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Ford CEO: Tesla's Cybertruck Is Only for 'Silicon Valley People'
- EA-3167 3y agoI always assumed Tesla was aiming less at people who use a truck for work, and more at people who use a truck as a sort of status symbol.
- alemanek 3y agoWhich to be fair is the majority of the current US pickup truck market.
- chikitabanana 3y agoAnd the majority of the new car market (including electrics!)
- timeagain 3y agoYes modern pickup trucks are not useful for most work, or would be more useful in other forms. I note near me that most landscapers use older smaller Toyota trucks which are easier to reach into the bed without getting in it. Most work vehicles printed with a logo are vans, which don’t expose their cargo to the elements (or theft). These trucks do have utility for hauling trailers, but as far as I am concerned most modern pick-up trucks are emotional support vehicles.
- boc 3y agoBeat-up Toyota T100s are still the landscaper vehicle of choice out west. Large trucks that are taller can still be useful for tossing bikes and recreational toys in the back, but they are a pain for loading/unloading unless you're a very tall person. Oddly enough I did a ton of home renovation with my first-gen Honda Pilot because you could easily slide a 4x8ft piece of plywood/drywall into the back and close the tailgate. Perfect height for unloading and comes with a built-in cover for rainy trips. That said, having a truck bed with a liner is really handy for muddy/dirty tools, gravel, organic matter, chemicals, and other stuff that you don't want smelling up your car. I definitely didn't toss that stuff into the back of the Pilot.
- rootusrootus 3y agoI just don't understand why these people don't get it, and why they insist on buying the vehicle that is least well suited for their business. /s
- taway1874 3y ago"... most modern pick-up trucks are emotional support vehicles" Nicely summarized!
- brucethemoose2 3y agoWell, speaking as a Texan, that is most truck owners. But I dont think most F150 buyers would be caught dead in a cybertruck.
- bigmattystyles 3y agoWhat about the electric flavor of the F150? Is that acceptable for Texans? I don't mean any snark, I am legitimately curious as to how it's seen / been received?
- tapoxi 3y agoNot in Texas but among my more conservative family members the ability of it to act as a backup battery during power outages makes up for the fact that it's electric. That's a huge deal. They're usually living in a more rural place where winter storms can knock out electricity for days.
- dubcee349 3y agoLike all off texas with its shitty power grid?
- brucethemoose2 3y agoTBH I have not seen electric F150s around DFW or southern Florida, though I have seen more than one Rivian. A certain demographic would never buy an electric F150 over a manly, lifted, smoke belching ICE truck. They would aggressively cut off an electric F150 if they saw one. But most truck drivers I see are not like that... They're just nice people who like a nice truck. Maybe it will take some time to catch on, but I don't think theres an electric truck stigma among AHEM sane drivers. EDIT: And to be clear, the Cybertruck is unbuyable because its an exotic, expensive, outrageous rolling spaceship, not because its electric.
- rootusrootus 3y agoThe CT is definitely a lifestyle truck. But it's damn near the size of a superduty, which is kind of big for a lifestyle truck. Not that there aren't a good number of people using superduties for that, but still.
- coldtea 3y agoWell, he is not wrong
- taway1874 3y agoAbout what? Real work or real people or both?
- coldtea 3y agoBoth. Translated from casual talk he means "The Cybertruck is, marketing, pricing, and capabilities wise, for rich nerds in more urban settings to show off in. Regular Joes in the country needing a truck for real rural work will still buy a regular truck". So, it should go without saying, but real work in this context means "actual work that needs a truck as opposed to mere fancy-car-collecting/showing", and real people means "regular folks needing a truck, not some small minority fancying a sci-fi car based on its style and gadgetry".
- binarymax 3y ago"I don't make trucks like that," Farley said. "I make trucks for real people who do real work, and that's a different kind of truck." You also make trucks that regular people don't need but buy anyway, and make our streets less safe. We need some regulation to only allow vehicles over a certain size to be commercial only.
- wilg 3y agoWhy not regulate safety instead of size?
- binarymax 3y agoDimensions are easier to quantify than safety.
- bioemerl 3y agoThe two are roughly the same. A big truck is more deadly to smaller vehicles and we shouldn't make it unsafe to drive a regular sized car instead of one of these monstrously large trucks. You could regulate things like requiring stop gates on trucks like semi trucks have though, which would at least help.
- wilg 3y agoI just really want to see a detailed study or article that really focuses on the details of pickup safety versus other cars, with empirical data about the different factors, how and why they differ, and ways of mitigating them. Seems like an important input for regulators. There's a lot of anti-car handwaving in discussions like this that would be good to cut through (for everybody involved).
- mattnewton 3y agoThis would leave the main problems of lower visibility and the higher mass creating a higher more dangerous impact for other cars and pedestrians.
- alistairSH 3y ago
- wilg 3y agoI feel like it's "just crazy enough to work" as a product.
- useracquisition 3y agoFamous last words
- ilyt 3y agoCybertruck is so far first announced and last (still not) delivered pickup truck...
