[eo3x0]

I know a lot of folks are walking away from the puzzling aesthetic but I think that’s the point. Existing Tesla owners with a taste for existing design cues won’t push Tesla sales any further. They’ve got to expand the demographic and this design has a chance to do this.

Think of all the wrangler, hummer, truck buyers who want a militaristic, rough, unpolished steel look and this is that flavor taken to an extreme.

Other buyers still have the S3XYs to choose from so we can all have our favorite toys from the same company. No cannibalization.

[netwanderer3]

Whether people may like this exterior design or not, it's a display of bravery from Tesla to steer away from old conventional shapes and forms. Strong innovative design deviations like this should be praised.

[ehsankia]

my assumption was that people who ride this kind of car want to stand out in the first place. Most pick up trucks and other kind of trucks all look pretty weird like the slideshow at the start. Square cars, weird dimensions, etc. I think they're appealing to the right demographic here

[ryanmercer]

>my assumption was that people who ride this kind of car want to stand out in the first place.

Every single Tesla vehicle I've seen in the wild here in Indiana has had a vanity plate, my favorite being Indiana plate "5TAR 5HP" a few weeks ago driving home from work, here she is https://imgur.com/gallery/YGhwGYV

[michaelbuckbee]

Looking at pictures on their site I keep having to remind myself that it's an actual physical thing because it looks so much like render.

[cjsawyer]

It looks like a videogame incorrectly rendering a “low level of detail” model when the player is too close.

[minikomi]

It reminds me of the game "Another World"

[tgsovlerkhgsel]

> walking away from the puzzling aesthetic

This thing looks like straight out of a sci-fi movie. I think the aesthetic is going to get them a lot of sales. If I had use for a car, this would be at the very top of my list, purely based on the looks.

[puranjay]

I hated it at first. But the more I look at it, the more I like it. It's crazy and totally memeable, like a cross between Guy Fieri, Cosmo Kramer, and Jeff Goldblum.

I bet they'll get a ton of sales from people buying it ironically. Which, when you think about it, is why many people buy trucks in the first place - very few are buying it for utility.

[j79]

Unless your use of ironic is in the vein of Alanis Morrissette, I doubt many folks have the funds to buy a vehicle...ironically...don’t cha think?

[jdnenej]

I don't think a car is something you purchase just for the meme.

[samstave]

There is a very interesting study done on Prius owners, where they are buying them for the smugness of the vehicle.

[esoterica]

That has nothing to do with buying stuff for the memes

[TeMPOraL]

Yup. You need to apply only very little imagination here - this is just a paint job away from designs used in half of the sci-fi series of the last 20 years.

[kumarvvr]

I explore, study, read and think about design a lot. This truck is giving me mixed feelings.

In static images, it looks ugly, but in videos, it looks awesome.

Maybe it's because of the extremely minimal design, and as someone said in these comments, it lacks any features at all.

One thing though, you have to give Elon the credit to travel down the road less traveled.

[Apocryphon]

Someone's gotta turn retrofuturist sci-fi into reality

[tim333]

They are doing that well with Starship. I guess this fits the theme.

In fact it's made with the same steel alloy. I think I want to buy one now.

[gpm]

I wonder about that alloy decision. Starship needs to be strong at cryogenic temperatures, and strong after being used as a heatshield to burn off energy from an interplanetary orbit. Both temperatures change the properties of the material it's made out of considerably.

Is the same alloy really also the best at everyday -50 to 50 (c) temperatures?

[tim333]

Dunno but apparently it's used for that kind of stuff a bit https://www.upmet.com/products/stainless-steel/301

[growlist]

You also need to look at the Eastern market - Chinese/Middle East markets are apparently what is driving the outrageous size of BMW's grills, and many other extreme design elements currently en vogue.

[fyfy18]

In the Middle East the Land Cruiser V8 is king. It's not because of looks (although IMO they don't look bad), but what it can do.

Can you use this to overtake someone on the hard shoulder (half covered in sand) and go bumming around sand dunes? That's what Tesla have got to do to win there.

[rpmisms]

Yes. This probably works better in sand than almost any ICE.

[taneq]

It looks like a gonzo ball. I'm gonna take some time to come round to this, if I ever do.

[p1mrx]

> gonzo ball

What do those words mean? Google Image Search isn't helping.

[taneq]

Wow, clearly I'm showing my age here because I can't find a picture either. Back in the 80s a gonzo ball was a bouncy ball cast into a roughly round, irregular polyhedron so that when it hit the ground it bounced at some unpredictable angle.

[homonculus1]

"Z-ball" seems to be the common name

[wavefunction]

"gonzo" means crazy or over-the-top Not familiar with "gonzo ball" but it probably means "large amount of craziness"

[IAmGraydon]

This doesn’t look militaristic, rough or unpolished. It looks like a high tech El Camino.

[newnewpdro]

Yeah, because that's what all the F150 buyers of the world really wanted, an angular flat-paneled ridiculous movie prop.

This thing alienates far more than it attracts in the pickup truck market.

[whysohardtoc]

Flat panel is what trucks have needed to go back to. Get a bad dent or the garbage is rusting out? Cut it out and weld some sheet on top. No need buy an entire door or go to a body shop.

[IAmGraydon]

Are you being serious? This is a Tesla. You think people are going to repair them by welding steel sheet on top?

[sgt]

Not immediately but if this thing is as indestructible as it looks, after 10 years of hard use, new battery pack, it's not hard to imagine that it'll be fixed by welding steel panels on it.

[usrusr]

The DeLorean isn't exactly famed for body repairability and this is just that, a DeLorean grotesquely inflated to light tank scale.

[tomcooks]

Flat panels are less secure, because flat surfaces are less stiff than curved or creased surfaces (theory you can easily test with a piece of paper).

[CamperBob2]

Did you watch the video? They "tested" it with a sledgehammer.

[tomcooks]

Yes, and the panels in this truck have a reinforcing crease.

I was referring to parent comment

[jenkinstrigger]

ok sure, but what if they paint it red?

[ctdonath]

What if they anodized it red?

[BRAlNlAC]

you don't anodize steel.

[asdf21]

They said they would vinyl wrap for different colors.

[et2o]

F150s have been getting more and more like this, this is exactly what they want.

[afterburner]

F150s still have curved sections... this is more like the F-117.

[infinitybeyond]

Did you see the photo of the F-117 when they were showing inspirations for it?

[newnewpdro]

Which makes perfect sense, pickup trucks do benefit from a reduced radar signature greater than lighter weight body panels that are equally strong...

[syshum]

As a Long time F150 Buyer, no we do not

[look_lookatme]

Hear hear.