Why people love -- and love to hate -- Tesla's Cybertruck

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

Few vehicles in modern history have elicited as much consumer excitement and loathing in their first year on the market than the Tesla Cybertruck.

Ever since Elon Musk unveiled the Cybertruck in 2019 and declared, “It’s not going to be for everyone,” people have debated whether the eclectic pickup truck’s hulking design is ugly or stylish. That divide has only intensified since Cybertrucks began rolling off the assembly lines in November of last year.

“Man does a cybertruck ever look dumb up close,” Blake Murphy wrote last week in a message posted to Blue Sky.

-snip-

Buying a Cybertruck isn’t cheap — they're about $100,000, depending on the trim. Still, in the third quarter of this year, they were the third most purchased EV in the country, according to the Kelley Blue Book.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/why-people-love--and-love-to-hate--teslas-cybertruck-210258478.html

Want an electric truck? Get a Ford F-150 Lightning. They're less expensive and not as likely to rust.

[GreenWave]

1. Arnold said it best...

"You're one ugly motherfiretrucker*"

^*Word may be spelled another way.

[wintemark]

2. Or a Rivian

Rivian makes a fine Truck slightly cheaper than the cybertruck and with a better design. Plus I know people that work for Rivian in Illinois

[yankee87]

3. Ex Quality Manager for GM

While the process on how much advancement with the presses in the Body Shop. Unfortunately, stainless is not good for dimensional control. Also, while I had a small part with electric start up, ended up going bankrupt.
With Musk pissing off his entire customer base, and it being a niche vehicle, but the truck is dangerous.

[haele]

4. Cybertrucks aren't built well to begin with. And are seriously dangerous.

I saw one up close. I shouldn't be able to see rubber between the panels and the angled edge bevels should touch all the way along the seam; no gaps showing the underlying metal holding the panel in place.
Also, the edges are really sharp where there are gaps; a person casually leaning against or running a hand along the side of the "truck" can easily rip their hand open if they aren't careful. And not a little cut, either. All the pieces are beveled. The gap between the front wheel - well piece and the side panel was somewhere between a sixteenth and an eighth of an inch.
If that truck clips a pedestrian... It's going to be a bloody mess.

Haele

[RedWhiteBlueIsRacist]

5. That thing is just a mini-van with a laundry basket.

[rasputin1952]

6. I have seen one on the road...

Last edited Tue Dec 24, 2024, 09:56 PM - Edit history (1)

In Nebraska, no less.

To be sure, Cybertrucks are more than just a means of transportation. They are, as the New York Times described it in a headline, “A Culture War on Wheels.”

Personally, I think it looks a bit like a coffin on wheels.
Which may well be appropriate if it has the self-driving mode.

On edit: I should add that it had Farm Plates, which means taxes are essentially nullified and they get a different deal in insurance.
The only thing I didn't see was a DJT Bumper sticker (I'm figuring the sticker is "licensed" by the Goomer, and you have to go through something he set up to get $50-100, just to make a world of hurting on the eyeballs even worse!

[Blue_Tires]

11. I'm old enough to remember when conservatives absolutely hated electric vehicles

But they're a cult so anything Elmer tells them to like, they'll like...

[Polybius]

13. Self-driving still needs a lot of work before it's perfected

But in 10 or 20 years, I could see it being useful.

[rasputin1952]

23. In 10-20 years...

We may not have a habitable planet to live on...

[Midnight Writer]

7. Saw my first one the other day. Had "camo" paint splotched all over it. Ran a red light and took off

at a high rate of speed, weaving through traffic.

[hatrack]

27. Sounds about right . . .

Which reminds me, i need to get the Lot Count Project going (monitoring the number of unsold Cybertrucks at a local Eloon dealership).

[highplainsdem]

8. For most of their owners, Cybertrucks are highly visible loyalty oaths to Elon Musk.

[Beachnutt]

9. I saw one in DFW area a cpl weeks ago

painted like an American flag, it looked like crap.
Really stupid looking, I rolled down my window and pointed at it and was blantantly laughing at it.

[Blue_Tires]

10. That thing would be a complete failure

If it wasn't for rich Trumpers buying it as a way of showing off their MAGA politics... Ironically, I remember when those same Republicans used to get all pissy over Toyota Prius drivers doing the same thing 20 years earlier...

[Polybius]

14. Thankfully though, they are finally going electric

I still know a few who say they will never go electric though. One is only about 40, so he's in for a rude awakening when the only cars here in NY will soon be electric.

[Blue_Tires]

16. Who knows with Donnie...?

Remember, GM had the EV-1 25 years ago, but then Bush Jr. got elected so all the electric plans got shitcanned while automakers chased those sweet sweet SUV profits...

