saw my first cybertruck

[Randall Stephens]

It’s another option to get us off petrol, so I’m glad it’s here. Once they get a few thousand on the road we’ll have an idea of what sort of market penetration it will get. I’m just surprised how small the thing and how poorly the frunk turned out. The 90 degree rear doors are a good thing, though. I’ve had an Air suspension before, never again. What sold the wife on the lightning was the frunk . I’m not sure the cybertruck frunk would have convinced her. Then again she looked at the reveal way back when and vetoed it there and then, and I know how to read an org chart And I love how incognito the lightning is. An aggressive model 3 driver got beaten off the line the other night, and im positive they had no idea what did it to them.

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[ctuan13]

Besides the obvious listed downsides (less range, more noise, harsher ride, smaller trunk, smaller bed, etc), the benefits that are always touted i.e. rear steering, air suspension, steer-by-wire, 48V architecture, etc are pretty much all downsides to me.

Maybe I'm just old-fashioned, but I do not want to be driving a vehicle where the steering wheel isn't mechanically linked with the steering gear/rack. I also hated electronic throttle bodies, but since we're talking EVs now, obviously accelerator input has to be electronic.

Rear steering definitely helps reduce the turning circle, but it's also massive increased complexity, reduced reliability and it actually creates a new problem: because the rear end is now steerable, your natural sense of spatial intuition is disrupted and even if in theory you can now make a turn you couldn't before, you now also have to consciously account for rear-end swing out. I realize this is something you might get used to, but the added complexity is certainly not worth the complication.

Air suspension is also always touted as a bonus, but the reality is, this isn't the air suspension of my 2004 Town Car which consisted of a compressor, two solenoids and two large, simple air bags that could all be overhauled with new components for around $500-600. Modern air suspension systems are complex and expensive to repair. Yeah I'm handy and I could likely do it myself when it failed, but why would I want to take on that added complexity. To me the 5% efficiency gain on the highway isn't worth it.

48V: so the biggest benefit here is the smaller wire gauge that can be used and the reduced weight of harnesses and such. Again this might be a benefit for future designs, but right now, this still isn't, at least to me, yielding an appreciable benefit. In addition it's a huge negative for me considering I like to wire in DC accesories. The market is still almost entirely set up for 12V systems. A 48V system would mean that every single accessory I want to wire up, would need a step down converter, an increase in time and complexity and a loss of space and efficiency.

I understand the cybertruck is a pretty cool and innovative piece of engineering and if you're happy with it, that's genuinely all that matters. However for me, the value just isn't there. Add on Tesla's, frankly abysmal approach to out-of-warranty repair/parts availability and their staunchly anti-right-to-repair company culture and its an absolute deal-breaker.

 

[Maxx]

and I know how to read an org chart

Best comment on the thread. Still rolling on the floor.

 

[Hank42]

.... Different strokes for different folks.....but man that is ugly.

Not saying the CT is beautiful by any stretch, but the Lightning's are not particularly pretty either - we're just accustomed to seeing pickup trucks for 50+ years so we normalize the way it looks.
Pretend (you're an alien from outer space) you've never seen a pickup truck before, you might have be saying the same thing about a Lightning!

 

[F150ROD]

Not saying the CT is beautiful by any stretch, but the Lightning's are not particularly pretty either - we're just accustomed to seeing pickup trucks for 50+ years so we normalize the way it looks.
Pretend (you're an alien from outer space) you've never seen a pickup truck before, you might have be saying the same thing about a Lightning!

Or the aliens would ask who brought the dumpster from home when they saw the CT

 

[Hank42]

.. However for me, the value just isn't there. Add on Tesla's, frankly abysmal approach to out-of-warranty repair/parts availability and their staunchly anti-right-to-repair company culture and its an absolute deal-breaker.

Agreed - the value is not there, and as Teslas age, the HV reparability is a big problem, I'm sure the CT is no different.

 

[ctuan13]

Agreed - the value is not there, and as Teslas age, the HV reparability is a big problem, I'm sure the CT is no different.

Exactly. And even though Ford is far from a right-to-repair darling, they certainly don't make it as difficult as Tesla. I can walk into any Ford dealer and order probably 90%+ of the parts for my truck with zero issue. Sure the prices aren't great, but we're talking availability here. In addition there is always a growing aftermarket and with the Lightning being built on the 14th gen F150 platform, there are so many shared components.

I also think it can't be overlooked that the Lightning has one of the easiest to remove and access HVB packs of any EV to date. It's literally two shields, coolant and electrical connectors and eight bolts and the entire pack drops out.

This means that even if Ford built in some insane software lock akin to what Apple does with their devices, the barrier to entry in terms of physical access to the pack is so much lower that I think it'll be much more attractive to tinkerers, hackers, DIYers, etc. This gives me a lot of hope that not too far down the road, we'll start seeing rebuilt or remanufactured or even upgraded packs for the Lightning as the platform matures. To me, as someone that doesn't really like selling or getting rid of any of my vehicles, this is a big deal, this means that my truck will be repairable and maintainable 10 years from now.

The reality is that when the Cybertruck ages out, 98% of them will be landfill waste and recycled stainless steel. Your ultra rich purists might have someone like Rich Rebuilds hack a new battery into one, but for most, the complexity, cost and time will be far too much of a burden to accept.

 

[Hank42]

Your ultra rich purists might have someone like Rich Rebuilds hack a new battery into one, but for most, the complexity, cost and time will be far too much of a burden to accept.

Oh man, I wish Rich Rebuilds would hack a Tesla MCU to replace this Sync Garbage in my Lighting!

 

[Feather&Fin]

I bought a 1997 Land Rover Defender D90 LE, my friends would ride me on how ugly that truck was.. the CT is pretty insane looking, especially in person.. The Lightning looks like a pickup truck that we all know as a pickup truck; again, the Lightning is a pretty sweet EV pickup truck... and it's available today and Ford has finally priced it correctly...

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