5 ms·

A Cultural Critique of the Tesla Cybertruck

49 points by MBCook 3y ago

dieselgate 3y ago
I thought this article had a pleasant historical summary of car related culture in the US but thought the parts about the Cybertruck fell kind of flat.
- troelsSteegin 3y ago
  To my read, the author sets up owning a Cybertruck up as the vehicular equivalent of owning an assault weapon: "A bulletproof three-and-a-half ton stainless-steel truck equipped with “Bioweapon Defense Mode” designed to slam through other cars is the perfect vehicle for a society where over a third of people are scared to walk around at night." Hard to support that without hearing from buyers, but I thought that was rather pointy.
  - threeseed 3y ago
    That statement is entirely factual though. Musk has continually promoted the car as being bulletproof. And we know from regulators and crash tests that it's going to be a nightmare for pedestrians. To the level where in many countries it is likely to not be street-legal. Factor in the sports-car level acceleration and it is going to be an unprecedentedly dangerous car.
    - huijzer 3y ago
      If I have to choose between a "comfortable" car to be hit by without active safety features and an uncomfortable car that has active safety features, then I rather choose the latter. In other words, rather a car that is driven by a human and might break from itself than a "comfortable" car driven by only a human.
      - verve_rat 3y ago
        That's a total false dichotomy though. No new consumer vehicles in that price range lack active safety features like automatic breaking. The cybertruck is just unnecessary in its disregard for other people.
    - maxerickson 3y ago
      Didn't they roll down the windows when they shot it? Pretty sure the standard windows aren't bulletproof (and therefore the vehicles with the standard windows aren't bulletproof either). So in the end it's mostly just for show.
    - pa7ch 3y ago
      We don't know that. I think its likely safer to pedestrians then an F150 because the hood is significantly lower. The steel ia irrelevant, trucks don't crumple already for pedestrians, they crumple for other cars.
    - bsder 3y ago
      > Musk has continually promoted the car as being bulletproof. South African aparteid mafia understands what the up-and-coming dictator aspires to.
  - pvg 3y ago
    There are lower-hanging, pointier fruit to be plucked there but the author didn’t pick them https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leopard_security_vehicle https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leopard_security_vehicle https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casspir#/media/File:Caspir1.jpg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casspir#/media/File:Caspir1.jp...
- Avshalom 3y ago
  It felt like all lead-in no body.
bbor 3y ago
Great article, all very true. Just look at the patent absurdity of modern American pickup trucks. What this article was missing (for good reason) is tying this to politics more directly; IMO “I want a car that will ‘win’ if I get in an accident” is based in the same toxic intuitions as “America First”
- FirmwareBurner 3y ago
  >“I want a car that will ‘win’ if I get in an accident” That's not at all an American exclusive. I live in Europe and everyone parrots the same line when they justify why they're getting a SUV even though they live in the city and never go off-roading. A work colleagues who just got a baby recently told me he had to get a SUV even though he wanted a sedan because his wife pushed for the SUV with the same argument: "I feel safer in one." What's a guy to do? Do you want to risk for your wife and child to "feel unsafe" because you're too cheap to buy your family a SUV? Same with my cousin, she just got a baby and pushed her husband to get a SUV for the same reason, so I'm definitely seeing a pattern in my circles as well as on the streets. The estate/station wagon and the mini-van were the traditional vehicle of the family here but now SUVs and the jacked up cross-over abominations are flying off the shelves here. Just look at Volvo's UK line-up[1], it's 8 SUVs and 1 crossover. WTF?! Justified or not, consumers are noticing this arms race, and manufacturers are more than happy to market and sell you bigger and taller cars for you to "feel safer" in, if you've got the cash. [1] https://www.volvocars.com/uk/ https://www.volvocars.com/uk/
  - 01100011 3y ago
    IME it is often the female pushing for the bigger vehicle. My ex-wife kept pushing to upgrade our Subaru Outback to something bigger and we only had 2 dogs and no kids in the suburbs. Similarly, my wife hated my Chevy Bolt because of its size. I think folks stereotype big vehicle purchasers as males looking to compensate for feelings of inferiority, but from what I've seen(beyond just the examples given) is that this isn't really true. I'm sure it sounds good to folks looking to denigrate people with vehicles that are deemed excessive but is trite and silly.
george-in-sd 3y ago
Note they have no cultural problems with a $150k gas guzzling SUV: https://www.roadandtrack.com/reviews/a44600208/2023-cadillac-escalade-v-series-test-drive/ https://www.roadandtrack.com/reviews/a44600208/2023-cadillac... Follow the money here folks.
- Avshalom 3y ago
  Aside from that being a complete different byline: Tesla is worth more than GM and Musk is one of the wealthiest people on the planet. he is "the money"
  - efnx 3y ago
    Different money though.
  - mrtksn 3y ago
    It's a fascinating phenomenon, the "People's billionaire" thing. Reminds of the movie "Don't look up" where they phrase it as "The working class, the cool rich and them".
    - HPsquared 3y ago
      It's the classic "high-and-low vs middle" dynamic.
Barrin92 3y ago
All the correct criticism about what the car represents culturally aside, the article also hints at what is for me the biggest aesthetic issue: "He [Musk] has called the Cybertruck “what Bladerunner would have driven” The car reminds me of what Mark Fisher called the "spectre of a lost future". Instead of imagining genuine futures the most "sci-fi" car imaginable is something that looks like it could come out of a 40 year old movie set. It's the same kind of design sentiment you see with skyscrapers in the Emirates were you can almost guess they were demanded by people who grew up on 80s science fiction with a 30 year delay.
- Avshalom 3y ago
