I’m not sure there has ever been a vehicle that inspires so much simultaneous adoration and revulsion as the Tesla Cybertruck. The thing isn’t even out yet, and there’s already people both ready to burn one in (a simple, plywood) effigy and those that are seriously considering starting to pray to it instead of their current deity. I’m not sure I’ve ever experienced anything like this before.
A fantastic example of this can be seen when, just yesterday, Tesla’s lead designer Franz von Holzhausen showed up to the Malibu Cars and Coffee with a pre-production (I hope) Cybertruck wearing a matte black wrap. Autojournalist Daniel Golson spotted the thing and took these pictures you see here, and there are two really interesting revelations: the surprisingly rough build quality of this thing, and, even better, the alarmingly rough interactions of Tesla -philes and -phobes in the comments of Daniel’s X (something something former Twitter something) post. Because they’re nuts.
Here’s Daniel’s initial post, which has been retweeted by over 1,200 people:
Don’t worry everyone, the Cybertruck looks horrible in matte black too pic.twitter.com/hMu0mUk1zJ
— Daniel Golson (@dsgolson) November 5, 2023
And here are some more pictures of the wrapped Cybertruck:
Then Daniel posted these close-up pictures of the Cybertruck, which reveals some pretty iffy build quality and panel fitment issues, and I think this is really where all the fun starts. I mean, look at this:
Oof, that’s um, not great, even if we ignore the wrap wrinkles. There are lots of tricky angles coming together there, I get that, but that hood doesn’t even really look closed. Here’s another angle:
All those angles and straight edges can be pretty unforgiving for this type of thing; I think it’d be challenging to build well for almost any carmaker, if that helps. Of course, that could be part of why other carmakers haven’t decided to build a car like this, with these huge, flat, stainless body panels.
Getting these wheelarch trims to fit flush seems a challenge, too. But by far the most egregious issue had to be with the tailgate, which looked like this when closed:
I’m pretty sure that the tailgate is supposed to meet and close flush with the bedsides there, and the rear taillight bar is supposed to line up seamlessly with the light units build into the bedsides.
As you can see, it’s not, by at least a good quarter inch or so? Maybe a bit more? Also, even in matte black, this all feels like commercial kitchen equipment, somehow. And, yes, with the bed tonneau up, you do lose the rear window.
Also interesting is the size of this support pillar under the steeply-raked A-pillar, where the rear-view mirror is mounted. It’s a pretty thick block of metal and plastic that does make for a hell of a blind spot:
🤡🤡🤡 https://t.co/yuJz8QB0Y2 pic.twitter.com/YdTZkw5dZI
— Daniel Golson (@dsgolson) November 5, 2023
There are lots more good pictures here, too, beyond what was tweeted, which we have purchased from Daniel to run here:
Of course, when Daniel pointed out some of these issues – many of which, to be fair, may be solved when the final production Cybertruck hits the market – he got a lot of predictably cranky responses from the Cybertruck faithful.
The type of response varies a lot, but there are a few key staples, like the reminder that most of us have not, in fact, designed and developed a full-size automobile and placed it into mass production, and I guess that means you can’t complain about any production car as a result:
You know, it’s how there are no movie critics that have not produced entire movies, or food critics who have never run a restaurant, or cultural critics who have never started an entire society.
There’s also the attacks based on doing a lot of Googling for pictures of the original poster, and saying some shit about their style choices:
This is only a tiny look at the unacceptable harassment Golson has dealt with from Cybertruck diehards.
This interaction, though, I think is my favorite:
Here’s a nice example of the truly unhinged culty Tesla fan, where changing the world comes up:
I do have to disagree with Daniel on this point: I think Back to the Future picked the DeLorean BECAUSE it was cool:
Ah, Cybertruck madness! I hope it never ends!
All photos: Daniel Golson/The Autopian
I love discussing philosophical Tesla; how to handle self driving advancements. Anyone who sits here, Golson, and over analyzes pre-prod automobiles is just a dunce that doesn’t understand how ANY manufacturing works. Every pre-prod product sucks. You have to start somewhere and you might as well fail as quickly as possible otherwise you end up like Ford where they can’t launch a vehicle to save their lives. Did we forget Ford is having to replace every single Bronco hardtop? BECAUSE THEY PUT OUT SHIT. This is tiresome. Yes, the Cyberetruck looks funny, get over it.