- mensetmanusman 3y agoMaybe he means that the windows are much harder to break in to for silicon valley security.
- CoolGuySteve 3y agoYeah people who do real work need a 6000 pound vehicle with terrible sight lines that can 0-60 in 3.8 seconds. You know, just in case your work involves obliterating someone in a parking lot with an amount of force that should probably be illegal.
- discodave 3y agoThe other difference between Cybertruck and Ford trucks is that Ford has actually sold trucks to customers.
- PedroBatista 3y agoMaybe even for a certain type of LA people rather than most 'Silicon Valley People'. That truck is the product of an all time Elon frenzy, didn't he announced the sports car too? and people pre ordered it. Where is it? and more recently the humanoid robot. How about the " full 100% legit self driving Teslas in an year or two"? As long as those Model3 continue to get sold, Elon can continue to get away with this stuff. At least the truck seems to be a reality.
- toss1 3y ago>>At least the truck seems to be a reality. It seems that "seems" is doing a lot of heavy lifting in this post — the Cybrtruck is years late, still has problems, and as pointed out, a limited market. They may lose a huge amount of money if they build a production line and sales never take off. I wouldn't put it past Musk to make an "Aura Product" that is vaporware just as a marketing ploy...
- PedroBatista 3y agoIt's late, but there are a few test mules going around so "it's a reality". IMO it would be best to NOT be a reality because it's really a dumb fashion statement and marketing move. But I'm not the target customer and I have little problem with these dumb things as long as Tesla and Elon remain honest and deliver what they told people would get, which.. has not been happening much.
- toss1 3y agoDo we define "product is reality" as [prototypes and test mules exist] or [commercial availability]? For this context, I'm kind of in the latter camp, considering prototypes to be roughly equal to vaporware, in development, but...?.
- nebula8804 3y agowe are starting to see videos of this cybertruck driving around. On first impression it looks kinda like a Honda Ridgeline, hopefully it isn't as lame in real life. That giant single windshield wiper is nifty though.
- rootusrootus 3y agoIt's maybe half again the size of a Ridgeline, though.
- nebula8804 3y agoIf thats the case, its going to look bad parked next to the incumbent trucks. The newest ones seem pretty huge from observing in real life (although I haven't measured tbh). I just hope the truck is actually strong and robust because people like this guy are going to test it and if its not strong then I just know the Tesla fanboys will go to war [1]:https://youtu.be/D-CVbAfJP-Y?t=278 https://youtu.be/D-CVbAfJP-Y?t=278 The gold standard of trucks the tesla will probably be compared to: [2]:https://youtu.be/Yl1FNX08HFc?t=414 https://youtu.be/Yl1FNX08HFc?t=414
- dontupvoteme 3y agoI can't get over the fact this is Chris Farley's cousin. I don't live anywhere near the west coast, but do people there even like it these days? I feel like a lot of "Silicon Valley" folks have soured heavily on him, and for the most part rightfully so.
- srameshc 3y agoI am afraid Tesla is eventually going to win and will see cyber trucks like now Broncos are on the streets. Some of my Tesla loving friends are not the kind who need or buy a truck but are looking forward to it and feel that could fit their lifestyle.
- rsweeney21 3y agoI was working at Microsoft when Steve Ballmer said "No one is going to spend $500 on a phone" in response the iPhone. It's okay to own a truck even if you don't work on a farm. I own an f150 because it has way more legroom in the back than any SUV, it can haul my mountain bikes, and it's easy to haul stuff I buy from costco and home depot. Most of the time the back is empty. I don't think it makes me a horrible person. The Cybertruck would do all of that just as well.
- nonethewiser 3y agoTrucks are great. Unparalleled utility when you need it and comfortable to drive. Comes in handy often as a homeowner. Its not surprising people in a dense city wouldn’t want one but obviously they have lots of utility.
- rasz 3y agoYou used word 'haul' in context of transporting ~10-20kg, twice.
- peteradio 3y agoFinancing is what enabled the smartphone. What percent paid upfront pricing?
- ilyt 3y ago> I make trucks for real people who do real work I wonder how much % of F-150 does "real work" and which are just "a big grocery getter that transports a couch once every 2 years".
- HEmanZ 3y agoHere in Texas, it’s a hard working truck if it ever even transported a couch.
- taway1874 3y agoIn the market for a 3 row full-size SUV and Ford Expedition was on top of my list. But I guess as a software developer my work is not "real work" and I am not "real people" (whatever the fuck that means)? Shrug! Ford's off my list then.
- ImPostingOnHN 3y agoneither of those are trucks
- codevark 3y ago[dead]
- pengaru 3y ago> "I make trucks for real people who do real work, and that's a different kind of truck." I think he's right here just for the Cybertruck having sloped bed-rails. That alone makes it pretty useless in most "work truck" roles.
- fourmajor 3y agoI don't doubt that some "real people who do real work" will be turned off by the appearance of the Cybertruck. However I am confident it will have the best specs for the price of any EV truck and so some "real people who do real work" will buy the Cybertruck as the best choice.