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As a truck guy who has owned a lot of trucks and currently owns a 2017 Ram 2500 CTD 4x4 and a Land Rover Defender 110, I'm telling you right now: this is going
by chrissnell 7y ago
As a truck guy who has owned a lot of trucks and currently owns a 2017 Ram 2500 CTD 4x4 and a Land Rover Defender 110, I'm telling you right now: this is going to kill it. This is the suburban status item of 2022.
I want to buy this right now. This has nearly the towing capacity of my Ram and will smoke my wife's Audi on the track.
- nordsieck 7y ago> As a truck guy who has owned a lot of trucks and currently owns a 2017 Ram 2500 CTD 4x4 and a Land Rover Defender 110, I'm telling you right now: this is going to kill it. We'll see. If it does kill, the looks won't be a problem, they'll be an asset - a more extreme version of the Prius. But if it doesn't, a lot of people will blame the look.
- chrissnell 7y agoThis demographic will love the look. Have you seen pickups lately? The Big 3 have been chasing an industrial aesthetic for years. This was a very bold move and I feel very strongly that this will shake up the market. The specs are a truck lover's dream. Most pickups are driving office dudes like me to our office jobs every day. We hate the gas mileage but we love the look and we want something powerful enough to tow the boat or ATV hauler on the weekends. This truck claims it can do that AND beat a Porsche off the traffic light AND never have to visit a fuel pump again.
- fossuser 7y agoThe Tesla truck thing has always surprised me a bit since it feels like a misreading of the audience. When I think of the people that like big trucks, I think of the people blocking super chargers or blowing black smoke out the back onto Teslas. People that hate EVs because of a tribal political affiliation. This is the group that cares about status and argues over Ford vs. Chevy. Outside of those people are the ones just doing regular work and I think they just want a regular looking truck to put things in (not the market). Honestly don’t know the market for this one. I love my model3, but I’m unsure of this.
- dwg 7y agoWhile they may stand out, only a tiny percentage of pickup truck drivers are like this. There are so many people who have desk jobs or jobs where they don't really need or only occasionally need a pickup, but they still drive one (at least where I grew up, in Northern California). Because of the Tesla truck's performance, and many other EV advantages, my guess is that this pickup truck will indeed appeal to a large number of pickup owners, including showboaters, occasional towers, occasional use daily drivers, as professional/hardcore customers.
- eitally 7y agoExactly. My F150 bed currently contains 6 egg boxes of children's clothes to donate, two folding chairs, a foot locker sized rubbermaid container filled with emergency gear & camping stuff, a large Patagonia duffel full of sports clothes, a smaller duffel with cleats & soccer ball, two pairs of basketball shoes + ball, an extra jacket and a large umbrella. Yes, I don't need to keep all this crap in the truck all the time, but it sure is convenient to have that option!
- chrisseaton 7y ago> currently contains 6 egg boxes of children's clothes to donate How do you fit clothes in an egg box?
- jodrellblank 7y agoOstrich eggs?
- mirimir 7y agoEgg boxes hold 12 (I think) flats with 30 eggs each. You can get them from supermarkets. And they're thick cardboard. Great for moving books.
- chrisseaton 7y ago
- tw04 7y agoHave a model Y on order... was waiting to see what this would look like as I've got an older truck I'm kind of sick of maintaining and I fall square into "the demographic" you speak of. This is maybe the ugliest truck I've ever seen in my life. I desperately wanted Tesla to come out with a 3/4 ton frame and a semi-normal looking truck. Instead... this. This is 100% NOT what the big 3 have been chasing, and this isn't shaking up the market. I just hope it doesn't bankrupt Tesla in the process... Here's hoping the final product looks a LOT different than what they had on stage tonight... This thing is Pontiac Aztec bad.
- mrpopo 7y ago> Most pickups are driving office dudes like me to our office jobs every day. Given the price of that thing, you should just buy a second, smaller electric car (maybe even a Twizy). If you care about your CO2 emissions, it's better to give up looking manly and driving like a madman at traffic lights.
- XenophileJKO 7y agoThat's the thing people miss. A lot of people that buy Teslas don't really care about CO2 emissions that much. Really it's just a bonus. That's kind of the point of Teslas, make a car so fun and cool that you buy it "despite" being electric. I bought mine because of the performance and technology. Only after having it do you realize how nice it is to recharge at home, etc.
