Tesla Cybertruck – the future?
By Baldmichael Theresoluteprotector’sson
I hope not, it’s an ugly beast. Not that I am keen on motor vehicles, I prefer my bicycle but a car is useful to get around and I quite like driving when the traffic is not too heavy.
My wife and I once owned a Dolly 2CV (that’s deux chevaux, not two coronaviruses!) which was great fun. You could drive at 30 miles an hour over speed humps without a problem. The suspension was apparently designed to allow a French farmer to drive across a ploughed field with a tray of eggs and not break any.
You could apparently easily take out the back bench seat for more storage space and we did have a roof rack. There was a soft top which one could roll back in the summer.
It was narrow but the front seats were also a bench design making it cosy. We once drove over Shap Fell in Cumbria in December in very cold weather and had to stuff cloth into the ventilators on the dashboard to reduce the drafts!
Anyway as regards the Cybertruck there is this link with photos. Text in italics will be from here unless otherwise stated.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tesla_Cybertruck
It says
The Tesla Cybertruck is a battery electric medium duty full-size pickup truck built by Tesla, Inc. since 2023.
It is made with stainless steel panels.
Three models are offered: the tri-motor all-wheel drive (AWD) “Cyberbeast”, a dual-motor AWD model, and a rear-wheel drive (RWD) model, with EPA range estimates of 250–340 miles (400–550 km), varying by model.
As you will no doubt know, the CEO of Tesla is Elon Musk. If there is a Cyberbeast then I suppose it is the ‘Beast of the Musk’!
As to the design
“Elon threw in that it had to drive like a sports car but have all the utility of a pick-up truck… “.
I wonder about the mentality of someone who needs a pickup truck also wanting to drive like a sports car. Moving on.
In March 2019, following the Tesla Model Y launch, Musk distributed a teaser image of a vehicle described as having a cyberpunk or Blade Runner style, with the form resembling a futuristic armored personnel carrier.
Cyberpunk is defined in a wiki link as
is a subgenre of science fiction in a dystopian futuristic setting that tends to focus on a “combination of lowlife and high tech”, featuring futuristic technological and scientific achievements, such as artificial intelligence and cyberware, juxtaposed with societal collapse, dystopia or decay.
Sounds suitable for what is going on today. As to “futuristic armored personnel carrier” are things really that bad in North America?
But clearly it designed along the lines of internet gaming which might be fine in its place but hardly ideal in the real world. There have been safety concerns.
The Cybertruck’s angular design and stiff stainless-steel exterior have raised concerns among safety experts that it could hurt pedestrians and cyclists and damage other vehicles on roads. Particular concerns have been raised about the high stiffness of the “exoskeleton” exterior, potentially reducing crumple zones. The tall, flat front of the truck may increase the severity of pedestrian leg injuries. The Cybertruck as it is currently designed would be illegal in various countries, including Australia, due to the risk it poses to both occupants and people outside of the vehicle, especially pedestrians.
I am sure that being hit by any vehicle is not recommended whatever its shape, but I can see the argument. Sharp angles can always be nasty. As to what risks are posed to the occupants over and above the usual is not clear.
As to risks to others there is a footnote link. Apart from the high front
The Cybertruck’s superfluous power is yet another concern—and an important one. Last month Tesla claimed that the high-end “Cyberbeast” version will go from 0 to 60 mph in 2.6 seconds. Such pickup is comparable to a Formula 1 race car, and well beyond the needless acceleration already offered by competitors, like the Ford F-150 Lightning that can go from 0 to 60 in under 4 seconds. Although such power presents obvious risks to other street users who lack time to get out of the way, its practical value is dubious. “The Cybertruck is an over-6,000-pound piece of steel that has no business going a quarter mile in under 11 seconds,” National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy told me. “Why do we need that?”
Why indeed.
Tesla has defended the design, saying that the structures of the truck would absorb an impact during a crash.The Cybertruck had passed the U.S. regulatory review, according to Musk. Musk has also made claims that are dishonest or misleading, including saying the doors are bulletproof to 9 mm bullets, but real-world testing indicates that it is merely bullet-resistant to these calibre of rounds, with tests showing that a hole can be punched cleanly through upon successive shots. Moreover, while the windows are strong by car standards, they do not come close to being bulletproof, meaning occupants are potentially exposed to gunfire through the windows.
Which in a dystopian future might be a consideration but really, do people want to think this way with a pickup truck?
There have been recent issues with unwanted acceleration.
On April 17, 2024, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced that Tesla had recalled all 3,878 Cybertrucks sold as of that date to fix an accelerator pedal pad that could come loose and get lodged in the interior trim, causing the car to unintentionally accelerate.
As a foot note link to a Guardian article aptly observes
“What we have seen perpetually with Tesla is the ethos of a tech company, wanting to push out product as quickly as possible, wrapped up in an automotive manufacturer, which should be far more intentional and thoughtful in producing vehicles,” he said. “This is not an app, this is a multithousand-pound vehicle hurtling down our roadways at high speeds.”
Anagrams of ‘Tesla Cybertruck’
There are some interesting anagrams which seem to suit the vehicle. For example:
It looks a bit of a brute, an angular box.
– Style cc ark brute
It is bulky
– Bulky crest crate
It has stark outlines
– Stark yet cruel bc
It is battery powered
– cc battery sulker
It has been likened to an armoured personnel carrier
– Battle cry sucker
It looks rather mad
– Cure batty clerks
It is sporty
– Best racy truckle
It has tyres obviously
– Blacker cut tyres
It might be cursed
– Accurst by Terkel
It is suitable off road
– Burly treks CA etc
And will go through creeks
– Burly creeks tact
You can carry stuff in the back
– Let’s carry bucket
You might be mad to spend your money on it
– Scatty berk lucre
It is more of a cult car
– Bye treks cult car
Out of this world
– Star trek cly cube
It is a rather cruel looking car
– Be sky tt cruel car
Albeit a car to be seen on the street
– By luck streetcar
It went mad when the accelerator broke
– cc tautly berserk
But this might become my favourite and could be taken up by people as a byword.
– Berkley scut cart
As there is a Tesla factory at Fremont where the photo was taken, not far from Berkeley, California, this is not unsuitable.
Summary and final thoughts
The Cybertruck seems to be a product of computer geeks without proper reference to real life and people. In the cyber world the program can be rebooted and start again, but people, human beings, cannot, the resurrection of the dead notwithstanding!
It will come at a high price US$60,990 to $99,990 according to Wikipedia.
Like all electric vehicles it is heavy and bulky. They are supposed to be ‘green’ and environmentally friendly but whilst is will not spew out noxious gases in exhaust fumes, its weight will mean more impact wear and tear on the roads. I think it is an ugly beast and no mistake.
Or as it is Elon’s idea, I think I will call it a Musktake!!
P.S. That post filled in a gap for me as I struggle with the post on Edzard Ernst. . I was inspired to do it by this article.
https://insanitybytes2.wordpress.com/2024/05/17/the-world-2/
In any event, I hope you have or are having a good weekend.
And here’s a real Dolly.
This is to say thanks for comments. For some reason I cannot 'like' by clicking on the like button. It is not responding.
Loved the old 2CV!
Quirky, and utilitarian.
Cybertruck?
Naaah.
Of course, I don't like any EVs, as no one has the electrical grid, nor any excess power to charge these things.
I live in a snow belt, so will stick to my Toyota Tundra 4X4.
Very few Teslas mid-winter...