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Without touching on the ownership of Tesla for risk of politics, what do people make of the actual truck?

I've seen videos indicating that it can pull better than a Ford F-350 over short distances, and can beat a Porsche 911 in a 1/4 mile drag, but I'm not sure how biased they are.
I've also seen lots of complaints about build quality, etc. So it's hard to get a good impression of it.


I'm particularly nosey, because we're never going to see them in Europe (it's too heavy and lacking a lot of safety kit). I want to like it as it's interesting, but I'm also pretty skeptical.

They did a pull-off with an F-150. Not as impressive as you think. It was 2wd vs the Tesla's 4wd, not to mention the Tesla weighs about 1000 pounds more, which is where the traction came from.

If you're going to use it as a truck, rather than just a regular family car, I'd be pretty wary of Tesla's customer service and repair issues. Admittedly this is from a UK perspective, rather than US/NA, but one of the major problems with Tesla's here is getting any kind of repair done in a reasonable timeframe.

All of the marketing stunts feel like gimmicks to me. I'd wait for the independent reviews before passing judgement. I'm not really sure why you'd want to beat a Porsche in a straight line, for example. If you plan to use it as a truck, long term reliability is probably the most important thing and you won't get a good idea of that for a while yet.

Probably exactly what you should expect to get when you sketch a meme on a paper napkin and abuse your employees until they make it.

Extremely ugly vehicle

Its going to struggle to do any actual truck stuff. Electric vehicle technology is just not there yet. Plus Tesla is truly awful in terms of parts availability, its not just a Europe thing, US customers can't get parts either.

I like Musk in many ways, but Tesla is not one of them. Teslas have some impressive tech, but it fails because from a practical standpoint they're still prototypes basically.

They're expensive toys to trap rich naive eco jerks, and its a trap that works oh so well...

 Grey Templar wrote:
Its going to struggle to do any actual truck stuff.

I imagine most of the people buying aren't using it for truck stuff. Many of the trucks I see look like they've never hauled a sofa once let alone regular truck stuff. I doubt any contractors or people doing serious work being interested.

It won't pass any of the EU safety regulations either.

Not something I would actively look into buying but I did find it interesting when Joe Rogan tried to put a steel arrow into the side of it. Snapped off the arrow blades and did not penetrate. Like 20ft away from the side of the vehicle

I mean, that's a nice gimmick and all, but "Will it protect me if I am attacked by Mongolian Horse Archers?" was not something that made it onto my list of things to consider when buying a vehicle.

 filbert wrote:
It won't pass any of the EU safety regulations either.

I find that odd, as there are many European cars that aren't sold in the US because they don't meet regulations here.


As far as Teslas go, I think the best one I've seen is the guy that LS swapped a tesla, and even converted the charging port into a fuel cap.

 cuda1179 wrote:

 filbert wrote:
It won't pass any of the EU safety regulations either.

I find that odd, as there are many European cars that aren't sold in the US because they don't meet regulations here.
.

Probably just mutually exclusive safety philosophies (in different contexts). Similar to eggs- can't be sold either way. Trains is another example.

I think it depends if you want a car designed by a child for other children or not.

 Haighus wrote:

 cuda1179 wrote:

 filbert wrote:
It won't pass any of the EU safety regulations either.

I find that odd, as there are many European cars that aren't sold in the US because they don't meet regulations here.
.

Probably just mutually exclusive safety philosophies (in different contexts). Similar to eggs- can't be sold either way. Trains is another example.

Likely some idiosyncrasies that vary from country to country.

The Australian Design Regulations annoy me no end, because if the manufacturer didn't meet the ADR for that year (for example, because the car wasn't exported to Oz) then it needs to be "engineered" which is an expensive process instead of just saying "Hey, this car was legal in the US/Europe/Japan, so it's probably fine for Australia".