  Yeah, it's extremely galling to see lines like "the future looks like the future" or "it looks like it was designed by aliens from the future" in reference to a car that is constantly being compared (by the same guy) to 30-50 year design languages. (I also want to emphasize that the car everyone remembers from bladerunner is the police spinner, which looks absolutely nothing like a swollen Lotus Esprit)
chasd00 3y ago
The ironic thing about the cybertruck being some prepper vehicle for the apocalypse is when the lights got out so does the cybertruck.
- PartiallyTyped 3y ago
  During apocalypse, you’d be able to recharge a cybertruck through solar panels.. Batteries are also a thing.. I am not sure you’d be able to find working refineries, gasoline that hasn’t evaporated, or oil…
  - ceejayoz 3y ago
    During an apocalypse, neither type of vehicle is likely to be particularly useful versus a horse or donkey. Fuel everywhere, making new ones is easy, and a bonus emergency food source.
    - PartiallyTyped 3y ago
      I concur, I am just saying in the context of the original comment, an EV is likely a better vehicle than an oil-chugging ice vehicle.
      - ceejayoz 3y ago
        Maybe, I'm just saying that's a "what's the tastiest poop?" sort of question.
        PartiallyTyped 3y ago
        I ... don't disagree.. Thanks for the laugh :)
    - satvikpendem 3y ago
      And where, pray tell, will you be procuring a horse or donkey suddenly once the apocalypse arrives? It seems like the best vehicle is actually a bicycle, or perhaps simply walking.
rsingel 3y ago
We had a test run for the apocalypse in 2020, and the vehicle of choice was a bike. The cybertruck isn't built for the apocalypse, it's built for the I got mine class. SUVs are mobile gated subdivisions. The cybertruck is a mobile safe room.
- bafe 3y ago
  Indeed if you want to be mobile during an hypothetical societal collapse/apocalypse, few vehicles would beat a (mountain) bike, possibly a slightly older model that uses common parts and doesn't require exotic tools for repairs.
  - AndrewKemendo 3y ago
    Toyota Hilux has been the truck of choice for the Taliban since the 80s. So that’s what I drive (or close - 2001 Tundra)
    - aifooh7Keew6xoo 3y ago
      I'm not a big fan of the fire resistance of newer Toyotas. They spontaneously combust frequently enough to merit multiple recalls and there have been a number of unexplained fires reported in the news and on forums outside the recall model years. In most cases the source of ignition has been treated as the defect for the recalls, but I'm of the opinion that the design of the undercarriage of many of the newer Toyota trucks is simply a fire hazard waiting for an excuse to become an insurance claim. It's essentially a forced draft chimney with a plastic gas tank at the end practically sitting on the exhaust, without heat shielding, inches from the suspension (confirmed cause of fire recall #1) and bearing the weight of the plastic bed (confirmed cause of fire recall #2). Oh, right, and I almost forgot the bed! The bed sitting over the barely shielded exhaust and unshielded plastic gas tank is also plastic in most of the newer ones too... yep, they're pretty flammable.
wrycoder 3y ago
This article has a very narrow view of the Cybertruck phenomenon, as seen through a prism of lefty emotionalism. It is more a view of the general sociological scene of the early 21st century United States, than about its motor vehicle component. The author wanted to be a cultural critic, but is writing for Road and Track as a fallback. In addition, she left rural Idaho and moved to Seattle, which is telling. "Musk’s bulletproof wedge-shaped machine is the physical manifestation of America’s fear, and whether it is good or bad, we deserve it. "
mrtksn 3y ago
It's not just the first not-ugly Tesla, but it is culturally appropriate product. I don't know if it will be a successful product but this thing will be in museums. You know the Apple's famous ad: "Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do." Musk fits that perfectly. With all his faults, he has some answers(some good, some not so) but more importantly he has risen some questions and this particular vehicle is a question on design. The world is changing, mostly for the worse and its time to ask questions so we can have answer on how to have a new normal that is better than the one before everything started crumbling.
- noitpmeder 3y ago
  Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I'd say the Tesla Roadster is pretty not-ugly to me! I don't think the cybertruck is "pushing the human race forward" in any capacity. It's a unique looking truck, big whoop. The only museum it'll be in is Elon's mausoleum.
  - mrtksn 3y ago
    > I don't think the cybertruck is "pushing the human race forward" in any capacity I suspect, It can have the iPhone effect on the car design the upcoming years. When it's radical enough, the boilerplate doesn't work and makes you ask the fundamental questions that boilerplate was keeping you from asking because it was good enough. The answer might not necessarily be "Cybertruck", it can even be public transport but just the fact that it strays far away from the current state is enough to push humanity forward.
- bovermyer 3y ago
  Why did you ignore the article?
anonymousiam 3y ago
Ordered a tri-motor on announce day (over four years ago now). I was not interested in a race car, or a bulletproof car, or a car that looked weird. I was interested in the 500 mile range, which Tesla has failed to make good on. Musk was marketing the car as a toy (which it is), but I saw some practical advantage, such as obviating the need for a powerwall for my solar plant, and being able to make a regular commute of mine without stopping for a charge. I don't know why the other 1.9 million people ordered one, but probably at least some of them will be cancelling like me because of Tesla's failure to meet the promised range specification.
AdrianB1 3y ago
I don't see the article as written in good faith. There is a tiny bit of justified criticism, but the rest is just stereotypes and politics. Cybertruck is extremely heavy and therefore inefficient. It has a boxy look that may be esthetically unpleasing for many people. But having a HEPA filter is not something to make fun of, driving in polluted cities or behind an old smoky car is nothing to make fun of. The rest of the article is worse.

