?
the longer i look at it the more normal it looks ^_^
(Score: 2) by ElizabethGreene on Saturday November 23 2019, @10:07PM
The website images indicate tiedowns in each corner of the bed.
They also indicate the front of the bed is angled forward instead of flat. I'm not entirely a fan of that.
(Score: 2) by corey on Sunday November 24 2019, @09:48AM
I'd be interested in the next year's model. After they've had a heap of customer feedback, reviews etc. And fixed them, as well as the bugs.
It is a piece of art though. I always had a level of disappointment for Tesla because they are a bit of a disruptor in the market, but their cars look just like the other blobs on the road. They had an opportunity to totally rethink what cars are, and make something futuristic, and electric.
I respect this because it's bloody different.
And with awesome practical features.
(Score: 2) by richtopia on Saturday November 23 2019, @08:56PM
Tesla is doing something radical here, I hope they succeed. However, I'm skeptical this will make it past safety testing. Automakers can make tanks. They don't because the car needs to sacrifice itself in an accident to protect the occupants. With this exoskeleton design, I don't see any crumple zone. In an accident the truck will survive, but the humans will receive the full impact of their safety belts and airbags.