Videos: Opening Cybertruck door and charge port cover

[HaulingAss]

Please explain what a Legacy Truck is? Because it certainly doesn't apply the top truck producers in the world.

Huh? Obviously, a legacy truck is a truck made by a legacy automaker, like the one I own, an F-150.

Unlike Tesla, these automakers actually change their products every year, and give their customers a plethora of choices.

Unlike legacy automakers, Tesla actually changes their products every week, whenever they can find a way to make a part last longer, perform better or be easier to assemble.

The CT doesn't have paint: Everyone gets the same color. The US market has proven that won't work for most customers.

Tesla is not depending upon most buyers to sell large numbers of the Cybertruck. In the U.S. alone, light truck sales exceed 10 million per year. Tesla can reach the upper end of their projected annual Cybertruck production numbers of 385K-500K by capturing only 5% of the light truck market. As you can see, Cybertruck does not need to appeal to most light truck buyers to exceed their goals. Is it your contention that 5% of all truck buyers demand a choice of exterior colors? Even with every Cybertruck being bare, unpainted cold-rolled stainless steel, it will be more unique in color than a white or red or black truck.

Here's an interesting FACT: Ford reached their peak market share of over 60% of all motor vehicle sales during the 1920's, when every Ford was black. When buyers had to go to one of many competitors if they wanted to buy a car that was not black. Let that sink in!

Personally, I always buy white cars, when available, because it's a more ubiquitous color and is a bit harder for drivers with poor eyesight to miss. Statistics show white cars are involved in fewer accidents. I am not alone in not having strong color preferences in my vehicles, other than for practical considerations like reflecting the sun's heat energy, visibility and cost. Offer me a vehicle that doesn't require fragile paint, and I'm all over it.

BTW, the largest part of cost to repair after a traffic accident is often the re-painting to match. A small dent can require replacement of the entire body panel and re-painting all the surrounding panels to blend the color in. The Cybertruck will not require the expensive last steps of re-painting.

Delorean tried that....There's no question that cold rolled steel is structurally superior. But it will scratch very easily, albeit hard to dent or puncture.

Nope. Cold-rolling to full hard substantially increases the surface hardness and resistance to scratching. Your stainless steel refrigerator will scratch like butter compared to cold-rolled stainless steel. But I wouldn't expect you to know much about material hardness since you claim to work in IT development.

Let's talk about your presumed area of expertise. Did you know that Tesla's software platform is miles ahead of legacy auto software? Do you know why legacy auto claims to have Over the Air software update capability and yet cannot update 80% of the software in the vehicle? Even updating the 20% that they can update is very problematic due to the 80% they can't update.

Could it be that you work devloping the crappy software for legacy OEM's, either directly or indirectly, and that your job is threatened if legacy OEM's fail?

Cold rolled steel is also extremely expensive to repair. How many autobody shops are equipped to do it? And consequently, how much will a person have to pay in insurance? One minor collision in a CT will be exponentially more than a traditional truck. That picture you showed me is affordable to fix. I'm trying to follow you, but I think you are reaching in some of your points. No question the CT has some unique features, but some of the overengineering will punish it's owners in the long run.

My brother is not wealthy like I am. He did not find that dent affordable to fix. That's why he let it rust. Rust is expensive too and legacy OEM's don't want to fix this problem because they like the fact that rust retires most trucks in the rust belt early. They purposefully paint the frames with less paint thickness than the bodies so that water and road salt can work their economic magic as the warranty expires. They know just how little paint to use to make it through warranty without having to cover but a tiny percentage under their corrosion warranty. Tesla refuses to compromise on the longevity of their vehicles for profit motive. They are not like the legacy OEM's.

You claim "over-engineering" is a net negative. Since when did engineering become a bad thing? Tesla uses state of the art engineering to make their vehicles last longer and hold up to ever more severe crashes while protecting the occupants.

