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It's still sheet metal, it's going to crumple in a collision with another vehicle. The only thing they demonstrated is that it doesn't dent easily when hit by

It's still sheet metal, it's going to crumple in a collision with another vehicle. The only thing they demonstrated is that it doesn't dent easily when hit by a sledge hammer swung horizontally.

jolmg 7y ago
The way they presented it as an exoskeleton design though, implies that the it's much tougher on the outside than other vehicles.
- newnewpdro 7y ago
  It's bad news for pedestrians, but I expect it to fare very well in crash tests. Side-impact tests in particular will benefit from the stronger door skin. There's not much space for crumpling in that direction, and your average mild-steel door doesn't do particularly well. They generally throw reinforcement beams inside the door in an effort to help. It will be interesting to see how this plays out since the Cybertruck is combining unibody+skateboard+pickup+stainless steel. The frunk is a huge crumple zone with no ICE and transmission to get in the way. I don't see the stainless steel "exoskeleton" preventing the frunk from crumpling in a real crash. It might prevent getting dents from stupid people in parking lots and utility work though. The partial overlap frontal collision has been an especially bad one for pickups historically IIRC. This vehicle might completely change that. Would love to hear from anyone more knowledgeable in this field. https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/cars/2019/03/21/iihs-gm-toyota-pickup-truck-safety/3221070002/ https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/cars/2019/03/21/iihs-gm...
- notatoad 7y ago
  Most vehicles are "exoskeleton" design, normally called "body on frame". It's really just pickup trucks that are stuck on the old chassis design. The cybertruck isn't really any more innovative than the Honda Ridgeline in this regard.
  - inferiorhuman 7y ago
    Most vehicles are "exoskeleton" design, normally called "body on frame". It's really just pickup trucks that are stuck on the old chassis design. Trucks and old cars are body on frame, modern cars and some small trucks (e.g. Ridgeline, Baja, Brat, El Camino, Ranchero, most utes) are unibody. Some like the original Jeep Cherokee are hybrids.
  - refurb 7y ago
    The word your looking for is unibody. That’s where there is no formal frame, the structure of the car is the frame. That’s in contrast to trucks and old cars where there is a frame and the interior of the vehicle is separate.

It's still sheet metal, it's going to crumple in a collision with another vehicle. The only thing they demonstrated is that it doesn't dent easily when hit by a sledge hammer swung horizontally.

jolmg 7y ago

The way they presented it as an exoskeleton design though, implies that the it's much tougher on the outside than other vehicles.

newnewpdro 7y ago
It's bad news for pedestrians, but I expect it to fare very well in crash tests. Side-impact tests in particular will benefit from the stronger door skin. There's not much space for crumpling in that direction, and your average mild-steel door doesn't do particularly well. They generally throw reinforcement beams inside the door in an effort to help. It will be interesting to see how this plays out since the Cybertruck is combining unibody+skateboard+pickup+stainless steel. The frunk is a huge crumple zone with no ICE and transmission to get in the way. I don't see the stainless steel "exoskeleton" preventing the frunk from crumpling in a real crash. It might prevent getting dents from stupid people in parking lots and utility work though. The partial overlap frontal collision has been an especially bad one for pickups historically IIRC. This vehicle might completely change that. Would love to hear from anyone more knowledgeable in this field. https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/cars/2019/03/21/iihs-gm-toyota-pickup-truck-safety/3221070002/ https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/cars/2019/03/21/iihs-gm...
notatoad 7y ago
Most vehicles are "exoskeleton" design, normally called "body on frame". It's really just pickup trucks that are stuck on the old chassis design. The cybertruck isn't really any more innovative than the Honda Ridgeline in this regard.
- inferiorhuman 7y ago
  Most vehicles are "exoskeleton" design, normally called "body on frame". It's really just pickup trucks that are stuck on the old chassis design. Trucks and old cars are body on frame, modern cars and some small trucks (e.g. Ridgeline, Baja, Brat, El Camino, Ranchero, most utes) are unibody. Some like the original Jeep Cherokee are hybrids.
- refurb 7y ago
  The word your looking for is unibody. That’s where there is no formal frame, the structure of the car is the frame. That’s in contrast to trucks and old cars where there is a frame and the interior of the vehicle is separate.