- thinkmassive 7y agoI wouldn’t be so quick to assume the Cybertruck look is what most pickup owners are going for. Maybe eventually... In the near term Bollinger Motors[1] has electric pickup and SUV models that look a lot more like rugged high end trucks. Granted they cost nearly twice as much, but these are all luxury vehicles and people already spend 100k on a Ford Raptor. 1: https://bollingermotors.com/ https://bollingermotors.com/
- waiseristy 7y agoCan I ask where you are located, or what kind of truck owners you know? I can't see anyone, like 0% of the rural owners I know, thinking this truck looks good. It's crazy, I would be embarrassed to be seen in it. There are other electrified truck companies bringing up their models. Maybe even faster than Tesla can get this thing out. Ford is already testing their electrified F150's. Current owners will just buy their same brand when it becomes electrified.
- m463 7y agoThat's what I thought when the young kids started lifting their trucks. But now it's common. and you can get this thing with 3 motors.
- waiseristy 7y agoAre you really equating the styling of this pentagon-on-wheels with a lifted truck? This is bosozoku levels of crazy. And that sure isn't common. The Rivian has 4 motors by the way...
- hef19898 7y agoOne thing that could really hurt Tesla down the road is the new platform-architectures existing car-makers are coming up with. Pick-Ups in the US are one example, another one is the new Peogeot / Opel Corsa plattform in Europe. The latter one, while not a dedicated EV-plattform, is able to be used for both, EVs and ICE-powered cars. Granted, these small EVs are still rather expensive but offer a ton of extras and are with sibisidies under 35k €. Big bonus, they are produced at the same assembly lines as the big-volume ICEs. So once demand for EVs increases they can easily switch, with economies of scale these small EVs are becoming cheaper and scaling volumes won't be such a big issue neither. I guess the same can apply for pick-ups in the US. And than again, Tesla never had one single face-lift or model replacement behind them. Said it before and I stick with it: It's a race between tesla coming up with a sustainable and profitable way to mass produce EVs before money runs out and incumbents figuring out the design of EVs that can be mass-produced at existing facilities. tesla had a huge head-start, but incumbents are catching up and the window of opportunity for Tesla is closing but not closed yet.
- hufflesnuff 7y agoEvery time Musk starts taking pre-order $ on a new model, it comes out ultimately at least a year later, the low priced option gets scratched, and the specs get curtailed some. Not trying to rain on your parade or anything. But be real. The $49k model S never materialized. The $35k Model E never materialized. This thing won't either. Unless you got the $$ to blow on a top-end model, don't expect much.
- IAmGraydon 7y ago> This demographic will love the look. You must hang out with some very atypical truck guys. Most would not be caught dead in an electric vehicle, and certainly not in something that looks like this.
- mattacular 7y agoThis is a truck designed for people who don't need a truck but would like to appear as though they do. It's like a fake status symbol of being working class for someone who buys 40k plus vehicles but wants to downplay their wealth. Basically for the Range Rover crowd except they put a bed on it to show how serious they are about its truckness. Can't really see anyone who relies on their truck for actual work wanting something like this and the product page is clearly geared towards more outdoor recreational types (Eg. Pics of the camping top extension and towing a weird looking camper or futuristic dirt bike). Compare to Ford and Chevy marketing.
- omarchowdhury 7y agoAgree. I'm in love.
- elamje 7y agoRe: Hummer H2 and H2 Truck, except it has an option with 2.9s 0-60!!¡ It will be a staple.
- iamaelephant 7y agoHacker News never fails to amuse.
- tw04 7y agoSo you're going to downgrade from a 3/4 ton frame to something that falls between a dodge dakota and ram 1500... In other words you overbought and don't use the diesel or the 3/4 ton frame? Because this is definitely NOT a replacement for that.
- na85 7y ago>In other words you overbought and don't use the diesel or the 3/4 ton frame? I think you just described 80% of truck owners.
- Aperocky 7y ago95%. Myself included.
- pcmoney 7y ago99%
- hindsightbias 7y agoLet some reverse marketing lose: Cybertruck: Not Your Urban Cowboy’s Truck
- chrissnell 7y agoThe trimotor version claims to tow 14000+. A 2019 Ram 2500 tops out at around 19K, but my 2017 is a little less. The 2019 F150 tows about 11K. This truck is no Dodge Dakota. This sits between a half-ton and 3/4-ton truck.
- tw04 7y agoThe single motor version is 7,500 lbs - almost exactly the same as a Dodge Dakota. The Tri-motor is 14k lbs, a 2019 F150 is 13,200 lbs. https://www.ford.com/trucks/f150/2019/features/capability/f150-towing-capacity/ https://www.ford.com/trucks/f150/2019/features/capability/f1... I stand by my comment, this thing falls between a dodge dakota and a ram 1500.
- gregimba 7y agoAs someone looking at a Tacoma TRD Pro or Ram Power Wagon this thing just shattered my midsize vs 2500 internal debate.