Do you remember the family that went over the 250 foot tall cliff called "Devil's Slide"? All occupants survived and their injuries were not particularly life threatening (even though some media reports over-dramatized the extent of their injuries). Local authorities said cars go over Devil's Slide regularly, about one person per year dies, on average. No one had ever survived a ttrip to the bottom in a car until the family of four went over in a Tesla Model Y.

Do you think the family who occupied that particular Model Y thought Tesla had "over-engineered" their car? I rest my case!

Over-engineering is bad if it pushes the cost of manufacture out of reach but Tesla uses the same excellence in engineering to figure out how to engineer it so it can be easily manufacturered, at a low price.

I find your complaints to be rather disengenuous. Did you know that legacy auto hires people to do "negative advertising"? Look it up, paying people to disparage your competitors' products is cheaper and more effective than telling the world how great your products are. Because its easier to give someone a negative impression of the competition than a positive impression of your own products. Legacy auto uses both methods of advertising to maximize their marketshare. But consumers are smarter and more informed than ever so negative advertising only fools the least knowledgeable consumers, this forum attracts consumers who are searching out the truth.

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[charliemagpie]

It seems there is some sort of rubber between the fender and the panel?.

The fender may actually be attached and removable if damaged? I drove 10 years with cracked fenders lol

If so, no need for a panel beater, just buy a new fender and bolt it in. The charge port facia will just come with a new fender.. the charge plug hole itself could be accessible even if the fender is removed?

 

[PilotPete]

I noticed the window has to come down to open the door and it doesn't automatically roll all the way back up when the door closes. That's interesting. Not exactly the rain feature I'd want. Hopefully, this feature is fully fleshed out yet. Let's keep the windows up when we open the doors okay?

The back window pops back up after opening. I have no doubt the fronts could/will as well.

 

[charliemagpie]

Maybe to avoid the air compression in the cabin when the door is closed.

 

[cvalue13]

It’s called a short drop, needed because the frameless windows

A frameless window without a piece of trim to keep it snug against the seal means a lot of different things - air/water leaks, wind noise, poor aero, and the ability of plunderers to pry back the top edge of the glass and snake in a lock jimmy.

So when closed, the top bit of CT window slips into a pocket of trim created by the upper cab frame

To open the door, the window has to go down slightly, a short drop, to clear the trim

older convertibles with frameless windows and no such trim/short drop were notorious for their windows/seals getting floppy and sloppy over time

some frameless window cars have short drops not because of clearing trim, but in order to let the window meet the seal more gently than slamming into it - which causes sloppy floppy. And without the trim pocket can still be prone to noise, leaks, etc.

but it looks like the CT has a trim pocket up top

if the model 3 does a short drop, does it have a trim pocket, or just a seal it meets?

 

[Crissa]

...Statistics also show white cars are hit more often when parked than other colors, though.

Weird, right?

-Crissa

 

[Greshnab]

...Statistics also show white cars are hit more often when parked than other colors, though.

Weird, right?

-Crissa

since white is the single most popular color not that surprising.

8)

Grayscale colors (white, black, gray, and silver) represent a total of 78.5% of all vehicles on the road in the United States. White sits atop the list as the most popular choice.

 

[John K]

...Statistics also show white cars are hit more often when parked than other colors, though.

Weird, right?

-Crissa

When my wife owns a car, blue is the color most often hit. She is banned from owning blue vehicles.

none of the (multiple) hits were her doing.

 

[Ehninger1212]

Don't be silly! Obviously the entire fender/mud guard can get ripped off while leaving the charge port fully functional and intact because it's mounted directly to the 3mm thick fully hardened stainless steel. And it's mounted flush with it.

The charge port door is not necessary to charge. If that get's ripped off, it will be replaced with the mudguard. Did you think Tesla engineers this kind of stuff without considering the ramifications?

I love the way they integrated the charge port with the rear fender. Don't second guess the masters as if you could make better decisions.

I'm still skeptical.

