Ok ok I admit my shameful secret. I kinda like the Cybertruck

[Kagavi]

The Cybertruck has been in the news lately because all of them got recalled due to having issues with, uhh, stopping. This was the sign I needed to unburden myself. Yes, I kinda like the Cybertruck. You happy?

Let me be clear, I think the truck is ugly and stupid. Tesla corporate culture is horrifying. Work conditions are abusive. I hate everything. Setting that aside, I only mean my very slight affection from the perspective of how different the design is vs other things out there. I really appreciate that, because that's critical for our society to move forward.

It's like fashion shows. Also extremely stupid, but somewhat necessary to keep things progressing. Otherwise we're all wearing victorian dresses still.

SO!

I'm curious - are there any more examples of products or inventions that are so outlandish (whether it's stupid or innovative or way too advanced for our time) that one can't help but to admire the hubris in a tiny way?

 

[Jer]

I have always been in love with the truck from Tango & Cash (pic below). The Toyota FJ Cruiser was the closest we've gotten. The new Polestar 8 is another step in the right direction. I also like the new Hummer, as impractical as it is.



I thought I'd like the Cybertruck, but between how impractical it is for the type of vehicle it is that you can't even fit a bike in the truck bed (yes, I realize it's marketed basically only at rich suburban guys that don't haul anything but groceries) and the specific profile. But it just doesn't sit well with me. And I love futuristic/concept vehicles.



These concepts are like porn...

 

[HFCS]

Apple often does this by being the first to get rid of something while others still see it as essential.

Floppy discs
Optical disc drives
Headphone jacks

Got rid of all of them while majority of people still depended on them. Made some people angry or anxious, especially when the product was still expensive.

 

[Gunnerclone]

Apple often does this by being the first to get rid of something while others still see it as essential.

Floppy discs
Optical disc drives
Headphone jacks

Got rid of all of them while majority of people still depended on them. Made some people angry or anxious, especially when the product was still expensive.

Apple Vision Pro comes to mind, but if the price was like 1k I would totally have one.

 

[jcyclonee]

It's Ok to admit you like the cybertruck. It's not like you admitted to liking Zima.

 

[GTO]

Cybertruck owners complaining in online forums about all the issues with their trucks makes me happy. Is that wrong?

 

[coolerifyoudid]

 

[AgronAlum]

Cybertruck owners complaining in online forums about all the issues with their trucks makes me happy. Is that wrong?

I saw an article about some dude dropping 244k on one in the resale market. That's absolutely insane for how awful they really are.

I think the worst part is they have like a 90 mile range if you hook up a trailer and the Tesla charging stations aren't pull through. You would have to drop the trailer every 90 miles and hook it back up again after charging.

 

[HFCS]

Apple Vision Pro comes to mind, but if the price was like 1k I would totally have one.

I saw a video the other day of the Microsoft CEO laughing hysterically that the iPhone would be the biggest failure ever because nobody would ever pay $500 for a phone and everyone demands a key pad.

 

[CloneLawman]

It's Ok to admit you like the cybertruck. It's not like you admitted to liking Zima.

What's wrong with Zima?

 

[BWRhasnoAC]

It's not a truck. More like a utility tank. It's cool though. Lots of amazing engineering.

 

[AgronAlum]

It's not a truck. More like a utility tank. It's cool though. Lots of amazing engineering.

On the surface, yes. But they’re actually an engineering disaster.

The stainless pits and rusts almost immediately when it gets wet because it wasn’t clear coated.
The electronics are an absolute disaster and are failing left and right.
No pressure sensors on the automatic gates. There’s a spot on the back deck that has been proven to be able to cut a finger off.
The locking diffs don’t work.
The supposed high strength windshield is anything but because they removed the curve. (There’s a reason it’s curved on all other cars)
I would challenge anyone to find a video of it successfully going off road.
The blind spots are crazy
Leaks from panels not being aligned
There have been issues with the auto stop system reading oncoming traffic in the lane over causing it to slam on the brakes.

Just to touch on a few. I’m not an EV hater, just a hater of piss poor quality.

 

[jcyclonee]

What's wrong with Zima?

What is going on with all these people liking Zima today? There's nothing wrong with Zima if you are 16 years old.

 

[jcyclonee]

On the surface, yes. But they’re actually an engineering disaster.

