Tesla truck

When I heard about the Tesla Pickup I got excited.  It could be the "one vehicle to rule them all" for me.  And with the predicted life of the batteries and motors (based on miles driven) it might be the last vehicle I ever need (besides a motorized wheelchair). Then they unveiled this...strange looking thing.  It has grown on me over the last day and I did go ahead and preorder one considering it's $100 and worst case scenario the loss of $100 isn't going to keep me from eating, so why not.

The length is a potential concern for me.  At nearly 232" it is 2'-9" longer than my Tahoe which will make parking at work a real chore if it is possible. Other dimensions are comparable to the Tahoe, so the main issue is backing out of my spot.  In the Tahoe it is tight and just takes paying close attention to what I'm doing as rearward visibility isn't that great and the lighting is almost nonexistent (I don't have a backup camera on the Tahoe so there may be more room than I think).  Hopefully, they will have these available to test drive somewhere and I can check one out before I have to decide. 2-3 years is a bit earlier than I was expecting, so that may also play into my decision.  I was anticipating closer to 5 years before they are available which would better fit my plans.

GIRTHQUAKE said:

Also, that long tonnaeu cover? A solar panel option. 20 to 30 miles of extra range possible.

15. They did say they have thought about a gold out / wing configuration that could get 40 (the average daily usage is 30).

No idea where Elon got those numbers though. 

BradLTL said:

GIRTHQUAKE said:

Also, that long tonnaeu cover? A solar panel option. 20 to 30 miles of extra range possible.

15. They did say they have thought about a gold out / wing configuration that could get 40 (the average daily usage is 30).

No idea where Elon got those numbers though. 

To be frank, with Elon it's about 50% actual "We tested this is X scenario" and 50% ass-pull. 

I knew they were looking at it when the Lightyear One concept was unveiled with it's ~24 mile/day solar roof and trunk combination and with the short- but good and critical!- comments they made on it. Adding a PV to an electric car will likely never make it's investment back, but to those who want to crank the radio while they work or are stuck out building crap like fences and acreage duties it's peace of mind. Besides, few people (us) are gonna say "When will it break even?"- most will say "Oh man, it could make my drive to work completely free! THE FUTURE IS NOW OLD MAN!" and treat it as such. Good thing too, his Solar company ain't doing the best.

Also, I would totally rock a fold-out cover of PVs. In a parking lot full of cars that look like melted bars of soap, HERES THE FRIGGIN 1980S SUN RHOMBUS.

In reply to GIRTHQUAKE :

The Prius has had a solar roof option for a little while now that generates enough energy to run the HVAC while parked and keep the interior cool on hot days so you never have to get into a parked car that's >120F. Might also prevent heat related death/illness/injury when kids/pets are left in a car by accident

Posted to one of the LEGO groups by Peter Blackert. I think it’s his work. Well done.

GIRTHQUAKE said:

Duke said:

I'm clearly an outlier, but I love the design, pretty much unreservedly. 
 

I'm joining you on this.

Same. My preorder's in.

STM317 said:

In reply to GIRTHQUAKE :

The Prius has had a solar roof option for a little while now that generates enough energy to run the HVAC while parked and keep the interior cool on hot days so you never have to get into a parked car that's >120F. Might also prevent heat related death/illness/injury when kids/pets are left in a car by accident

Hell,Audis had that in the early 00s.  The sunroof was a solar panel and when the vehicle was off the sunroof powered the HVAC fan.  More sun meant more fan.

Knurled. said:

STM317 said:

In reply to GIRTHQUAKE :

The Prius has had a solar roof option for a little while now that generates enough energy to run the HVAC while parked and keep the interior cool on hot days so you never have to get into a parked car that's >120F. Might also prevent heat related death/illness/injury when kids/pets are left in a car by accident

Hell,Audis had that in the early 00s.  The sunroof was a solar panel and when the vehicle was off the sunroof powered the HVAC fan.  More sun meant more fan.

If we are going back in time, the MB SL600 (R129) had that solar panel on top of the instrument cluster that worked as a trickle charger to keep the battery topped off. 

Being in the metal fabrication business, the side panels intrigue me. There is no reason to use .120 stainless unless they are stressed members, and/or  body armor. But even at that thickness, when spread over a long distance they aren't going to be that strong structurally unless tied into the chassis. But it's tough to weld flat panels without significant distortion, so I suspect that they are bonded with epoxy to other elements and then bolted in place. 

Stainless is a stubborn material to work. I've never tried to do compound curves with it, but even when doing a simple bend, most alloys have a lot of springback. The flat panels and angularity are a fashion statement, but they are also a much easier way of prototyping than trying to get that material to move into organic forms.

It's not a practical design in a number of ways, but it has potential, and I do love the audaciousness of it. The question in my mind is what balance will ultimately be struck between practicality and novelty. I am very interested in buying EV  trucks and vans for my business in the future, but I suspect that there will be more sensible options than what Musk brings. 

I like this Jalopnik article on the design: https://jalopnik.com/a-deep-look-at-the-design-of-tesla-s-cybertruck-1839993654

In reply to MadScientistMatt :

Pretty sure that quad is structually 100% a yamaha yz450 with some panels. 