[Polybius]

18. Yip, people tend to forget that too

Bush set back EV's by at least a dozen years. Imagine how EV's would be had Gore gotten elected and re-elected?

[Blue_Tires]

19. We'd be a global leader in the technology

Instead of playing catch-up...

But as they say, elections have consequences 😕

[Meowmee]

20. The mandate is not until 2035 not soon

And who knows what psycho will do. You can also buy a non electric in another state. I don’t think they’re going to get the infrastructure done that needs to be done even by 2035 to be honest and they have to bring the price down. The vast majority of people where I live do not drive electric cars, most of them still drive gas cars, a small percentage drive ev, those who can afford it, and some drive hybrid.

[Polybius]

22. Yeah, I guess it depends on how one define "soon"

I have a bad habit of tending to use the word "soon" too loosely.

I have an EV and love it. I look forward to seeing how advanced they will get.

[rasputin1952]

31. We Prius drivers laugh at MAGAts complaining about high gas prices". N/T

[Carlitos Brigante]

12. Is it because it makes the car Homer Simpson designed look awesome by comparison? nt

[canetoad]

15. Think I liked the Leyland P76 better

[Blue_Tires]

17. That's hot 🔥

[rasputin1952]

32. The Soap Box Derby downhill racers (Little Rascal's) looked better that the current monstrosity. n/t

[Meowmee]

21. The "truck" is truly ugly

Actually, it does not even look like a truck. It looks like it’s made out of cardboard for a cheap scifi tv set or something like that. I saw one in person while I was shopping. Whoever designed that was off their rocker in my opinion.

For a second, I thought maybe I was wrong about the aliens and they had finally invaded and decided to do something about the current situation here 😹

[The Wandering Harper]

24. I saw one in the wild yesterday

trying to run over a couple little kids and their dad crossing the street.
I'm exaggerating slightly.
Its horn sounded like a dystopian police truck

[sakabatou]

25. It absolutely sucks

It looks like it came from an early 90s 3D game. It's made out of stainless steel, which can rust. Said body is hard to fix, a may need parts to be replaced entirely.

The windows are supposedly bullet resistant. However, this begs the question, how are you supposed to get out if you're about to go underwater? You can't break the glass with a tool. Instead, you'd have to wait until the cabin fills with water (unless you can somehow find the emergency release, which isn't obvious).

It's heavy, so it's hard to stop on wet/slick surfaces. It weighs A LOT (over 3 tons).

[rasputin1952]

33. Don't forget to add in the taxpayer funding. nt

[sakabatou]

35. Aren't car makers subsidized anyway?

[tanyev]

26. I've seen several on the road here in North Texas and they always crack me up.

I have this urge to record some David Attenborough style narration and blast it from a speaker whenever I see one.

Observe the right wing jackass in his native environment. See how he inflates his armor to make himself look important. The armor may look fierce, but is actually cumbersome and impractical if there were a genuine threat. But the high visibility makes it easy for other species to avoid this annoying creature, allowing him to maintain his belief in his invulnerability.

[rasputin1952]

34. Crap, soda on the keyboard!

[SilverDawg]

29. I passed by one of

those beasts in traffic the other day and it is one UGLY vehicle. I gave it a hearty “YUK” as I drove by.

[GoCubsGo]

30. I don't hate them.

I consider them an object of amusement, and deserving of all the ridicule the get. They're not worth the energy it takes to hate.

[City Lights]

36. I have never seen an uglier vehicle.

I despise them and laugh out loud at those who drive them.

[ProfessorGAC]

37. The Cybertruck Is Not Likely To Rust

It's made of N-304 stainless steel. It takes pretty extreme conditions for the chromium & nickel oxides on the surface to be stripped away allowing the iron to oxidize.
That said, the choice of that grade of SS is questionable for the parts of the country that use salt to keep roadways safe in the winter.
N-304 & chlorides do not play well together.
The result could be microscopic cracking, that could reduce tensile strength with no indication of that compromised state.
Also, when cracking occurs, nickel & chromium can be "extracted" when there is raid or road moisture which has a pH of under 6. The result is nickel chloride (green) & chromium chloride (purple). Put purple & green together and we get brown.
Rust is not a likely issues, but that doesn't mean substantial issues don't exist.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

38. The one I saw last month looked pretty rusted

[ProfessorGAC]

39. My Post Got Sxrewed Up

Everything after "pH" did not post because I used a "less than" sign.
I edited it.
If you go back you will understand that you're probably not looking at rust.
Still unattractive, but not rust.
I've worked on dozens of stainless steel applications. Learned more about metallurgy than I ever anticipated.