 Jihadin wrote:
Not something I would actively look into buying but I did find it interesting when Joe Rogan tried to put a steel arrow into the side of it. Snapped off the arrow blades and did not penetrate. Like 20ft away from the side of the vehicle

Which is useful how? If I want a ready-made car for drive-by shootings against enemies using solely low-powered ammunition (or medieval weaponry, I guess) it might help, but I'm not sure that's a marketable niche. With a regular EV you can at least try to market it as more sustainable, maybe cheaper in the long run and more convenient for those not regularly travelling long distances. I'm not really sure what features of an EV make it superior as a truck, other than greater torque. But how much better do you need, and what about the various other issues of an EV, such as decreased performance and range when heavily laden? The weird thing is, the Cybertruck may genuinely be the best truck out there, but none of the marketing has really shown that in a serious, confidence-inspiring way.

 Grey Templar wrote:
Its going to struggle to do any actual truck stuff. Electric vehicle technology is just not there yet..

The Rivian seems to be doing OK as a truck, same with the F150 Lightning and the Chevrolet electric truck. They should also in theory be much better for truck stuff - more torque, better weight distribution, better use of internal space*, ability to run tools without a transformer or the engine running.

I'm not convinced the CT can do the same though, but I don't think it's really meant to be. I'm just not sure *what* it is. Some people will love the size and ludicrous power though.


*The batteries can be any shape, and you don't need straight runs for transmission, exhausts, gear linkages etc, so you could have pretty much any shape you want. If they haven't set it up so you can put long loads right from the frunk under the passenger seat and out the back then they've missed a huge opportunity.


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 Jihadin wrote:
Not something I would actively look into buying but I did find it interesting when Joe Rogan tried to put a steel arrow into the side of it. Snapped off the arrow blades and did not penetrate. Like 20ft away from the side of the vehicle

Which means it's going to be like hitting a wall in an accident. I'm somewhat nervous about seeing the crash test results, or the fallout of the first accident.

 Ahtman wrote:

 Grey Templar wrote:
Its going to struggle to do any actual truck stuff.

I imagine most of the people buying aren't using it for truck stuff. Many of the trucks I see look like they've never hauled a sofa once let alone regular truck stuff. I doubt any contractors or people doing serious work being interested.

I find that I need a pickup about two or three times a year. For me, that's not enough to own one, but plenty of other people seem to take that plunge.

 gorgon wrote:

 Ahtman wrote:

 Grey Templar wrote:
Its going to struggle to do any actual truck stuff.

I imagine most of the people buying aren't using it for truck stuff. Many of the trucks I see look like they've never hauled a sofa once let alone regular truck stuff. I doubt any contractors or people doing serious work being interested.

I find that I need a pickup about two or three times a year. For me, that's not enough to own one, but plenty of other people seem to take that plunge.

What I mean is that many own trucks just because they like them not just because of their utility or work capability. If one wants a super heavy duty 10 tire, double wide Ford F-1750 Canyonero SE just to drive to Texas Roadhouse there is nothing wrong with that. I just don't think the Cybertruck will be used by those who do use a truck as a working vehicle.

It looks like even a glancing blow from one could destroy a sedan, killing a family of 4. If the kind of people who drive Teslas upgrade to the cyber truck, the roads will be far deadlier for everyone else.

I found I was the same, so for years I ran a small hatchback and a trailer, which gave me a small car most of the time and the option to carry 2000lbs of stuff on occasion. I only sold the trailer (for about $1000 less than I paid 10 years earlier, so $100/year running costs) because I got a minivan and found myself using the trailer less and less.

Of course, now I need to buy lumber and building materials again I'm regretting that.

All electric vehicles have tremendous power compared to similar internal combustion vehicles, so out running a porche is not surprising.

The weight and cost of making it bulletproof would be amazing. A stripped down version that does not have that capacity would drag it towards the 'still not affordable for 85% of the population but worth considering if you have a heap of cash lying around' crowd, and increase sales. Never mind the massive range increase.

I have a diesel ICE ute/truck and love it, and am planning on buying another just before they are made unobtainable in Australia in 2030. There is no way the cyber truck or any other electric ute could tow my camper trailer the distances we go, with the time it takes to refill and the awful infrastructure in Australia.

