Tesla's Cybertruck: Kickin' Glass
Image: Tesla Motor Co.
Okay. Fine. I'll cede some points to Tesla's opponents. The truck looks like one of those activity books where triangles are hidden inside of triangles and you have to count how many total triangles are in the picture. It looks like a DeLorean rendered with a PlayStation 2 and zapped into real life. It looks like what a Pontiac Aztek would have looked like if it were designed 30 years later and by a child.
This being said - the Cybertruck (sometimes stylized as CYBRTRK) means a lot more than people are giving it credit for. The $40,000 - $60,000 price range makes it completely justifiable for being used as a fleet/company vehicle, which make up somewhere between 50-60% of all pickup purchases in the United States.
Additionally, the safety ratings and seemingly indestructible glass and panels make it a no-brainer for a potential contract with the armed forces, or in being used for protecting important individuals.
15,000 pounds towing capacity, Enormous bed (complete with a ramp and maybe an ATV, though details are ambiguous), 0-60 in anywhere between 6 to 2.9 seconds, depending on the trim, not to mention that higher-spec models of the CYBRTRK can attain nearly 500 miles in range. On top of all this, it has 110 and 220 volt power outlets -- the ultimate in utility.
If you watched the product unveiling, you saw Franz von Holzhausen, a designer at Tesla, throw a steel ball at the Cybertruck's window to prove its strength. The ball left a spiderweb shatter pattern in the window. It did not shatter completely, but it definitely didn't live up to Tesla's original descriptions of it. Franz threw again, aiming at the back window, only to see the back window shatter as well.
The glass was a fluke. Obviously Tesla has the shatterproof technology down, otherwise they could not have tested it with the tube-drop stunt. No one can say for sure why the Cybertruck windows broke but not the test pane. Let's face the facts. It's Tesla. It's Elon Musk. We're talking about the same man who sleeps in his factories during times of heavy workloads. He's dragged himself through hell and high water to keep his companies successful. He works 80-120 hour work weeks to support his projects.
The glass was a fluke. Obviously Tesla has the shatterproof technology down, otherwise they could not have tested it with the tube-drop stunt. No one can say for sure why the Cybertruck windows broke but not the test pane. Let's face the facts. It's Tesla. It's Elon Musk. We're talking about the same man who sleeps in his factories during times of heavy workloads. He's dragged himself through hell and high water to keep his companies successful. He works 80-120 hour work weeks to support his projects.
This is Tesla. This is Elon. Things break, and they get over it. I believe Tesla's ability to fail productively contributes to their continued rapid growth and success. The Tesla staff replaced the broken windows on the prototype Cybertruck less than an hour following Franz's pitches. After publicly shattering the windows twice for all the world to see, one can only assume that Elon will do everything humanly possible to ensure that the windows on the finished Cybertruck will be virtually indestructible. Anyone who truly understands Elon and Tesla knows that both welcome failure with open arms.
The Cybertruck is insanity. Tesla is continuing to turn the automotive field upside-down. Cybertruck, with all of its features and outstanding price range (much less than originally publicized), sets a new bar for all ICEVs and EVs alike. The statistics are phenomenal. The power, the innovation, and the specs are unignorable.
So -- forget the glass. Every major news outlet will try to use this to devalue the Cybertruck. Tesla will figure out the glass. The technology and innovation in the truck are far too impressive to be bogged down by the trivial.