Yeah, it’s not as if production model 3s sold to customers ever had insane panel gaps or paint issues or loose parts or..
Yeah, that’s interesting and noteworthy. This isn’t.
You just can’t slurp enough of the musky chode’s Kool-aid, I see.
Far from it. It’s just not very interesting to read about prototype vehicles being put together like shit. Tell me something I didn’t know.
Oh wait, Ford is replacing every single Bronco hardtop because they ADMIT they made a mistake. Not like Tesla where their MO is to gaslight people into thinking their moves were intentional and it’s not a design flaw, but a feature.
The motivation to replace every bronco hard top is to save face to try and avoid the PR nightmare that right now they’re pretty bad at designing and building cars. If they had the brand cache as Tesla they’d be doing the same damn thing Tesla does. I don’t like that about Tesla, but it’s the world we live in. People will accommodate a brand’s short comings if that brand is fashionable.
Lol wut. Ford is replacing all hard tops because their executives listened to their lawyers when they said the words “class action lawsuit.”
Can you not read? A class action lawsuit is the exact nightmare to avoid because they can’t build cars for shit. But good thing their clean prototypes duped a bunch of people into buying a shitty vehicle. All kinds of places ignore things and get slapped with class action lawsuits that never benefit the consumer.
I think it’s pretty obvious that I can read, since that is a necessary prerequisite to writing. Perhaps one of us misunderstood the other’s comment. I’m not sure why that led you to act like an ass and attempt to educate me about class actions.
My point was that brand cache is not the primary motivating factor regarding voluntary recalls and warranty campaigns, although it is certainly an important consideration. The primary motivating factor is risk mitigation, particularly class action avoidance. Ford makes these decisions the way most consumer brands do. Tesla is led by an egomaniacal moron who makes decisions based on … I don’t know. Maybe his star charts.
Have a nice day.
If you don’t want people to be an asshole to you then don’t start the conversation as an asshole. “Lol wut.” You’re going to tip-toe around how that’s not being an asshole, but we all understand what starting a sentence with lol wut means.
No, they’re replacing the problematic early ones from Webasto that started developing failures in the outer layer of resin. A company doesn’t necessarily need the threat of lawsuits to do something right. Incidentally, the new ones are still made by Webasto, rather than Ford changing to any number of other potential suppliers (though likely the top material would change in such a move, probably from the MIC to fiberglass or similar).
Sorry, I’m just a lawyer. I boil everything down to the threat of lawsuits. 🙂
Thanks for the additional info, tho. I’m in the auto industry (as much as lawyers are allowed to claim that, anyway), and it’s always interesting to learn more.
Cachet, not cache.
hanks my key doesn’ work oo well
In fairness to Ford, they don’t make the tops. Webasto does. Webasto makes lots of tops (both OE and aftermarket), which is a big reason Ford went with them. Yeah, the first few batches of tops were not properly made. And, frankly, kudos to Ford for standing behind what is largely a cosmetic (though can lead to worse with water intrusion) failure, not something that’s going to cause a sudden catastrophic failure AFAIK. Manufacturers install parts that were pre-assembled by suppliers (like Webasto, Takata, Continental, Bosch, etc.), they do little if any raw parts assembly themselves.
So of all the examples you could have picked, that’s not a very good one.
I’m well aware how that all works, thanks. I’ve worked for several automotive suppliers and now consult for others. I don’t think kudos should be given for something that never should have been delivered to begin with. They put it all together and sent it out the door. The arbiter of quality at that point is Ford, not the supplier. For all we know Ford designed it like shit and it needed redesign to be able to be manufactured OR the supplier fucked up the design and manufacture, but that doesn’t negate the fact Ford quality signed off on something as simple as cosmetic; what’s the rest like?
Having not been in the room, nor having a stake in the fight, I believe that Webasto claimed they could do it, so the burden of proof rests with them. Ford’s demands may have been too high if not nearly impossible, and Webasto has the knowledge, experience, and expertise to be able to say so. If that were the case then they should have encouraged Ford to do the Bronco hard tops like how Jeep, Mercedes, Land Rover, Toyota, etc., have done for decades.