49 points by MBCook 3y ago

I thought this article had a pleasant historical summary of car related culture in the US but thought the parts about the Cybertruck fell kind of flat.

troelsSteegin 3y ago
To my read, the author sets up owning a Cybertruck up as the vehicular equivalent of owning an assault weapon: "A bulletproof three-and-a-half ton stainless-steel truck equipped with “Bioweapon Defense Mode” designed to slam through other cars is the perfect vehicle for a society where over a third of people are scared to walk around at night." Hard to support that without hearing from buyers, but I thought that was rather pointy.
- threeseed 3y ago
  That statement is entirely factual though. Musk has continually promoted the car as being bulletproof. And we know from regulators and crash tests that it's going to be a nightmare for pedestrians. To the level where in many countries it is likely to not be street-legal. Factor in the sports-car level acceleration and it is going to be an unprecedentedly dangerous car.
  - huijzer 3y ago
    If I have to choose between a "comfortable" car to be hit by without active safety features and an uncomfortable car that has active safety features, then I rather choose the latter. In other words, rather a car that is driven by a human and might break from itself than a "comfortable" car driven by only a human.
    - verve_rat 3y ago
      That's a total false dichotomy though. No new consumer vehicles in that price range lack active safety features like automatic breaking. The cybertruck is just unnecessary in its disregard for other people.
  - maxerickson 3y ago
    Didn't they roll down the windows when they shot it? Pretty sure the standard windows aren't bulletproof (and therefore the vehicles with the standard windows aren't bulletproof either). So in the end it's mostly just for show.
  - pa7ch 3y ago
    We don't know that. I think its likely safer to pedestrians then an F150 because the hood is significantly lower. The steel ia irrelevant, trucks don't crumple already for pedestrians, they crumple for other cars.
  - bsder 3y ago
    > Musk has continually promoted the car as being bulletproof. South African aparteid mafia understands what the up-and-coming dictator aspires to.
- pvg 3y ago
  There are lower-hanging, pointier fruit to be plucked there but the author didn’t pick them https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leopard_security_vehicle https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leopard_security_vehicle https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casspir#/media/File:Caspir1.jpg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casspir#/media/File:Caspir1.jp...
Avshalom 3y ago
It felt like all lead-in no body.