I wonder... 

In reply to GIRTHQUAKE :

The PV panel would be great camping. Power lights, radio, cooktops, charge cell phones all without ruining your drive home. 

The memes from this have been TOP.

In reply to BradLTL :

Right?

Now featuring photoshopped colors...

https://electrek.co/2019/11/23/tesla-cybertruck-different-colors-musk-confirms-matte-black/

The white is on fire. 

Also, someone used paint to change the lines of the truck.  

I'd hit it. With a rock.

Just wait for an e-dozer. Will they have a 12” charger plug like they do with exhaust tips? Maybe have a spark blaster since they cant annoy people by “rolling coal”.

Kreb said:

Being in the metal fabrication business, the side panels intrigue me. There is no reason to use .120 stainless unless they are stressed members, and/or  body armor. But even at that thickness, when spread over a long distance they aren't going to be that strong structurally unless tied into the chassis. But it's tough to weld flat panels without significant distortion, so I suspect that they are bonded with epoxy to other elements and then bolted in place. 

.120"????  What the everloving berk???  That's thicker than HMMWVs had for their ALUMINUM body panels!

Stainless steel is plain and simple a horrible material for making anything for vehicles (unless you are building a time machine, then the stainless steel construction allows you to...).  It makes way more sense to use 22 gauge steel like everyone else and spend the money on some decent e-coating.

In reply to Knurled. :

I suspect a big reason they went with stainless steel is to avoid having to do any painting or coating, which they've spent a ton of money on, and had issues with in the past. They've had quality issues, environmental issues, and a production bottleneck all related to the paint shop. Going to unpainted stainless gets them out of all of that. AND since it can't really be stamped either, they don't have to spend money on massive, expensive stamping equipment and tooling so they simply score and fold the stainless much cheaper.

Add the fact that SpaceX uses the same material and it starts to make a lot of business sense as long as you can sell people on the design of an origami pickup truck. So you send the fearless leader out to  promote the whole thing (which he's very good at) by talking about how it's super tough, high tech and bulletproof. When in reality those are just side effects of your material choice that was based on making the truck as cheaply as you can. It's brilliant marketing.

So, apparently, the air suspension will do the Carolina Squat without modification:

STM317 said:

In reply to Knurled. :

I suspect a big reason they went with stainless steel is to avoid having to do any painting or coating, which they've spent a ton of money on, and had issues with in the past. They've had quality issues, environmental issues, and a production bottleneck all related to the paint shop. Going to unpainted stainless gets them out of all of that. AND since it can't really be stamped either, they don't have to spend money on massive, expensive stamping equipment and tooling so they simply score and fold the stainless much cheaper.

Add the fact that SpaceX uses the same material and it starts to make a lot of business sense as long as you can sell people on the design of an origami pickup truck. So you send the fearless leader out to  promote the whole thing (which he's very good at) by talking about how it's super tough, high tech and bulletproof. When in reality those are just side effects of your material choice that was based on making the truck as cheaply as you can. It's brilliant marketing.

 

This is what I too believe- I think they came up on the design by accident and just ran with the concept and design. And in defense for our electro-company, making the vehicle better for vinyl wrapping is the best plan- the sensors can be painted, but they're difficult to re-align and numerous parts have to be protected during the process. Vinyl is cheaper and allows for some wild graphics and designs, and can be easily removed.

I have a truck for doing truck stuff, and towing Midlana to track events.

While I do drive the truck to work and for shopping, the above requirement rules this truck out.

In reply to kb58 :

IMO, Suburban Road Warriors. This is the vehicle for people who distinctly remember all the times they needed a truck when they moved and now might have a hobby that needs towing or space, but they also have kids and a wife and don't really know anything about cars outside of "put gas in and take to dealership every 5,000 miles".

While I think it's by happenstance... Tesla knew it couldn't make the truck like any other, because people wouldn't focus on it's electric drive- otherwise we'd be fighting Climate Change well. They had to genuinely make it stand out from the crowd, but there's only so far you can go with entry angles and stock air ride suspension and rear bed improvements. So when some mad genius came up with the idea to fold the metal and gave it the Total Recall Happy Cab treatment, they realized it was a way to:

1. Make people on the internet talk for hours about it, which Tesla wants AND needs.
2. Allows the owners to make a statement about themselves and feel unique.

... and DAMN have they succeeded. Most of my co-workers aren't car people at all and they're talking about it. Being EV its maintence is minor compared to other vehicles. It's supposed bulletproof nature is just to sell to buyers that you can ignore the hell out of it and it won't break down first, and that it's great for difficult jobsites second.

I'd like to be a fly on the wall of the design studios right now. How often does a major manufacturer come out with something that's so different from what's currently offered? And while it's a very polarizing design, they cannot ignore the fact that lots of people like it. To me, this is more interesting than the truck, the possibility that it could give birth to a whole generation of creased and folded vehicles.  

if there were metal shop  classes in schools anymore , I could see  a lot of these being built to fit on cheap Pickup chassis !

Where is the VW kit car market when we need it ????

I was over by Tesla / SpaceX yesterday  and did not see any being test driven , 

I wonder how many they have ?