Tesla Cybertruck

[FredNewell]

So here I am, with the click button over the "order" page. Wife chimes in, "Looks like a Lego truck... sure is ugly."

But it sure is fun to watch technology change.

BTW I don't think it is ugly, just weird enough to be cool.

[NoGas]

Originally Posted by FredNewell

So here I am, with the click button over the "order" page. Wife chimes in, "Looks like a Lego truck... sure is ugly." But it sure is fun to watch technology change. BTW I don't think it is ugly, just weird enough to be cool.

In 1985 and years before it became famous, I sat in the Las Vegas back yard of an off base house with a good friend, cigar in hand & sipping “brown water” as we discussed his new assignment flying another “weird” vehicle that didn’t officially exist yet. But the option was available as my next position, so I asked him what it was like flying such a strange looking plane. After that conversation, I chose another option but always wondered what taking that one would’ve been like.

The first time I saw a pic of the Tesla Truck, I too thought it was ugly. However, for some reason that extreme angular shape looked familiar. Then it dawned on me… With it’s ludicrous acceleration and insane top speed, radar evading black paint might be a worthwhile option
.

[D-Wreck]

As someone mentioned before, towing an electric vehicle will be a challenge. I’m not aware of any that can be towed “4 down”, and I’ve heard a tow dolly isn’t even an option for front wheel drive EVs. I put a deposit down on Silverado EV, but unless I can find a way to tow it behind the bus I’m not sure I’ll follow through with purchasing it. They also weigh a whole lot, so they would require a large HD trailer.

[Stretch44875]

Chevy bolt ev can be dollyed, but need to disconnect 12v battery so parking brake won't come on.
I've heard rumors of someone wiring transaxle pump to run and towing 4 down.

[Jimadams57]

I agree trucks are not there yet
I have two friends with rivian trucks
One has had his for almost 4 months
There really neat
Everything is powered little motors everywhere super nice to sit in it on a hot day and have the a/c running with no engine noise
But as far as a truck it’s not even close
He has towed super short distances with it ( we live on an island 10 miles long)
Uses power real fast
No room in bed for any real cargo
Need to wait for tech to step up for trucks

[badandy]

That truck is uuuugly. Like a bad movie prop. You know, my Dodge Ram has TWO batteries in it? Electric trucks are so 2003.

[bwinter1946]

I would not consider one of these trucks without knowing the vehicle range, battery warranty coverage, and cost of battery replacement. I have heard the Model S replacement battery change can be $20,000 plus.

By the way, since I installed solar on my California home PG&E can charge me $0.23 per KW hour. The price of charging could be prohibitive if I had not factored in enough solar to charge an electric vehicle for an average of 15,000 miles per year.

Just saying.

[wandermore]

Originally Posted by bwinter1946

By the way, since I installed solar on my California home PG&E can charge me $0.23 per KW hour.

As my son used to say, "No thank you, please."

[bwinter1946]

Originally Posted by wandermore

As my son used to say, "No thank you, please."

Nice thing about how we sized our system PG&E pays me money at each true up so far.

[wandermore]

We have been so busy with other things, that I almost forgot to follow up on this thread.

Earlier this month, my friend brought his new Cybertruck down to my neck of the woods for some camping on the lake and offroading over a long weekend. We do all kinds of wheeling and also have access to some unbelievable private trails on Monteagle Mountain. It only made sense to put the Cybertruck through its paces. I got a few drone shots if anyone wants to see.

Some noteworthy things I learned from driving it:

0. We were let down by trying to charge it off of a campground pedestal. It's charging system would work with the 120v 20amp outlet, but we tried all kinds of adapters and different things and could not get it charge from the 30amp or 50amp outlets on 2 different pedestals.

1. My friend is incredibly brave/trusting for letting me hop in the driver seat and immediately start tightly hooking his new vehicle through a creek around boulders and large trees. I wasn't worried about getting stuck as we had a tractor nearby, but the thought of gouging a stainless door panel did cross my mind.

2. That said, the steering by wire is incredibly accurate and easy to use. I didn't think I would like it, but I did.

3. The 4 wheel steering and camera views worked very, very well and it was able to make turns with ease that I was a little anxious about on approach due to its size.

4. It hides the weight VERY well when traveling forward. Both onroad and offroad, the handling, acceleration, and precision of inputs are close to (or exceed) top-tier vehicles. It also had a more plush ride than I expected over rock gardens.

5. We found an interesting design "decision" or limit that has not been covered in the news about the truck yet, which I alluded to above in #4...

One thing we wanted to test was the approach/departure angles especially with the weird mudflaps on the front of the fenders and of course the hill climbing abilities of this enormous and heavy machine. Based on prior articles and our own understanding of physics we both had our suspicions that it would not perform all that well on an extreme grade. Well, I am here to tell you that it was a sure-footed billy goat going up a VERY steep climb. We got higher up the trail and there was a blowdown across it too large to drive over.

There was not room to turn around, so the options were retrieving a chainsaw and a lot of work or reversing down. Easy answer. Let's reverse. We did it, but boy did those brakes make some noise and it felt like we went from the future to 50 years ago in a short span of time. I was a passenger in this moment, but it was very apparent even from my seat that none of the fancy computer controlled driving assistance works in reverse down a steep grade. It somehow felt way sketchier and less controlled than a traditional rig with lockers reversing down the mountain!

6. When you first get in, it looks and feels a lot like you are getting into a space ship or boat. Not so much an electric pickup.

7. There was more wind/road noise than I expected from a modern vehicle at 70+mph, granted it does have some decently aggressive tread on the tires. I took a look at the door seals to see what they did there and was surprised that they looked like an afterthought. They were closer to what I would have expected to see on a car from the 1970's.

8. It had some really neat features like the electric, rollup bed cover. That would be really handy on any truck.

Overall, I liked it more than I expected to. It's a neat vehicle just for the bravery of actually daring to manufacture and sell something that outside the box. Definitely worth checking one out if you get the chance. Just know that it got a TON of attention everywhere we went from all ages. There is so much attention many owners are going to get tired of answering questions from random people.

That said, happy to answer any questions you all may have since I got several days to familiarize with riding and driving it.