Put another way: Jatco makes transmissions, and is the most-popular CVT maker in the automotive world for cars sold in the U.S.. Yet the manufacturers who chose to use them (especially after their failure-prone nature became apparent, and even moreso with the fact that improvements and refinements have been few and far-between) are the ones who have lost face, but Jatco is responsible for the design, engineering, development, implementation, software, manufacture, and deployment of their transmissions, and could have engineered any number of failsafes to prevent the failure that they tend to experience, but didn’t, even across multiple final OEMs. So the original supplier knows the part is going to fail, and the final manufacturer knows it’s going to fail, but they don’t do anything – like suggesting/requiring twice-as-frequent fluid services, for example, perhaps conjoined with a software lockout if the TCM doesn’t get a ‘handshake’ from a proper scan tool verifying the service has been done – to resolve it for the future owners. They just keep churning them out and call it a day. Whereas Ford recognized the issue with the tops, even issuing stop-sales and taking action to resolve and prevent the issue from worsening almost immediately upon discovering the somewhat-widespread issue. That sort of semi-proactive reaction is the exception, not the rule nowadays, and should be celebrated for what it is. No, it’s not the cure for cancer, and no it’s not going to save the world, but it’s a good step in the right direction especially with how screwy things were during and after the pandemic and the effect that had on the Bronco’s development.
I’m all for OEM’s fixing their shit, I just don’t think we should praise some one for making a problem and then fixing it. Don’t let the problem happen to begin with.
Jatco is a whole other story. I think at this point the only one using Jatco is Nissan/Infiniti because they own Jatco. Correct me if I am wrong, but I can’t think of anyone who might use a Jatco on a vehicle that isn’t a shared development with Nissan.
Yeah Nissan is the primary owner of Jatco, but it’s been bounced around multiple owners over the last few decades. They’re easily the most prolific user of CVTs as at one point all of their FWD-based vehicles (in the US at least) used CVTs, though the new Pathfinder & QX60 just switched to a 9-speed unit with their most recent update.
Mitsubishi Mirage and Chevy Spark are the only current/recent (since the spark is out of production IIRC) non-Nissan/Infiniti-branded vehicles off the top of my head using a Jatco CVT sold in the US. The caliber/compass/patriot trio used one as well, and I believe there were some other Mitsubishi and/or Suzuki models that did as well, but the details are a bit fuzzy and I’m unable to research while at work.
Please, please, please make a new Back to the Future movie using a Cybertruck.
Key plot points:
1) The stainless steel construction is ideal for uniform flux dispersal.
2) Unreliability due to questionable build quality used as plot tool.
3) High energy consumption of time circuits depletes the HV battery requiring supercharger network, which being unavailable in 1985 requires Doc Brown to retrofit the Cybertruck with a nuclear reactor.
The plot twist is that we’re all living in an alternative timeline created by Musk using the time machine, which he stole to make himself the richest man in the world. This practically writes itself.
Nice, I’d definitely watch this!
I’m not hating on the build quality, since all Cybertrucks will be pre-production level until the end of 2024. I’m not hating on the black either, since, for once, I think it makes the Cybertruck look at least kinda cool?
However…. I will continue to hate on the use of stainless and how the body is going to be a nightmare to fix (and insure as well, Tesla will be taking lots of insurance liability on this one…). State Farm, Allstate, etc.. might just say “yeah, no, we can’t insure these things” so Tesla’s insurance arm will get a workout.
Also… if the HEAD FUCKING DESIGNER of the product needed to show up with the product looking different vs. one of the core design aspects… then why continue down the stainless route? What is the wrap trying to hide? Probably all the minor dings/scratches that you wouldn’t notice on painted car… even a BLACK painted car…
The front of it isn’t too bad, but that rear end would be a hot mess even if the tailgate line up. Those wheels (probably wheel covers) are going to be destroyed the first time anybody takes this thing off-road or my wife parallel parks it.
…And how is it that there are several plumbing fixture companies that can stamp a sink out of stainless steel and it’s still rigid, yet sumptuously curved, but the company owned by the richest guy in the world can only make flat shit?
I will be very interested to see if they can tighten this thing up come ramp-up time. This thing looks half-baked altogether. It just feels like they weren’t willing to make any compromises to make the thing actually manufacturable. People need to stop making excuses for them. I’m sure they could keep it weird enough with some more conventional shapes that are possible to put together consistently well. I respect what Tesla has been able to do, but it seems like they need to grow up a little, yet.
