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Idk. I’d imagine it has more to do with the preorders and how they can stuff shipments. I got to drive one… it’s an objectively terrible car. I would imagine t

Idk. I’d imagine it has more to do with the preorders and how they can stuff shipments. I got to drive one… it’s an objectively terrible car. I would imagine that as the look gets let’s novel that attention will wane quickly. When they get the inevitable prominent pedestrian collision on video, it has Pinto potential. It’s weird because the last “new” Tesla was the Model Y I think, and that is an incredibly well thought out car — probably the 2020s equivalent of the 1980s Taurus or Camry.

mensetmanusman 2y ago
It only feels like a car because of the amazing steer by wire. It’s actually a truck though.
- asadotzler 2y ago
  It's not a truck though. It's a unibody car with a bed and big wheels. Trucks are body on frame and can do real work without the back falling off.
  - blackeyeblitzar 2y ago
    Unibody car is misleading because the materials are very different. I don’t think it is comparable to either a body on frame construction or the type of unibody a typical sedan or crossover has.
    - serf 2y ago
      similar things were said about the Honda Ridgeline and the Chevrolet Avalanche; they ended up having the same long-tern issues that they were predicted to have; torn mounting points and reduced repair-ability when the inevitable occurs.
      - potato3732842 2y ago
        >similar things were said about the Honda Ridgeline and the Chevrolet Avalanche; they ended up having the same long-tern issues that they were predicted to have; torn mounting points and reduced repair-ability when the inevitable occurs. The fact that you think the Chevy Avalanche[1] has unibody problems says everything I need to know about your opinion There's nothing fundamentally wrong with unibody construction for a vehicle like this some work vans have been that way basically forever (though it makes me want to go postal when the OEMs graft a really shitty frame onto the back of a unibody van and call it a "cab and chassis"). [1]https://www.gmwholesaledirect.com/v-2009-chevrolet-avalanche--lt--5-3l-v8-gas/body--frame-and-components https://www.gmwholesaledirect.com/v-2009-chevrolet-avalanche...
        whaleofatw2022 2y ago
        Well, main issue with the avalanche was the bed was integrated with the Cab body, which still led to SOME repairability challenges. Still, nowhere near as bad as a unibody like a Ridgeline or maverick
  - potato3732842 2y ago
    Is the Honda Ridgeline not a truck? Ford Maverick? The cybertruck is simply the biggest thing in that segment.
    - olyjohn 2y ago
      Kind of. They're what I would call a ute. They're still car based vehicles with beds. But that doesn't mean they can't do 90% of what the average person uses a truck for. They just aren't as stout as a body on frame truck and won't take as much abuse. But use them for their intended purpose and they'll do just fine.
      - potato3732842 2y ago
        Fine then, Jeep Comanche. It's on a purpose built truck/suv platform. The point here is that you're using generalities that are wayyyy too broad. There's no reason a body on frame vehicle can't be stout. See every unibody fullsize van for example.
    - kylebenzle 2y ago
      The Honda Ridgeline if confidently NOT a truck.
    - Der_Einzige 2y ago
      Both of those cars have more real world (i.e long distance) towing capacity than a cyber truck.
dchichkov 2y ago
Is there some tax data about the amount of Clean Vehicle/CA and Federal EV credits issued for Cybertruck? The income cap on getting the clean vehicle rebates is $135k ($200k joint filers). And I'm not sure about the federal rebates. Tesla doesn't offer 0% financing, current Cybertruck APR deal is reported to be 5.29% for up to 72 months. So I don't see how someone with the income under the rebate cutoff can afford that $100k car or the financing option. The delta between the number of rebates (Federal EV vs Clean Vehicle/CA) may allow to estimate, how many of these are corporate (pre-income tax + rebate?) purchases. And these "Cox Automotive estimates", are these reliable numbers that had been confirmed by Tesla earnings, or it is a "best guess by influencers" type of information?
- seanp2k2 2y ago
  One fun loophole to get the tax credit is through a lease. A lot of leasing companies pass the full credit on as a straight deduction on the capitalized cost, and you can stack that with other incentives. Lucid had some really ridiculous deal going that was supposedly leasing the >$100k sticker Air GT for $849/mo : https://www.autoblog.com/news/2024-lucid-air-available-from-550-mo-with-lease-deal-a-detailed-breakdown https://www.autoblog.com/news/2024-lucid-air-available-from-... I looked into that and there was exactly one vehicle available and it was something like $7500 due at signing to get that $849/mo payment, IIRC on a 36-mo term, so really it’s more like ~$1058/mo, which makes more sense. Still a lot of discounts on EVs if you know where to look. Definitely lease; these will depreciate like bricks after the batteries get used up and are down below 70% capacity. I’m not sure how financing companies are doing the math but their expected values at the end of lease terms feel wildly optimistic. My guess is some degree of mfg incentives to push EVs combined with models that took too much pandemic pricing into account for used vehicles. If you can get a good money factor on the lease, go for it.
  - Spooky23 2y ago
    Yup, I leased the new Honda with a trade incentive for $250/mo. When you net out the gas savings, it’s like $190/mo. Ended up getting about $2500 more for my 10 year old trade than Carvana. The business model is weird, it’s almost like you’re capitalizing the cost of gas, except the gas tank leaks after a few years. I figure they’ll either deal on a buyout at the end of the lease, I’ll turn it in, or gas prices will go nuts and I’ll be able to flip the car. My brother did that with a Volt - bought it for $18k pre-pandemic sold for $23k in 2021!
jordanb 2y ago
That's my thought too. Cybertruck had an enormous number of preorders and apparently lots of them are backing out rather than taking delivery, but those that do take delivery still mean that Tesla can deliver cybertrucks as fast as they can produce them until the backlog is gone.
seanp2k2 2y ago
It was pretty hilarious to watch some toolbag driving a Cybertruck around Santana Row (a fake-fancy outdoor mall made to look like a European downtown area out here in Silicon Valley) blasting music at all the people trying to enjoy dinner outdoors. I was there picking something up and he was doing laps around the place from before I got there until after I left, a good 30+ minutes, just driving around in circles desperately trying to get attention. To be fair, it’s very typical to hear people revving up their crappy SRT Chargers or sport bikes constantly there all day and night. I’m not sure who’d be interested in the extremely-overpriced apartments that they have, given the noise and lack of proximity to anything else outside of the malls there. I believe there used to be Cars and Coffee events hosted there but I’ve heard they got kicked out due to too many incidents of bad behavior.