The stainless pits and rusts almost immediately when it gets wet because it wasn’t clear coated.
The electronics are an absolute disaster and are failing left and right.
No pressure sensors on the automatic gates. There’s a spot on the back deck that has been proven to be able to cut a finger off.
The locking diffs don’t work.
The supposed high strength windshield is anything but because they removed the curve. (There’s a reason it’s curved on all other cars)
I would challenge anyone to find a video of it successfully going off road.
The blind spots are crazy
Leaks from panels not being aligned
There have been issues with the auto stop system reading oncoming traffic in the lane over causing it to slam on the brakes.

Just to touch on a few. I’m not an EV hater, just a hater of piss poor quality.

Why were all these quality issues never brought up in the Blade Runner movie?

 

[HFCS]

On the surface, yes. But they’re actually an engineering disaster.

The stainless pits and rusts almost immediately when it gets wet because it wasn’t clear coated.
The electronics are an absolute disaster and are failing left and right.
No pressure sensors on the automatic gates. There’s a spot on the back deck that has been proven to be able to cut a finger off.
The locking diffs don’t work.
The supposed high strength windshield is anything but because they removed the curve. (There’s a reason it’s curved on all other cars)
I would challenge anyone to find a video of it successfully going off road.
The blind spots are crazy
Leaks from panels not being aligned
There have been issues with the auto stop system reading oncoming traffic in the lane over causing it to slam on the brakes.

Just to touch on a few. I’m not an EV hater, just a hater of piss poor quality.

I am a product designer, not cars but other physical consumer products.

To me the Cybertruck strikes me as being a slave to its concept. It can be fun and cool, but it skips a lot of the steps in the typical product development life cycle. These steps often make something more "boring" but they aren't made for no reason at all. My guess is Elon's personal whims go miles further than those of any other single person at other companies of comparable size.

I don't know jack about cars, but I know a lot about concept, design, value engineering, manufacturing, etc. Some of it applies to any physical product. When I look at my typical project if it has 10 phases of development, the Cybertruck seems like it was allowed to be frozen in my first or second phase.

 

[BWRhasnoAC]

On the surface, yes. But they’re actually an engineering disaster.

The stainless pits and rusts almost immediately when it gets wet because it wasn’t clear coated.
The electronics are an absolute disaster and are failing left and right.
No pressure sensors on the automatic gates. There’s a spot on the back deck that has been proven to be able to cut a finger off.
The locking diffs don’t work.
The supposed high strength windshield is anything but because they removed the curve. (There’s a reason it’s curved on all other cars)
I would challenge anyone to find a video of it successfully going off road.
The blind spots are crazy
Leaks from panels not being aligned
There have been issues with the auto stop system reading oncoming traffic in the lane over causing it to slam on the brakes.

Just to touch on a few. I’m not an EV hater, just a hater of piss poor quality.

Ya I've heard about those things. I knew the first release would be garbage. Most of those are grossly negligent oversights.

Still the triple redundant steering, independent wheel drives, haptic feedback, etc are super cool.

 

[BMWallace]

Tesla wasted 1000s of engineering and design hours on this vanity project for their drug addled, man-child of a CEO.

Mean while their other models that people actually like and want aren't receiving updates and experiencing more and greater quality issues.

I respect what Tesla was able to do as far as making EVs more widely accepted, but they have been surpassed on the quality and reliability front by the S. Korean manufactures.

 

[CapnCy]

Apple Vision Pro comes to mind, but if the price was like 1k I would totally have one.

Yeah, so intriguing after watching some of the videos.
I messed with some of the PS4 VR stuff and it was neat, but not being able to see out does mess you up a bit.
I could see the vision pro having some great uses (especially if you had the right job, etc).
BUT, from a gadget perspective...wild to think in probably 10 years something with about half the functions will be at walmart black friday for like $75, lol.

 

[KnappShack]

It's Ok to admit you like the cybertruck. It's not like you admitted to liking Zima.

This Zima slander needs to end

 

[AgronAlum]

Ya I've heard about those things. I knew the first release would be garage. Most of those are grossly negligent oversights.

Still the triple redundant steering, independent wheel drives, haptic feedback, etc are super cool.

https://www.topgear.com/car-news/electric/yangwang-u8-1184bhp-plug-hybrid-suv-can-float-water

I'm following this to see how the release goes. A few cool things with this one are the ability to drive in water, independent wheel drives that can do 360 tank turns, drive on 3 wheels if you have a blowout and 1000+ HP. It also has a backup gas motor giving it the ability to run long range.