bbor 3y ago

Great article, all very true. Just look at the patent absurdity of modern American pickup trucks. What this article was missing (for good reason) is tying this to politics more directly; IMO “I want a car that will ‘win’ if I get in an accident” is based in the same toxic intuitions as “America First”

FirmwareBurner 3y ago
>“I want a car that will ‘win’ if I get in an accident” That's not at all an American exclusive. I live in Europe and everyone parrots the same line when they justify why they're getting a SUV even though they live in the city and never go off-roading. A work colleagues who just got a baby recently told me he had to get a SUV even though he wanted a sedan because his wife pushed for the SUV with the same argument: "I feel safer in one." What's a guy to do? Do you want to risk for your wife and child to "feel unsafe" because you're too cheap to buy your family a SUV? Same with my cousin, she just got a baby and pushed her husband to get a SUV for the same reason, so I'm definitely seeing a pattern in my circles as well as on the streets. The estate/station wagon and the mini-van were the traditional vehicle of the family here but now SUVs and the jacked up cross-over abominations are flying off the shelves here. Just look at Volvo's UK line-up[1], it's 8 SUVs and 1 crossover. WTF?! Justified or not, consumers are noticing this arms race, and manufacturers are more than happy to market and sell you bigger and taller cars for you to "feel safer" in, if you've got the cash. [1] https://www.volvocars.com/uk/ https://www.volvocars.com/uk/
- 01100011 3y ago
  IME it is often the female pushing for the bigger vehicle. My ex-wife kept pushing to upgrade our Subaru Outback to something bigger and we only had 2 dogs and no kids in the suburbs. Similarly, my wife hated my Chevy Bolt because of its size. I think folks stereotype big vehicle purchasers as males looking to compensate for feelings of inferiority, but from what I've seen(beyond just the examples given) is that this isn't really true. I'm sure it sounds good to folks looking to denigrate people with vehicles that are deemed excessive but is trite and silly.

george-in-sd 3y ago

Note they have no cultural problems with a $150k gas guzzling SUV: https://www.roadandtrack.com/reviews/a44600208/2023-cadillac-escalade-v-series-test-drive/ https://www.roadandtrack.com/reviews/a44600208/2023-cadillac... Follow the money here folks.

Avshalom 3y ago
Aside from that being a complete different byline: Tesla is worth more than GM and Musk is one of the wealthiest people on the planet. he is "the money"
- efnx 3y ago
  Different money though.
- mrtksn 3y ago
  It's a fascinating phenomenon, the "People's billionaire" thing. Reminds of the movie "Don't look up" where they phrase it as "The working class, the cool rich and them".
  - HPsquared 3y ago
    It's the classic "high-and-low vs middle" dynamic.

Barrin92 3y ago

All the correct criticism about what the car represents culturally aside, the article also hints at what is for me the biggest aesthetic issue: "He [Musk] has called the Cybertruck “what Bladerunner would have driven” The car reminds me of what Mark Fisher called the "spectre of a lost future". Instead of imagining genuine futures the most "sci-fi" car imaginable is something that looks like it could come out of a 40 year old movie set. It's the same kind of design sentiment you see with skyscrapers in the Emirates were you can almost guess they were demanded by people who grew up on 80s science fiction with a 30 year delay.

Avshalom 3y ago
Yeah, it's extremely galling to see lines like "the future looks like the future" or "it looks like it was designed by aliens from the future" in reference to a car that is constantly being compared (by the same guy) to 30-50 year design languages. (I also want to emphasize that the car everyone remembers from bladerunner is the police spinner, which looks absolutely nothing like a swollen Lotus Esprit)

chasd00 3y ago

The ironic thing about the cybertruck being some prepper vehicle for the apocalypse is when the lights got out so does the cybertruck.

