I think of the Aztek and its beautiful styling (compared to the Cybertruck).
And also Truckla, which is the (apparently) the most problem-free Tesla truck. Right now, Tesla should be kneeling at Simone Giertz’s feet, begging for her help.
They had a ton of demand for them, but when the reality set in that stainless steel is a nightmare to align (sub 10-micron accuracy!!) and a nightmare to maintain, the car fell into the niche category.
How it got this far will be written about for a decade, a great example of not performing real world testing and validation.
You know somewhere deep in Tesla product people and engineers we're warning of the issues to come, but Elon had to have his Halo warthog.
>But the squeeze on the company’s operating margin — which came in at 8.2% in the fourth quarter, down from the 16% for last year — remains, and Tesla has warned investors to brace that vehicle volume growth this year “may be notably lower” than the rate logged in 2023, noting it is “currently between two major growth waves.”
>Tesla will lay off more than 10% of global workforce: Read the Elon Musk memo
>The company’s stock was down 1.20% in premarket deals at roughly 7:30 a.m. ET.
>“As we prepare the company for our next phase of growth, it is extremely important to look at every aspect of the company for cost reductions and increasing productivity,” Tesla CEO Elon Musk said in an internal memo obtained by CNBC.
>[...] But the squeeze on the company’s operating margin — which came in at 8.2% in the fourth quarter, down from the 16% for last year — remains, and Tesla has warned investors to brace that vehicle volume growth this year “may be notably lower” than the rate logged in 2023, noting it is “currently between two major growth waves.”
> Why don’t we just wait to see how things play out before making that kind of judgment?
The car was announced in November 2019 - almost 5 years ago. Delivery was delayed by 2 years and the car still clearly has manufacturing defects. Things have played out.
When I saw my first one in the Houston area I noticed they had already wrapped it (for as ugly as I think it is, the black wrap with the LED headlights actually was kind of sharp)
> To prevent damage to the exterior, immediately remove corrosive substances (such as grease, oil, bird droppings, tree resin, dead insects, tar spots, road salt, industrial fallout, etc.). Do not wait until Cybertruck is due for a complete wash. If necessary, use denatured alcohol to remove tar spots and stubborn grease stains, then immediately wash the area with water and a mild, non-detergent soap to remove the alcohol.
Literally any car will have its clear coat eaten away from the same list of corrosive substances. It’s very common to get rings around where bird poop drops on a car and sits, because it etches the clear coat. Don’t see how this recommendation is different.
You have the right idea, stainless steel is supposed to require minimal work, but on a car its much different. You don't typically drive your stainless steel piping and sheet metal at 70-80mph into debris that can result in its surface being ruined over time.
I have a stainless steel fridge and its a fingerprint magnet, I use bar keepers friend on it every week. As far as I can tell from the Cybertruck subreddit, its the only product that works, but thats just for the finger prints.
The most telling sign to me is that you have to do bug removal immediately, no other car requires this.
The stainless effect is due to a very, very thin oxide layer - stainless is basically "pre-rusted". Now if you damage that layer it will rust just like any other steel (any steel alloy is still mostly iron!). So pretty good for your kitchen, not so good for a lot of other applications.
Also, am I the only one who keeps thinking of the Simpson's Canyonero when reading cybertruck news?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PI_Jl5WFQkA