Last week, the big hubbub in the automotive world is the Tesla Cybertruck commencing deliveries to eager customers. After four long years of (purportedly arduous) development gestation, the quirkiest pickup truck ever (surely Doug DeMuro would agree) is finally on sale. For a company that famously does not have a PR department, it was curious to see a select few journalist getting their hands on prototypes (provided by Tesla, obviously) for early review. Maybe you do have to market an electric toy truck costing $80,000 to $100,000 after all?
Judging from the few early reviews, I must say I am very impressed with what the engineering team at Tesla has accomplished. Elon Musk set out to create something cool and fantastical - from the radical design, the unusual stainless-steel body, and various performance metrics - and his team did its best to fulfill the dictum as much as possible. The project inevitably ran into constraints: be they federal regulations, or general laws of physics. (Example: the final product has side-mirrors, where the concept truck did not.) But overall I think the execution is hugely laudable.
The Cybertruck is now the halo product for Tesla: one that increases the prestige of the brand, and elevates every other model in the portfolio. Customers can feel good knowing the same engineering prowess that went into developing the Cybertruck is also present in the Model Y or Model 3. No doubt that some of the innovations in the Cybertruck will trickle-down to future iterations of other Tesla vehicles. Tesla-firsts such as the 800-volt architecture with a 48-volt base, pure steer-by-wire system, and reverse charging. Those are exciting stuff to look forward to in non-Cybertruck applications.
While I give Tesla credit for making a truck that doesn’t look like any other truck on the road, I reckon there’s a good reason that pickup trucks have looked the same for the past many decades. Until future reviews say otherwise, the Cybertruck looks to not have the same sort of utility of a “traditional” truck. Obviously, I don’t think potential buyers care. Honestly, plenty of people buy a truck for style points, rather than truly using any of the utility fully. The Cybertruck certainly has style points up the maximum.
Onwards and upwards.