PartiallyTyped 3y ago
During apocalypse, you’d be able to recharge a cybertruck through solar panels.. Batteries are also a thing.. I am not sure you’d be able to find working refineries, gasoline that hasn’t evaporated, or oil…
- ceejayoz 3y ago
  During an apocalypse, neither type of vehicle is likely to be particularly useful versus a horse or donkey. Fuel everywhere, making new ones is easy, and a bonus emergency food source.
  - PartiallyTyped 3y ago
    I concur, I am just saying in the context of the original comment, an EV is likely a better vehicle than an oil-chugging ice vehicle.
    - ceejayoz 3y ago
      Maybe, I'm just saying that's a "what's the tastiest poop?" sort of question.
      - PartiallyTyped 3y ago
        I ... don't disagree.. Thanks for the laugh :)
  - satvikpendem 3y ago
    And where, pray tell, will you be procuring a horse or donkey suddenly once the apocalypse arrives? It seems like the best vehicle is actually a bicycle, or perhaps simply walking.

rsingel 3y ago

We had a test run for the apocalypse in 2020, and the vehicle of choice was a bike. The cybertruck isn't built for the apocalypse, it's built for the I got mine class. SUVs are mobile gated subdivisions. The cybertruck is a mobile safe room.

bafe 3y ago
Indeed if you want to be mobile during an hypothetical societal collapse/apocalypse, few vehicles would beat a (mountain) bike, possibly a slightly older model that uses common parts and doesn't require exotic tools for repairs.
- AndrewKemendo 3y ago
  Toyota Hilux has been the truck of choice for the Taliban since the 80s. So that’s what I drive (or close - 2001 Tundra)
  - aifooh7Keew6xoo 3y ago
    I'm not a big fan of the fire resistance of newer Toyotas. They spontaneously combust frequently enough to merit multiple recalls and there have been a number of unexplained fires reported in the news and on forums outside the recall model years. In most cases the source of ignition has been treated as the defect for the recalls, but I'm of the opinion that the design of the undercarriage of many of the newer Toyota trucks is simply a fire hazard waiting for an excuse to become an insurance claim. It's essentially a forced draft chimney with a plastic gas tank at the end practically sitting on the exhaust, without heat shielding, inches from the suspension (confirmed cause of fire recall #1) and bearing the weight of the plastic bed (confirmed cause of fire recall #2). Oh, right, and I almost forgot the bed! The bed sitting over the barely shielded exhaust and unshielded plastic gas tank is also plastic in most of the newer ones too... yep, they're pretty flammable.

wrycoder 3y ago

This article has a very narrow view of the Cybertruck phenomenon, as seen through a prism of lefty emotionalism. It is more a view of the general sociological scene of the early 21st century United States, than about its motor vehicle component. The author wanted to be a cultural critic, but is writing for Road and Track as a fallback. In addition, she left rural Idaho and moved to Seattle, which is telling. "Musk’s bulletproof wedge-shaped machine is the physical manifestation of America’s fear, and whether it is good or bad, we deserve it. "

mrtksn 3y ago

It's not just the first not-ugly Tesla, but it is culturally appropriate product. I don't know if it will be a successful product but this thing will be in museums. You know the Apple's famous ad: "Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do." Musk fits that perfectly. With all his faults, he has some answers(some good, some not so) but more importantly he has risen some questions and this particular vehicle is a question on design. The world is changing, mostly for the worse and its time to ask questions so we can have answer on how to have a new normal that is better than the one before everything started crumbling.

noitpmeder 3y ago
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I'd say the Tesla Roadster is pretty not-ugly to me! I don't think the cybertruck is "pushing the human race forward" in any capacity. It's a unique looking truck, big whoop. The only museum it'll be in is Elon's mausoleum.
- mrtksn 3y ago
  > I don't think the cybertruck is "pushing the human race forward" in any capacity I suspect, It can have the iPhone effect on the car design the upcoming years. When it's radical enough, the boilerplate doesn't work and makes you ask the fundamental questions that boilerplate was keeping you from asking because it was good enough. The answer might not necessarily be "Cybertruck", it can even be public transport but just the fact that it strays far away from the current state is enough to push humanity forward.
bovermyer 3y ago
Why did you ignore the article?

anonymousiam 3y ago

Ordered a tri-motor on announce day (over four years ago now). I was not interested in a race car, or a bulletproof car, or a car that looked weird. I was interested in the 500 mile range, which Tesla has failed to make good on. Musk was marketing the car as a toy (which it is), but I saw some practical advantage, such as obviating the need for a powerwall for my solar plant, and being able to make a regular commute of mine without stopping for a charge. I don't know why the other 1.9 million people ordered one, but probably at least some of them will be cancelling like me because of Tesla's failure to meet the promised range specification.

AdrianB1 3y ago

I don't see the article as written in good faith. There is a tiny bit of justified criticism, but the rest is just stereotypes and politics. Cybertruck is extremely heavy and therefore inefficient. It has a boxy look that may be esthetically unpleasing for many people. But having a HEPA filter is not something to make fun of, driving in polluted cities or behind an old smoky car is nothing to make fun of. The rest of the article is worse.