 

[AlDente]

The CT is full of alot of nice "tech", but this is yet another example of missing the mark on what the majority of trucker buyers will actually buy. Sure the CT will sell, but to think that it will outsell US competition is a fantasy. I've owned 3 pickups, and I haven't seen any unique feature in the CT that would motivate me to switch. And I cringe at the thought of having a truck with the same color as all the others and an exterior that would ungodly expensive to repair.
The CT is nicely positioned as a trendy fashion statement, and there's always been a market for that. You can't point to a single feature thats exists in the CT that will result in loyal truck buyers to switch to a CT.....

Talk about "missing the mark". The CyberTruck is to ICE pickups what a Model Y is to compact SUV's. It's a clean sheet redesign of a very old vehicle type as opposed to scabbing electric motors and batteries into an ICE vehicle. That "loyal truck buyer" mindset is exactly what Farley and Barra are counting on. You are the product of years of advertising manipulation and the subsequent bias it induces.

I didn't intend on buying a Tesla until I took a unaccompanied test drive of a Model Y back in May of 2021. I ordered my Model Y that day and now my wife has a Model 3 and neither of us would ever consider an ICE vehicle again ... ever. The Tesla's are simply a beautiful combination of simplicity, performance and function unlike any vehicle I have ever owned and at 72, I have owned a lot of cars and, a couple of pickups.

Tesla is a whole nother animal and people like you may never get it and that's fine. Just begs the question, why are you here?

 

[rudedawg78]

I'm sorry, i misinterpreted your whining about entering and exiting a standard 4x4 as an issue. The truck market in America is extremely mature. The f150 is the number one selling light duty truck in America because, overall, it provides the features and utility truck buyers need and want. The f150 alone, has more trim levels than Tesla has models. That's because they have a thorough understanding of the market. Will the CT has some neat fetures, of course, but overall, it's utility and styling is not up to par. until a few years ago, the f150 was the no.1 selling vehicle in the US. That's not by accident. Ford, GM and Dodge are highly competitive because US truck buyers are demanding. When it comes to pickups, styling and utility matters; everything else is a gimmick. adjustible ride height has been in the industry for years, and NONE of those vehicles dominate the market. So your rollover death stats is irrelevant because it's driver error that are primarily responsibl efor rollovers; vehicles in the US have to pass rollover tests to get approved for production.
The CT is full of alot of nice "tech", but this is yet another example of missing the mark on what the majority of trucker buyers will actually buy. Sure the CT will sell, but to think that it will outsell US competition is a fantasy. I've owned 3 pickups, and I haven't seen any unique feature in the CT that would motivate me to switch. And I cringe at the thought of having a truck with the same color as all the others and an exterior that would ungodly expensive to repair.
The CT is nicely positioned as a trendy fashion statement, and there's always been a market for that. You can't point to a single feature thats exists in the CT that will result in loyal truck buyers to switch to a CT.....

Seadogg,
I have to ask... Are you a Cybertruck reservation holder? According to your posts, it doesn't sound like you are a CT fan at all and are overall disappointed and upset that Tesla has "missed the mark."

It really seems like you are more of a fan of Ford, GM, and Dodge...which is fine. But, I am just curious why you are on a Cybertruck Owner's Club forum. If you do have a reservation, might I suggest getting your $100 back and go with the competition?

 

[CyberGus]

When we register our Cybertrucks, what will we put for "color" on the form? Is "none" a choice?

My DeLorean is registered as "silver".

 

[rudedawg78]

Not my problem you lack the ability to comprehend views you don't agree with. If you would like to objectively respond to the points, I would certainly love to hear, consider, and respond to them.

I was really just curious if you were a reservation holder or not. It just struck my interest if the CT has missed some marks, were you still planning on getting one?

 

[CyberGus]

The CT will get maybe 5% of the truck market as a niche product, like the Hummer.

Wrong forum! The TSLAQ meetings are every-other Wednesday

 

[Crissa]

When we register our Cybertrucks, what will we put for "color" on the form? Is "none" a choice?

My DeLorean is registered as "silver".

Yeah, that's why it says 'color' and not 'pigment'.

-Crissa

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