Ferraris, McLarens, and Lambos have shitty fitment, too. And that’s in their production models.
Not like this.
It looks to be fabricated by a continuous extruded aluminum gutter machine.
As someone alluded to, they are certainly subscribing to the all publicity is good publicity.
What kills me is how a lot of the unreasonable Tesla fans seem to equate ~1 million $100, fully refundable deposits as a guarantee that the Cybertruck will sell in the millions. Simply put, there isn’t enough demand for such a vehicle. It’s a niche vehicle, which is fine, but it’s not going to be this incredible mass market success people seem to think it will be.
Assuming the design brief was: “ build a huge electric truck that steals the show wherever it goes and generates a ton of online engagement”, it’s hard to argue that this is anything but a smashing success.
Did tye head designer take questions? Apologize? Hit anyone with his white cane? Considering this is a one offer introduction for 1st inspection you would think they would do their best? I can’t imagine what mass production will look like.
Head designer did this?
Glad he was’t hired to be my new Latex salesman.
I think the next attempt should be several bright primary colors like a pre school toy. The Tesla stans reactions are almost as funny as the Top Gear level design and build quality
You can have it in any color you like so long as it’s ugly.
“Beauty is skin deep but ugly goes clear to the bone” (70s T Shirt)
“Any color you like, as long as it’s blech“
It does remind me a bit of those old Top Gear “let’s build our own car” specials!
And also, as Torch mentioned, I also get strong fridge vibes.
I don’t know, all my appliances and cabinets have a better fit than this.
A Harlequin Cybertruck? I can dig it.
It’s not going to convince me the Cybertruck is good product, but I can dig it.
The person that heads Tesla also heads up a company that sends people to space. I know, I know, Tesla and SpaceX are two vastly different companies with nothing in common other than who currently runs them, but I just find it so fascinating. One company sent people to space and returned them safely to Earth. The other can’t line up panels.
Read Isaacson’s book on Musk. It helps to resolve that apparent contradiction.
There are long bus people and short bus people.
I feel like if you’re going to do a no holds barred Syd Mead retro-futuristic design it should be cooler. This looks like a first draft. Maybe it looks better in person. And I hope that’s not the final design for the rims.
Yeah, what the hell is going on with those?
I was thinking to myself, “That CAN’T be a Lusso! Who would allow that ‘truck’ next to a fine vehicle like that?”
The audacity to park it next to a Lusso.
What’s with the stupid wheels? Looks like custom tires to go with the ugly wheels that overlap the sidewalls of the tires. How many of these wheel covers will fly off from flexing and cause death/injury/extensive damage? And if they don’t fly off, how many sidewalls will they destroy before they’re forced to make a design change? That HAS to be a muskrat design decision. I don’t want to believe professional engineers would build that without orders.
I say those are probably hubcaps, wheels would fit better
I’m sitting here thinking that a lot of this could’ve been fixed with guide channeling cut into the metal like aircraft do so that when it’s bolted or welded together the tension straightens it out and closes the tolerances.
But then I remember that guide channeling would make this thing go from $120,000 to $400,000 because damn near everything’s a straight surface.
It does not look like a truck. It does not look like it can do truck things. Why to they call it a truck?
Because trucks sell.
Welcome to marketing
They should wrap one in red and get a vanity plate that says “Shtapler”. Bonus points if they get Rob Schneider to drive it.
The lead designer didn’t have access to a preproduction truck with better build quality? Or did he not notice the flaws?
I am pretty sure that their has been a so-cal preproduction truck running round for years now….since of course the truck is taking half a decade to actually become reality. https://www.teslarati.com/tesla-cybertruck-la-sighting-elon-musk-driving-video/
That was 2019
Putting aside issues with Musk, I hope they solve these issues quickly. Won’t be the car for me, but think it looks genuinely cool. Fully appreciate Tesla pushing boundaries in polarizing ways and expanding the Overton window of acceptable automotive design. Would be a bummer if they undermined themselves with shi**y (/ier than usual) QC problems.
Y’know how stage productions build sets? And those sets are slapped together sloppily because they’re not permanent?
That.
Ummm that’s literally the easiest thing. See: Over 2000 years of woodworking
Wood is a bit easier to work with than stainless steel.