mensetmanusman 2y ago

It only feels like a car because of the amazing steer by wire. It’s actually a truck though.

asadotzler 2y ago
It's not a truck though. It's a unibody car with a bed and big wheels. Trucks are body on frame and can do real work without the back falling off.
- blackeyeblitzar 2y ago
  Unibody car is misleading because the materials are very different. I don’t think it is comparable to either a body on frame construction or the type of unibody a typical sedan or crossover has.
  - serf 2y ago
    similar things were said about the Honda Ridgeline and the Chevrolet Avalanche; they ended up having the same long-tern issues that they were predicted to have; torn mounting points and reduced repair-ability when the inevitable occurs.
    - potato3732842 2y ago
      >similar things were said about the Honda Ridgeline and the Chevrolet Avalanche; they ended up having the same long-tern issues that they were predicted to have; torn mounting points and reduced repair-ability when the inevitable occurs. The fact that you think the Chevy Avalanche[1] has unibody problems says everything I need to know about your opinion There's nothing fundamentally wrong with unibody construction for a vehicle like this some work vans have been that way basically forever (though it makes me want to go postal when the OEMs graft a really shitty frame onto the back of a unibody van and call it a "cab and chassis"). [1]https://www.gmwholesaledirect.com/v-2009-chevrolet-avalanche--lt--5-3l-v8-gas/body--frame-and-components https://www.gmwholesaledirect.com/v-2009-chevrolet-avalanche...
      - whaleofatw2022 2y ago
        Well, main issue with the avalanche was the bed was integrated with the Cab body, which still led to SOME repairability challenges. Still, nowhere near as bad as a unibody like a Ridgeline or maverick
- potato3732842 2y ago
  Is the Honda Ridgeline not a truck? Ford Maverick? The cybertruck is simply the biggest thing in that segment.
  - olyjohn 2y ago
    Kind of. They're what I would call a ute. They're still car based vehicles with beds. But that doesn't mean they can't do 90% of what the average person uses a truck for. They just aren't as stout as a body on frame truck and won't take as much abuse. But use them for their intended purpose and they'll do just fine.
    - potato3732842 2y ago
      Fine then, Jeep Comanche. It's on a purpose built truck/suv platform. The point here is that you're using generalities that are wayyyy too broad. There's no reason a body on frame vehicle can't be stout. See every unibody fullsize van for example.
  - kylebenzle 2y ago
    The Honda Ridgeline if confidently NOT a truck.
  - Der_Einzige 2y ago
    Both of those cars have more real world (i.e long distance) towing capacity than a cyber truck.

