The depth of the Cybertruck
It's more than what it appears to be
When I first saw the announcement of the Cybertruck, I have to admit that the whole thing seemed like a joke to me. Anyone who knows me knows that I’m a big fan of science fiction. I am always on the lookout for new technology and tend to be an early adopter. The Cybertruck, however, was something entirely different. From the name to the Stealth Fighter-like angled design, it just seemed like it was mostly flash over substance. The insult to injury was the price being 50% higher than what had originally been announced. Even last night I watched on TV as Elon Musk held an event for the first customers who were receiving their new Cybertrucks. I felt as if most of them just wanted a vehicle that would give them a lot of attention. Again, flash over substance.
Then today I watched Top Gear’s extensive review of the Cybertruck.
They took it out on the road for two days, in cities and in the mountains. Then they went to Tesla’s design center where two executives including the Chief Design Officer discussed all the details. That’s when I realized that it’s not simply flash over substance. They reimagined what a truck should be from the ground up. They made significant improvements over what a truck is today. It makes the existing trucks, even the Ford F150 Lightning seem like they have been left behind. I’m not going to provide a Cliff Notes version of the review since you can watch it yourself but I was very impressed and I’m not a truck enthusiast. I am still not the target market and this hasn’t changed my interest in owning a truck let alone this particular truck. Having said that, if in the future I decided I did indeed want a truck, I would be giving the Cybertruck very serious consideration.
Even if you are like me, not in the market for a truck, it’s worth the 41 minutes to watch the review mostly to listen to the designers talk about every little detail that went into reimagining a vehicle class that has been around for many decades. One thing I found particularly interesting was Musk’s demand that they build a prototype in 90 days. I don’t know much about the auto industry but I have to believe that the rest of the industry would think that’s insane. One of the designers said (paraphrasing), “When you only have 90 days, there’s no time to argue.” It can be risky but it appears to have paid off. Time of course will tell.