For those of you who don't understand the Cybertruck, I've got two words for you: alien dreadnought. Let me explain. As others have mentioned, there are clear reasons why the Cybertruck has its unique shape, which have nothing to do with aesthetics.
The bed of the truck has those high, sloping walls in order to reduce drag (the "drop" behind a traditional truck cabin shape causes turbulence which causes more drag) while simultaneously allowing for the retractable locking panel--which can
also be a solar panel. The flat panels and sharp angles are because of the steel exoskeleton, which cannot be easily formed into rounded shapes. The steel exoskeleton isn't there to look cool, either. It is intended to radically change the way that the truck can be manufactured. Instead of requiring huge, expensive, and custom-built stamping machines to make parts for the vehicle, all they need is much simpler machines which can cut, fold, and weld sheets of stainless steel. Furthermore, they are entirely doing away with the three part process of traditional truck building where first the frame is created, then panels are attached to the frame, and finally those panels are painted and finished.
It's not just that! If Tesla can master this new steel exoskeleton construction process, they should be able to use the
same tooling to cut, fold, and weld sheets of stainless steel into all kinds of different car shapes, just as how a human can use their same two hands to fold paper into various shapes. No more huge, expensive stamping machines which must be custom built and constantly recalibrated to the exact specifications of each vehicle. They can just use the same machines and the same generic cutting, folding, and welding process to make whatever vehicle they want--as long as it has that Cybertruck-esque shape. These machines will all be completely automated, of course. Imagine how a single simple and (comparably) cheap water jet cutter can be programmed to quickly and precisely cut all kinds of different complex shapes from sheets of metal, with no human intervention. Now apply that line of thinking to automobile manufacturing. Bingo!
Remember that one of the very first things that Tesla achieved was to
standardize the "skateboard" at the bottom of their vehicles. Regardless of whether the car is a Model S, X, or 3, the "skateboard" on the bottom is pretty much the same. Now Tesla can potentially do this for the top part of the car too.
The end goal of this radical change in manufacturing process is to drive down manufacturing costs by simplifying the overall manufacturing process and increasing automation. I see the Cybertruck as a Trojan Horse of sorts to build a vehicle which plays to the strengths of the aesthetic results of this new manufacturing process ("tough" trucks), and get the public to accept this unusual look as something that a vehicle can look like. If this happens, what is stopping Elon from simply reprogramming his Cybertruck manufacturing machines to make a whole new line of vehicles, at much lower costs than the current traditional manufacturing process allows for? It will be amazing if he can actually
pull this off!
Elon has been talking about his vision of a fully automated "
alien dreadnought / machine that builds the machine" factory for years. The Cybertruck manufacturing process is clearly another step in this direction. I hope anyone can see that when viewed in this light, the Cybertruck is not a squandered opportunity at all--it's an act of genius! Elon didn't just wake up one day and decide to make a Blade Runner truck for shits and giggles, or because he thought it looked cool. From the beginning, this was always about his vision for the "alien dreadnought" automated factory. Regardless, if Tesla fails to master this new manufacturing process or the Cybertruck fails to sell well, they can just go back to manufacturing trucks the old way, which seems to be serving them well enough for their other vehicles.
Watch this video from 7:00 - 15:00 for a more in-depth analysis of the exoskeleton:
https://youtu.be/4qgO3A2pUr8?t=420 The way it looks it because Musk loves Blade Runner. Its body design cripple its usability for no reason. No 5th/gooseneck, no hard camper shell, no bed mounted popup, no way to fill the bed and strap on more cargo on top a hard tonneau (no exterior hard points), no flat bed conversion (because it's unibody), no toolchests, no bed racks, no roof rack.
But there's an integrated air compressor!
The reason trucks all "look the same" is because form has followed function. In particular, the function of allowing a lot of customization to happen to fit a myriad of use cases.
With a focus on real world usability (rather than silly things like 0-60 times) you could make an amazing truck with an all electric drive train:
* put a standard shaped bed on it
* BOF design (skateboard?)
* put a variable speed gear system in it instead of adding more torque at the motor(s) -- this would allow for a higher range and more towing capacity but at the expense of super cool 0-60 times.
Keep in mind that Tesla is doing the Apple strategy. They are locking their vehicles into their own ecosystem--by design. For example, the Cybertruck might not support standard hard camper shells but it will have a pop-up tent and other camping equipment as add-ons, which of course can only be purchased from Tesla. It seems to have worked out great for Apple, and perhaps it will work for Tesla as well.
Not the Cybetruck but some agencies have tried Teslas, lime the LAPD, and found them not pursuit friendly
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.latimes.com/california/story/2019-09-25/tesla-police-car-lost-battery-while-on-duty-in-the-middle-of-a-pursuit%3f_amp=true
From that article, not sure if anything else needs to be said:
Bosques said the incident wasn’t too concerning. She said the car had performed well in one other pursuit, meaning it had no problem catching up and staying close to the suspect’s car at a high speed.
She added that the Tesla’s battery had lasted almost two shifts, despite the fact it wasn’t charged at the beginning of Officer Hartman’s shift at 2 p.m. She said she didn’t know why it hadn’t been charged on this particular day.
“This unfortunately happens from time to time even in our vehicles that run on gas, if they aren’t re-fueled at the end of a shift,” Bosques said. “This incident was truly no different than a vehicle running out of gas and a good reminder to our officers that they should have a full tank or charge to ensure they can make it the entire 11 hours of their shift.”