- z3rgl1ng 7y agoWill they be able to survive until then with this though? Because I seriously doubt it.
- lallysingh 7y ago$100 initial deposit is to show wall St demand. That will keep borrowing costs down.
- thedrbrian 7y agoBy track you mean drag strip because mass and high C of G are going to make this thing difficult to corner/handle.
- aembleton 7y agoWhy would it have a high centre of gravity? Wouldn't the battery pack be most of the mass and live right at the bottom?
- cowgoesmo0 7y agoThe model S has a ground clearance of 6 inches and a center of gravity of 17.5 inches. This thing has a ground clearance of 16 inches. Assuming similar weight distribution, that's a center of gravity of 27.5 inches. Compare that with: BMW 3 series: 20 inches Subaru BRZ: 18.1 inches Porsche 911 GT3: 17.9 inches
- ody4242 7y ago>This thing has a ground clearance of 16 inches. up to 16 inches, which may (or may not) indicate dynamic suspension
- eightysixfour 7y agoIt has a ground clearance of 16 inches with the suspension at max height. When it lowered itself for the tailgate ramp, it was probably closer to 10 inches off the ground. The triple motor also has a double stacked battery, so the center of mass is not going to be much further up than the battery is.
- patman81 7y agoBased on the stated ranges of 250, 300 and 500miles (!), I would guess those battery sizes are 75, 100 and 150kWh. I hope the upcoming triple motor model S, will get that 150 battery pack next summer. That would mean 600miles of range for the new model S.
- tengbretson 7y agoYour wife races her Audi at a track?
- ollie87 7y agoReally weird if you read that post and that was your only take-away.
- jread 7y agoLove it or hate it seems to be the case here - not many fence sitters. Been reading TMC and FB Tesla Owners group the past hour and reactions are I’d estimate about 80% negative.
- jw14 7y agoYour wife drives an Audi that can't do better than 0-60 in 6.5 seconds? Also.. tracks have turns. Low center of gravity helps, but this thing will probably weigh 3-4x as much as a sporty car. Even the Model S has weight comparable to a minivan. My guess is a Subaru BRZ could beat this around many tracks. This is a cool truck and all, and I hope Tesla makes more exciting designs like this, but I'm tired of people thinking that Teslas are performance cars just because they have torque. Tesla has yet to make anything that interests me at the prices they charge.
- mulcahey 7y agoThe tri motor does 0-60 in <2.9
- ken 7y ago> Your wife drives an Audi that can't do better than 0-60 in 6.5 seconds? Not too surprising. According to [1], the A3 and A4 mostly have 0-60 times worse than 6.5s. You've got to get up to the recent A6's to beat that. [1]: https://www.zeroto60times.com/vehicle-make/audi-0-60-mph-times/ https://www.zeroto60times.com/vehicle-make/audi-0-60-mph-tim...
- ryanlol 7y agoThe A1s and A3s I see on that list seem to beat 6.5s. Also it’s a bit weird to compare super entry level 1l audis to this. They’re in a weird segment with lots of compromises.
- alkonaut 7y agoDo people in the rural/suburban US really tow that much that often? Seeing the number of trucks just doesn’t make sense (especially given how few are towing anything). Is there a little measure of lifestyle signaling or macho involved in truck ownership, or towing capacity comparison?
- kube-system 7y agoI know several people with campers, horse trailers, car trailers, boats, etc. Most aren’t maxing out their towing capacity, but if you’re driving through any mountains, you’ll want to be well within those limits unless you want a white knuckle experience.
- rasz 7y agoIts like asking if people in US really shoot to defend themselves that often?
- alkonaut 7y agoNah I think that’s a more valid “I don’t know when I might need it”-situation. I never felt that “who knows, I might need to tow a sailboat any day now”-feeling though.
- whatshisface 7y agoWhenever someone I know moves, everyone with a truck comes along to haul stuff.
- alkonaut 7y agoWhy are trailers so unpopular though? I see the appeal of the truck when it’s needed but unless that’s a large fraction of my total trips why wouldn’t I rather have a regular car and tow a trailer when I need to move or take away trash? The flatbed is an extreme waste of space when it’s not used for hauling anything. That is, assuming the other values (economy, comfort, handling, ...) are better in cars than in trucks. I’m starting to suspect that either cars+trailers are seen as unattractive (like station wagons) or that those other values aren’t as highly valued as they are outside the US. One big difference I can point to is the size of parking spaces...
- IAmGraydon 7y ago> This is the suburban status item of 2022. Yeah I don’t think so. Trucks are not suburban status items. This is more like the El Camino of 2022.
