I wonder if people are underestimating how much the design was driven by the fact it was fun to make something that looked like it was from Blade Runner.
Maybe the whole thing started out as “Let’s make something shit cool like a blade runner cop car” and then the idea that it would bring down production costs, look different, etc, developed after they designed something that they really liked.
Elon seems to be quite motivated by having fun, one of the things I like about him.
Elon: wow, stainless steel is an underrated material, it solved my starship rocket design problems. and it's cheap!
January 2019 (https://www.popularmechanics.com/space/rockets/a25953663/elo...)
Elon: what if I used stainless steel for cars?
Elon: well there was the delorean, and blade runner...
Elon: you've got 6 months team.
(note there was no need for a dialogue partner)
This actually opened my eyes, I haven't thought about it that way
Do nerds call the web cyperspace?
That said, at least around here military seems to have adopted it which might give the name a boost with parts of the truck buying demographic?
I have to disagree. That is your opinion not a fact. I think it looks like someone who just started out at whittling tried to make a Delorean and used the result as the design for the “truck”. Personally, I think the tesla “truck” looks wimpy. I’m really disappointed by it.
By replying with my point of view I’m proving that is not a fact.
By replying with your point of view... I actually don’t know why you replied. Why did you?
Of course matter of taste is entirely subjective, but that shouldn't stop us from making fun of it when warranted. Or even when not, such unimportant distinctions shouldn't be taken seriously.
Most people I've heard however thinks it looks weird.
Importantly however none of those others I talked to ever owned a pickup truck or even talked about wanting one... :-)
You could have no friends, and only talk to the crazy guy that hangs out by the liquor store.
You could work at a senior center so most the people you talk to aren’t allowed to drive, but hate new fangled technology.
Or...
You could have a horrible sample size of anecdotal evidence (which is horrible evidence itself) to draw any reasonable conclusion.
:-)
https://www.bmw.com/en/innovation/armored-car-bulletproof-ca...
Mercedes does an armored car rated at VR10:
https://www.motor1.com/news/61225/mercedes-maybach-s600-guar...
So let's see what the Cybertruck's VR rating is in a couple of years.
If the videos were official they'd catch more negative press for it.
Yeah, it is a declaration of war against pedestrians. Thankfully this thing will never catch on here in Europe and I'll continue being safe while crossing the street.
Does a truck have any such requirements for pedestrian safety ? Is the highest part of the Cyber truck's front end any lower than a F-150 for example ? That could make for a safer design.
They look like they're the same height, although it's a bit difficult to compare. The top of the F150's grill does look a bit more curved; not sure how much of a difference that makes.
Fear of large cars is justified in Europe and anywhere else because they kill more pedestrians[1].
1. https://www.curbed.com/2018/9/27/17909270/pedestrian-deaths-...
https://www.curbed.com/2018/9/27/17909270/pedestrian-deaths-...
Speed is what kills, not a slightly harder body.
Even the lightest car has enough mass that it's going to really hurt pedestrians if it hits one at speed.
And if any car - even this one - hits someone at 5 mph, it's not going to do that much damage.
About 2% of auto or light truck vs. pedestrian collisions under 10mph produce severe injuries, and at all speeds light trucks are more dangerous than autos, so I think you are overgeneralizing here.
> and at all speeds light trucks are more dangerous than autos,
Citation needed.
And in the near future. And in the present. and in the recent past.
With my brother we also speculate that this is the PERFECT car to personalize: Must be a blast to custom paint it.
Also:
If you have one, you will be (probably) the ONLY with it in the block. This alone will be a factor for some..
Humvee market
From that perspective, I think the flat angular design used is for style only, and has no engineering basis.
https://www.motortrend.com/news/tesla-cybertruck-electric-pi...
How is that different from people who want to loudly signal their environmental virtue while ignoring externalities such as the electric power probably coming from coal, the extraction and manufacturing processes for batteries, etc? This is a competitor to an electric humvee - an unnecessarily large vehicle is wasted energy no matter where that energy originated
I think they are targeting people who do not care for environmental issues and who still think that electric vehicles are something for beaus and weaklings. If these people can't be convinced to transition to EVs for ecological reasons, just give them another reason. It doesn't matter why they drive EVs, just that they do. (Well, and to give other car companies a kick in the butt in this market segment).
It is a design you can't ignore, it looks metal af and no matter what your pickup currently looks like, it will appear wimpy next to it.
Also observe that it no longer sports a Tesla logo. The teaser image [0] that Musk posted before still had one. There is none on the inside either, as far as I could tell, so maybe they are moving the Cybertruck away from the Tesla brand. The presentation was on SpaceX' premises as well, if I remember correctly. (Compare that to Zuckerberg who thinks that Facebook isn't credited enough for the success of its daughter platforms WhatsApp and Instagram and is moving them closer to the (imo) toxic brand of Facebook).
[0] https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1106714774694297601