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>the fact that they look like normal cars This was my first thought during the Cybertruck unveil. It no longer looks like a normal truck. Rivian was far out or

>the fact that they look like normal cars This was my first thought during the Cybertruck unveil. It no longer looks like a normal truck. Rivian was far out originally, but this blew it out the park. So the question is really, would people want an electric pickup truck that looks like nothing before it? I'm leaning towards yes, but we have to wait for the market to make its choice to find out for sure.

sunstone 7y ago
I don't love the look of the Cybertruck but what I do love is the value per dollar and the larger than expected cab space.
philwelch 7y ago
Cybertruck is going to be an Edsel-type blunder if they keep pursuing it. It’s obvious that Elon is a car guy because the Tesla cars all look slick and sporty but he’s obviously not a truck guy and I think he’s utterly misunderstood the market with Cybertruck.
- nickik 7y ago
  Based on what? Its cheap, can pull lots of stuff fast, you can plug in power tools and it has lots of storage area.
  - philwelch 7y ago
    It looks stupid, the trapezoidal side walls around the truck bed actually make it much less usable, and it looks stupid. The whole problem with eg the BMW i-Series or most other electric cars is that they are designed in a silly way that says, “look at me, I’m a weird electric car, I’m not a normal car at all, I’m willing to look like a total dork in order to virtue-signal about being eco-friendly”. Teslas just look like sports cars—except the Cybertruck’s styling is 100% “dorky virtue signal about having a weird special truck”, and truck people are even less likely than car people to put up with that.
    - ryandrake 7y ago
      Wel, that’s just like... your opinion, man. Seriously, the world has enough identical-looking sedans and identical-looking trucks. I can’t tell most major brands apart anymore until I see them up close.
      - philwelch 7y ago
        Let me guess, you used to drive a PT Cruiser :)
    - nickik 7y ago
      Because you have active suspension you the bed can actually be lower then most trucks. Also overall usability seems like its clearly better on this truck compared to the competition you basically point out one single thing and ignore everything that goes the other direction. And I think it looks cool, so that literally purely your opinion. The design of the truck allows it to be produced for 40k and still have quite a bit of range. Those performance and price measures matter. Had they copied an F150 it would cost at least 50k and would not have as much range. Tesla had to make conservative cars to establish themselves, but a revolutionary brands will not always just copy the competition, specially when trucks are on of the most uninspired markets where literally every vehicle is a copy of the other.
      - philwelch 7y ago
        Do you own a truck? What do you use it for and how would the Cybertruck provide an improvement? I wouldn't characterize Tesla's other cars as "conservative" in the slightest. "Conservative" makes me think of Volvo or Lexus. The Model S is absolutely gorgeous and if any car aficionado saw it, he would say, "that is an absolutely gorgeous car". It literally looks like a better Lamborghini, Ferrari, or Porsche. The Cybertruck provokes reactions somewhere on a spectrum between "what the fuck is that?" and "hmm, that's interesting". Which is roughly the same design space that the Pontiac Aztek, Chrysler PT Cruiser, and BMW i-Series inhabit. It's not fertile ground.
      - philwelch 7y ago
taneq 7y ago
It looks as much like a conventional truck as the Hummer did, and that was arguably a great success. I think the primary market, at least at first, is going to be guys who want a big flashy truck to be noticed in. I mean, look how much attention Elon gets in it everywhere he goes.

sunstone 7y ago

I don't love the look of the Cybertruck but what I do love is the value per dollar and the larger than expected cab space.

philwelch 7y ago

Cybertruck is going to be an Edsel-type blunder if they keep pursuing it. It’s obvious that Elon is a car guy because the Tesla cars all look slick and sporty but he’s obviously not a truck guy and I think he’s utterly misunderstood the market with Cybertruck.

nickik 7y ago
Based on what? Its cheap, can pull lots of stuff fast, you can plug in power tools and it has lots of storage area.
- philwelch 7y ago
  It looks stupid, the trapezoidal side walls around the truck bed actually make it much less usable, and it looks stupid. The whole problem with eg the BMW i-Series or most other electric cars is that they are designed in a silly way that says, “look at me, I’m a weird electric car, I’m not a normal car at all, I’m willing to look like a total dork in order to virtue-signal about being eco-friendly”. Teslas just look like sports cars—except the Cybertruck’s styling is 100% “dorky virtue signal about having a weird special truck”, and truck people are even less likely than car people to put up with that.
  - ryandrake 7y ago
    Wel, that’s just like... your opinion, man. Seriously, the world has enough identical-looking sedans and identical-looking trucks. I can’t tell most major brands apart anymore until I see them up close.
    - philwelch 7y ago
      Let me guess, you used to drive a PT Cruiser :)
  - nickik 7y ago
    Because you have active suspension you the bed can actually be lower then most trucks. Also overall usability seems like its clearly better on this truck compared to the competition you basically point out one single thing and ignore everything that goes the other direction. And I think it looks cool, so that literally purely your opinion. The design of the truck allows it to be produced for 40k and still have quite a bit of range. Those performance and price measures matter. Had they copied an F150 it would cost at least 50k and would not have as much range. Tesla had to make conservative cars to establish themselves, but a revolutionary brands will not always just copy the competition, specially when trucks are on of the most uninspired markets where literally every vehicle is a copy of the other.
    - philwelch 7y ago
      Do you own a truck? What do you use it for and how would the Cybertruck provide an improvement? I wouldn't characterize Tesla's other cars as "conservative" in the slightest. "Conservative" makes me think of Volvo or Lexus. The Model S is absolutely gorgeous and if any car aficionado saw it, he would say, "that is an absolutely gorgeous car". It literally looks like a better Lamborghini, Ferrari, or Porsche. The Cybertruck provokes reactions somewhere on a spectrum between "what the fuck is that?" and "hmm, that's interesting". Which is roughly the same design space that the Pontiac Aztek, Chrysler PT Cruiser, and BMW i-Series inhabit. It's not fertile ground.
    - philwelch 7y ago

taneq 7y ago

It looks as much like a conventional truck as the Hummer did, and that was arguably a great success. I think the primary market, at least at first, is going to be guys who want a big flashy truck to be noticed in. I mean, look how much attention Elon gets in it everywhere he goes.