In general, the market for trucks in Europe is pretty much non existent. Just not a thing here. Blue collar workers use normal cars and vans here with a cheap trailer if they need to move lots of stuff/garbage/sand etc. Anything with a high fuel consumption is a non starter for commercial usage given the fuel cost. Besides, big vehicles just aren't very practical on narrow roads, in dense cities, etc.
Getting this thing approved for safety reasons might also be a challenge. I'd say a lot of people don't really want these things anywhere near pedestrians, children, or cyclists; all of which are very common in European traffic.
There's a market, it's tiny compared to the USA but I've seen bigger trucks like the Dodge RAM, Ford F-250, and similar peppered around Stockholm's area more affluent neighbourhoods/municipalities.
When I lived in Huddinge (a higher income municipality with lots of villas/detached houses) it seemed like 1 every 5 houses had at least one of those trucks parked in their garage, some had 2 or more. Same around the Danderyd area...
I've noticed the uptick in larger trucks, and bigger SUVs around the streets here for the past 4-5 years.
I really hope this trend doesn't continue, it sucks.
Yeah, we have those in Finland too. They're all for pavement princesses. They're always immaculately detailed, not a scratch, dent or dirt stain on them.
If people need a "truck" for actual work, they'll get a Toyota Hilux. And even those tend to have a hard shell over the bed essentially making it a van with huge ground clearance.
As long as we don't incentivise them like they (accidentally?) did in the US by having large enough vehicles be exempt from most environmental regulations...
Everyone can be rich with easy credit and the repo/used car cycle. Americans overextend themselves for $50k-$100k pickups just fine. You can dislike the reality, but don't operate for how you wish the world was, operate for how it is today.
They can. Does it matter? Works until it doesn't. Don't be holding the bag when the music stops and it isn't your problem. Manage credit risk my good friend! The topic of appearance of wealth and actual wealth is for another thread.
So my position is clear, I want a better world, but am also pragmatic about the fish bowl I live in current state. If Americans, who are responsible for 35% of global gasoline consumption, want to buy trucks, sell them EVs. I cannot tell them not to buy trucks. I cannot make trucks smaller. I cannot build pedestrian friendly urban cores in any reasonable timeframe. I cannot tell them to be financially responsible. Free will and all that. Don't complain about levers that don't exist or that you can't pull, pull hard on levers you can.
"Look at that Cybertruck. Wouldn't you look cool in that?"
> If Americans, who are responsible for 35% of global gasoline consumption, want to buy trucks, sell them EVs. I cannot tell them not to buy trucks.
Then why can the automakers tell them to buy trucks? If you can't tell them not to, why is it ok for automakers to use marketing to artificially generate such desires?
Agree I should've picked my word more carefully there. The only difference between those with actual wealth and those cosplaying is the window of time in which you can experience the benefits of the consumption. Catches up faster to those operating off of debt instead of wealth, but depending on your current state and life trajectory, that may not matter to you.
No one wants to be rich to be rich, for an arbitrary number in their bank or brokerage account. They want to be rich for some combination of freedom, power, status, and consumption. If you can get that with debt instead of some sort of wealth, there you go.
Makes me wonder if NHTSA tests not only the performance of a vehicle in terms of protecting its occupants, but also the performance of the vehicle in terms of what it does to any other vehicles it might come into contact with.
I assume they do some testing for vehicle vs. pedestrian or vehicle vs. cyclist, but would they run a Cybertruck into a Toyota Camry to see how the outcome compares for both vehicles compared to running an F-150 into the same Camry?
This higher mass would mean that any collision with a lighter vehicle could be very serious. European regulators would just need one look at the cars specs, and would dismiss it outright.
That’s not how crash tests work. To be able to get the vehicle certified, they drive the car into concrete barriers at a variety of angles and evaluate dummies for injuries. If the injuries are too severe, then the car will fail. In addition, there must be mitigations in place for what happens to wheels/engines in a crash scenario. If the engine immediately gets flung out of the engine bay, it will fail. Yes, I understand this is an electric vehicle.
In reality, modern cars are extremely safe (as much as a 2 ton hunk of metal can be).
Now, this calculation may be different for other vehicles involved in an accident with a cybertruck, but in reality, a concrete barrier is much harder than even this ugly slab of steel. The other cars are also engineered to absorb the same impacts.
Arguably the most vulnerable party in a cybertruck accident is a civilian located outside of a vehicle.
So where are the test results for the Cybertruck? Most modern cars are built in somewhat similar ways, Cybertruck is a huge outlier in construction. So I think it is very reasonable to ask whether that affects the safety of the vehicle.
If you some of the video you can see some of the Tests. You will find the data in the same place you find it for all vehicle. At some point an official rating will be published. Given that every single Tesla vehicle has been getting elite ratings, Cybertruck will likely get the same.
I'm really curious how the results of crash tests will turn out here. Crumple zones are a really important safety feature, and I can't imagine the Cybertruck will fare well without them.
people dont realize that crumpled/bended material absorbs crash energy. Its a good thing as that energy is not transferred into a passengers, well apparently musk is one of those people
Sarcasm often doesn't do well here (for good reason, there's a signal:noise expectation) but it's still surprising that sibling comments are taking this seriously.
"If you’re ever in an argument with another car, you will win,” Musk told his fans at the delivery event in its Texas factory in Austin. “Here at Tesla we have the finest in apocalypse technology."
Ok, maybe a direct quote from another source will suffice?
“If you’re ever in an argument with another car, you will win,” Musk told his fans at the delivery event in its Texas factory in Austin. “Here at Tesla we have the finest in apocalypse technology.”
It is worth calling out that Jonathan Gitlin has a history of regularly injecting editorial bias against Tesla/Musk in his reporting and might not be neutral.
Getting this thing approved for safety reasons might also be a challenge. I'd say a lot of people don't really want these things anywhere near pedestrians, children, or cyclists; all of which are very common in European traffic.