I see a place for EVs as a small city/daily short commute vehicle, and nothing more.

 Waaagh_Gonads wrote:


I see a place for EVs as a small city/daily short commute vehicle, and nothing more.

I think they could work well for certain kinds of farm vehicle too (heavily country specific) as some farm vehicles aren't used for long periods of time.

Quite a few farmers near where I grew up would use a quadbike twice a day for some low-intensity work to move a cow herd to the milk palour and back. That would probably be perfect for an EV. Tractors during arable harvest time, not so much (unless you had exchangeable battery packs that could be swapped out when dropping off the load at the farm).

Of course, distances in the UK are pretty short on farms. This probably doesn't work for huge farms in the US or Australia!

 Haighus wrote:

 Waaagh_Gonads wrote:


I see a place for EVs as a small city/daily short commute vehicle, and nothing more.

I think they could work well for certain kinds of farm vehicle too (heavily country specific) as some farm vehicles aren't used for long periods of time.

Quite a few farmers near where I grew up would use a quadbike twice a day for some low-intensity work to move a cow herd to the milk palour and back. That would probably be perfect for an EV. Tractors during arable harvest time, not so much (unless you had exchangeable battery packs that could be swapped out when dropping off the load at the farm).

Of course, distances in the UK are pretty short on farms. This probably doesn't work for huge farms in the US or Australia!

Well, it depends on the part of the country- east coast farms tend to be smaller, family farms- out west its the absurd sprawls. An appropriately designed EV could definitely work to replace a quadbike or 4-wheeler- we had persistent problems with ours, usually with the engine or fuel lines. Tractors... I doubt, even swapping battery packs. The constant-long duration energy requirements for heavy loads or even just getting out of the mud after a spate of bad weather seems like too much of an ask.

We have a smaller push mower that's battery powered now, but the riding mower is still gas (and for the fields, a mowing deck tractor attachment is required)


As to the cybertruck, I definitely agree with Ahtman. Rural folks that want a 'working truck' won't touch this thing. They won't believe it can do the job and will find the design aesthetics absolutely offensive.

No EVs that I'm aware of have easily swappable batteries that you could just pop in and out. Bear in mind they're massive too. Average EV battery is about half a ton. It's not like on your cordless drill!

I often thought the solution to recharging and going long distance for EVs was to have a universal battery design that you can just drive into a "fuel station" with. You then swap out your battery for one of their pre-charged ones and carry on your way and the station then recharges the battery.

Basically make the battery something you are leasing and swap over as you need.


Of course it hits the issue that everyone wants to make their car their way and that includes their own battery design; plus likely issues with making such a system work without making it easy to steal the battery from the car (otherwise you'll wake up and find someone has run down the road with a van and popped everyone's battery out and done a runner)



Of course that wouldn't get around the issue for off-road/off grid travel.

they're doing battery swaps in some asian countries for mopeds & 3 wheelers

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2023-04-06/one-minute-battery-swaps-are-spurring-ev-adoption-in-asia

but those are far smaller than for cars

I was always interested in the flow battery idea. Moves battery cars into a similar use case as ICEs. The main issue is collecting the spent fluid for recharging, rather than the fuel emptying itself out.

 Flinty wrote:
I was always interested in the flow battery idea. Moves battery cars into a similar use case as ICEs. The main issue is collecting the spent fluid for recharging, rather than the fuel emptying itself out.

In theory its a good idea and is doable, but I imagine it would be quite hazardous if something goes wrong. Gasoline is bad when spilled, but not nearly as bad as battery fluid.

It's the same with every new tech though, reducing cost and risk mitigation.

A heritage rail company I have done some work with have just electrified their 08 shunter. Works an absolute treat.

Hydrogen is still the way forwards, but it requires renewables to create first.

The thing people always forget with EVs (whether battery, hydrogen or other) is that you are comparing them with a technology that’s had well over a century of development and refinement, whereas people have only seriously been looking at EVs for road use for maybe 20-years. Now, you can jumpstart things a bit due to general technological development in other areas, but it is going to take time to get equivalence.