- wavefunction 7y agoThey're definitely a suburban status item in much of the West of the US.
- bob1029 7y ago> Trucks are not suburban status items. Have you ever been to Texas?
- geerlingguy 7y agoOr pretty much anywhere outside of urban centers... and even there, many in the South, West, and Midwest US have giant trucks (big enough they don't fit in a standard garage) in their urban centers.
- rpmisms 7y ago> suburban status items I have found the single stupidest thing in this thread.
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]
- rplnt 7y agoOnly thing that is missing from this comment is a disclaimer about you holding TSLA stock.
- buboard 7y agoisn't the electric-grid dependency completely antithetical to the ownership of an off-road, off-civilization vehicle ? (also, honestly this design is a fugly tin can. Elon musk is generally going through a tin can phase (starship etc)). I wouldn't bet on many sales for this, but it's still interesting to see something so different
- bob1029 7y ago500 miles is fairly substantial range. I can see this being useful for a very wide variety of use cases, but obviously not those longer-term multi-day excursions into the wilderness. That said, it is a truck, and maybe someone (perhaps even Tesla) will develop a modular LNG/propane/diesel generator unit you can put into the back of the truck for purposes of range extension. I realize this is inefficient, not environmentally friendly, and going in the opposite direction of what the electric car is supposed to do, but its also only applicable in those extreme edge cases where you need to be away from the grid for days or weeks.
- ptaipale 7y agoYou can also easily google that photograph of a Mitsubishi MiEV being charged on the roadside by a Honda gasoline generator. That needs to be scale up a little bit, but it's possible to charge electric cars like that - inefficient, but enables driving out of the range of the electric grid. However, 99 % of drivers of a "truck" like this will be commuting between a suburban home and an office.
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]
- losvedir 7y agoMad Max notwithstanding, you can only store gasoline less than a year, so it's not like the alternative is really any less reliant on civilization.
- userbinator 7y agoPeople who truly care about that will likely be using diesel instead.
- ur-whale 7y agoOh boy, you aren't going to make friends here. Upvoting you just to mitigate the damage.
- Wiretrip 7y agoIt looks like something my son would have designed when he was 5.
- jlgaddis 7y agoWow, really? I feel the completely opposite. I also consider myself a "truck guy". In my entire life, I've owned a single car. I had it for about a year when I got up one morning, drove to the dealership, bought a new Dodge (basically the same as yours, except 1500), and told the girlfriend she could have the car (hers had seen better days). I would not be caught dead in one of these. (Disclaimer: I'm a Harley riding country boy from the midwest, probably not Tesla's major demographic anyways!)
- AndrewKemendo 7y agoAlso a truck guy here, and totally concur. I reserved mine within 30 seconds of seeing the site.
- cache_miss 7y agoFor the one lap until it overheats, or until this pig needs to hit an apex.
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]
- ttcbj 7y agoI am not sure if this will become a status symbol, but I 100% agree that that is the market it is going for. I know three people who own a pickup (one in commercial construction, one who is a big animal vet, and one who has a horse farm). This does not appear to be designed for those people at all. However, I think it could appeal to the same people who wanted a hummer. Driving it is just overtly confrontational. It will be fascinating to see whether there is a market for exactly this though, because Tesla is supposed to be environmentally friendly, and the people who bought hummers clearly didn't care about that (at the time, at least).
- 013a 7y agoIts going to sell well, like every Tesla. I suspect that it won't sell well to people who buy trucks for their actual utility, but you're right that this thing will totally be a status symbol; just not among people who would utilize its capabilities. Just look at the success of the G-Wagon among white LA uurbanite-types. No one cares about the utility. It just looks weird and gives off this vibe of "I work! Trust me! Look at my utilitarian car!" That's who this will sell to, and it will sell well.
- randcraw 7y agoThe G-Wagon is a very high end luxury SUV with a huge profit margin. As such, MB can afford to sell only a handful. But at the advertised price, the Cybertruck offers no such margin. It'll surely will be a money-loser for Tesla which they'll have to sell like F150s for a decade just to break even. The Cybertruck isn't about profit. It's about making Tesla's name synonymous with shock and awe.
- davexunit 7y agoIs this satire or are rich car people really this insufferable? This may be the best/worst comment I've ever seen here. The level of status projecting and suburban truck guy cringe is through the roof.
- oh_hello 7y agoI agree and think this could possibly replace many SUVs in suburban areas. 6 person seating is another great selling point for many, just look at all of the third row vehicles like the Honda Pilot. The base price of the Cybertruck is similar to a Pilot. Which would you rather drive?