dchichkov 2y ago

Is there some tax data about the amount of Clean Vehicle/CA and Federal EV credits issued for Cybertruck? The income cap on getting the clean vehicle rebates is $135k ($200k joint filers). And I'm not sure about the federal rebates. Tesla doesn't offer 0% financing, current Cybertruck APR deal is reported to be 5.29% for up to 72 months. So I don't see how someone with the income under the rebate cutoff can afford that $100k car or the financing option. The delta between the number of rebates (Federal EV vs Clean Vehicle/CA) may allow to estimate, how many of these are corporate (pre-income tax + rebate?) purchases. And these "Cox Automotive estimates", are these reliable numbers that had been confirmed by Tesla earnings, or it is a "best guess by influencers" type of information?

seanp2k2 2y ago
One fun loophole to get the tax credit is through a lease. A lot of leasing companies pass the full credit on as a straight deduction on the capitalized cost, and you can stack that with other incentives. Lucid had some really ridiculous deal going that was supposedly leasing the >$100k sticker Air GT for $849/mo : https://www.autoblog.com/news/2024-lucid-air-available-from-550-mo-with-lease-deal-a-detailed-breakdown https://www.autoblog.com/news/2024-lucid-air-available-from-... I looked into that and there was exactly one vehicle available and it was something like $7500 due at signing to get that $849/mo payment, IIRC on a 36-mo term, so really it’s more like ~$1058/mo, which makes more sense. Still a lot of discounts on EVs if you know where to look. Definitely lease; these will depreciate like bricks after the batteries get used up and are down below 70% capacity. I’m not sure how financing companies are doing the math but their expected values at the end of lease terms feel wildly optimistic. My guess is some degree of mfg incentives to push EVs combined with models that took too much pandemic pricing into account for used vehicles. If you can get a good money factor on the lease, go for it.
- Spooky23 2y ago
  Yup, I leased the new Honda with a trade incentive for $250/mo. When you net out the gas savings, it’s like $190/mo. Ended up getting about $2500 more for my 10 year old trade than Carvana. The business model is weird, it’s almost like you’re capitalizing the cost of gas, except the gas tank leaks after a few years. I figure they’ll either deal on a buyout at the end of the lease, I’ll turn it in, or gas prices will go nuts and I’ll be able to flip the car. My brother did that with a Volt - bought it for $18k pre-pandemic sold for $23k in 2021!

jordanb 2y ago

That's my thought too. Cybertruck had an enormous number of preorders and apparently lots of them are backing out rather than taking delivery, but those that do take delivery still mean that Tesla can deliver cybertrucks as fast as they can produce them until the backlog is gone.

seanp2k2 2y ago

It was pretty hilarious to watch some toolbag driving a Cybertruck around Santana Row (a fake-fancy outdoor mall made to look like a European downtown area out here in Silicon Valley) blasting music at all the people trying to enjoy dinner outdoors. I was there picking something up and he was doing laps around the place from before I got there until after I left, a good 30+ minutes, just driving around in circles desperately trying to get attention. To be fair, it’s very typical to hear people revving up their crappy SRT Chargers or sport bikes constantly there all day and night. I’m not sure who’d be interested in the extremely-overpriced apartments that they have, given the noise and lack of proximity to anything else outside of the malls there. I believe there used to be Cars and Coffee events hosted there but I’ve heard they got kicked out due to too many incidents of bad behavior.