Actually it only differs in the tools you use, but the average hobbyist can get good results with both materials. My point (which maybe you missed) is that aligning two straight parts is literally the easiest type of joining. Wood, stainless or marble, now joining two pieces of crown molding is harder, as is two compound curves in stainless. My cheap plasma cutter ($179) results in remarkably straight lines. Designers more likely avoid “huge flat” body panels because they are not attractive.
I’ve built cabinets, furniture, kayaks, paddles, and other things out of various types of wood and I’ve worked a little bit with different metals (including stainless steel). I can tell you something you might find hard to believe, but trust me, working with wood =/= the same as working with stainless steel.
I wasn’t equating the materials, but joining large flat parts. You obviously have a lot of woodworking experience and only a little metal working experience, so you naturally find one more of a challenge.
I know enough to know that stamping 3mm stainless steel panels without ripples and aligning them to each other with muskrat’s ridiculously specced tolerances is an expensive, difficult process, but I don’t need to have even worked in manufacturing or done anything myself to see the results in the photos from a company that’s produced hundreds of thousands of vehicles for over a decade. I’ve been to Factory Five meets where pretty much every car there was better built. I’ve seen a late ’70s junked prototype from AMC (picture an Eagle El Camino) that was much better and that was only intended to be seen on a rotating table on a car show circuit. Of course, none of them were made out of stainless steel, I suppose. I don’t wonder why.
Hey stainless steel appliances have many straight edges and opening door. Dishwashers and clothes washer are square round doors (front loaders) and they can not and do not leak.
Oh his tolerance comment was beyond stupid and should be a wake up call to anyone who think the knows literally anything. I work in semiconductor, and we use a lot of stainless stamped parts, they all line up just fine. The gap between the fender and the flair was ridiculous.. I mean seriously, add a couple pop rivets.
Well… woodworking does involve a lot of flat panels – but with intentional offsets, steps, gaps, softened corners, frames, panels and trim so its not necessary to get everything to line up perfectly. I recall my instructor in a furniture design class in college walking us through a dresser – top overhangs the frame, posts sit proud of side panels, drawers sit back slightly, and on and on. Perfect alignment leaves no tolerance for fabrication or movement over time. Not to mention a curved shape has inherent structural characteristics that will help it hold shape over time compared to a perfectly flat one.
I learned the same lesson working as an architect/interior designer. Sleek modernism is the hardest style to work in. It eliminates all the overlaps and stepping that allows for tolerance – casings and baseboard and crown covering corners and seams and joints, etc. Places to change color or material. Paneling or architectural features create rhythm and break up large expanses, give your eyes a place to pause and rest, manage the interaction with light and shadow.
Musk took hundreds of years of craftsmen in all sorts of disciplines developing strategies to ensure beauty and reliability not just from day one but as a piece ages and… ignored all of it. Reminds of a building on the university campus I attended. Largest building ever made with a single continuous concrete pour ever. Smooth monolithic concrete all the way up. Its boring, dated and still sitting there because thanks to the manufacturing method it is pretty much impossible to adapt to new uses and will cost more to tear down that it did to build!
But they are tearing down the Crosley Tower in 2025 though
Somehow I suspect that when the revised demolition estimates arrive that date may push back a few years…
Nah, they got that Big Twelve money now.
I appreciate how quickly that was ID’d.
I remember when it was built. Ugly then, never got better. I see a similar fate for the “truck”.
Well I’m from the area
The commercial cooking equipment analogy is spot-on. Ever look at a restaurant range? It’s 100% function, but looks like ass in a decorated kitchen. That’s why Viking and Wolf ranges are so expensive – getting that heavy sheet metal precise is exponentially more expensive the tighter you go. Musk’s directive to build these to “sub 10 microns” will cost approximately $10^shityourpants. Legos are not made of giant sheets of stainless steel.
I had to laugh at Musk’s tolerance requirements. Showed his actual ignorance of manufacturing. I should say wilful ignorance.
I’ve always heard about the panel gaps on Teslas, but I thought they’d have gotten better by now. Some of those close-ups are really horrendous! Is it really going to be $100k? How could they drive that around and proudly show it to people?
“I’m not sure there has ever been a vehicle that inspires so much simultaneous adoration and revulsion as the Tesla Cybertruck” > BMW 5 sixth generation E60