? [Update: NOT Production Wiper] New Cybertruck design spied! Shortened front, no door handles, side mirrors, curved windshield glass! [Dec. 10]

[Ogre]

I watched the video a few (dozen) times and noticed that the center info display is rotated towards the passenger.

I also noted that the mirrors are folded in, but at the end of the driving the mirrors fold out as the CT slows down.

I suppose the mirrors could be programmed to fold in at highway speeds, minimizing the aero drag and using the front fender mounted cameras.

Not arguing with what you saw…

… but that doesn’t make sense. Probably one of the biggest reasons for side mirrors is safely merging on the highway.

I suppose it could be a way to legally satisfy the requirement without the hit to range at speed.

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[Spartacus]

curved windshield makes sense. At the proper angle a flat plane would probably reflect an incredible amount of sunlight at some unsuspecting motorist coming the other way. Bright enuf to almost take an eye out.

 

[firsttruck]

Not arguing with what you saw…

… but that doesn’t make sense. Probably one of the biggest reasons for side mirrors is safely merging on the highway.

I suppose it could be a way to legally satisfy the requirement without the hit to range at speed.

It does make sense. The inclusion is 100% for Federal legal mandates on the manufacturer but not at the U.S. state level when owner is actually operating the vehicle.

 

[cyberhunter]

I would bet that the curved windshield reduces drag coefficient by 10% which would be significant over a million miles.

Adding strength is a big bonus. If the possibility of hail damage is incredibly low, I will probably drop full coverage quickly.

Windshield curvature of the order shown on the video will have minimal effect on drag coefficient.

 

[Gogster2k]

Gotta say, this view is amazing. Looks like a military hardened vehicle.

I notice thoguh that the side windows are inset pretty far from the external body of the truck. Like by maybe 2 inches? I like the look but I wonder about how much empty space there will be inside the doors.

It also seems like the headlights are further down than in the original prototype. is it possible that they implemented the frunk like the Lightning so that the whole front end above the lights gets raised and you can front load the frunk instead of lifting over that front "grill" area?

Also, as wide as the rear bed walls are, could it be that there is a drawer effect in the bed that allows it to extend back further making for up to an 8 ft bed with the tail gate closed? Of course the tonneau would not extend that far back (or WOULD it?).

I also don't really see the top light bar. But I really hope that is still going to be in the prod version.

Looking at the front glass, I see the location of the FSD cameras in the center. And there is still plenty of room above that for the LED light bar though that part of the glass is all tinted it looks like.

There also seems to be a ton of room available under the dash (between the frunk and the control surfaces. Does the frunk extend clear back into that area? I imagine there will need to be room for the octovalve, control computers, etc but that still all looks like a ton of real estate. It's possible though that the front casting takes up a bunch of that space trying to keep the motors higher up off the ground I suppose.

Looking at the back, I like the bumper "step" area in the middle. I imagine this is also where the license plate goes?

Is that a tow hitch hanging down from the bumper?

Actually it looks like an eye hook with 1 extra link of a chain attached. Maybe for easy tieing down on a trailer for transport?

Speaking of lights, it seems like the brake lights are way down at the bumper now? I thought they were higher up than that. But I also don't see the button controls for the tonneau so maybe the real brake lights were just not installed on this prototype.

And yes, there does seem to be a running board kind of contraption at the bottom between the wheels. I kind of like the solid black line around the whole bottom of the body. Not sure what that is made of though and if will stand up to the rocks and boulders that the off-roaders will be hitting it with.

And looking at the front bumper it does seem that there are 2 tow points on the front.
Also noticing that the passenger at least is masked up.

Curious that the running board like black material under the doors doesn't seem to stick out as far as the doors though.

It also appears that the center screen is pannable left and right in the picture with the driver and masked passenger shot.

 

[Jhodgesatmb]

Not arguing with what you saw…

… but that doesn’t make sense. Probably one of the biggest reasons for side mirrors is safely merging on the highway.

I suppose it could be a way to legally satisfy the requirement without the hit to range at speed.

They might have side camera monitors inside the Cybertruck and then folded mirrors wouldn’t mean loss of vision. Just saying (and wishing)…

 

[electricAK]

Just illustrating what a lot of people have already stated. The rear roof panel is much more offset from the rear doors on this new prototype. To my eyes, the bed is similar size, it just has more of its length covered by the roof. I can see that being a downer for folks with big toys to haul. I hope this has something to do with pass through/fold down rear seat which would be totally worth it for my needs.

This is big news! I can only think of three reasons to make the roof overhang into the bed like that.

1) Slightly better aerodynamics when the bed is open. I doubt this is the reason.
2) Makes the tonneau cover shorter, and therefore more compact
3) Provides room for a rolled-up tonneau to be stored at the top of the roof.

To me, this means they are trying to accommodate a pass-through.

What I don't get: why does the rear roof glass extend so far back? Perhaps there are rear-facing cameras mounted up there, above where the tonneau rolls up? This would provide an awesome view for towing and backing trailers.

 

[JBee]

This is big news! I can only think of three reasons to make the roof overhang into the bed like that.

1) Slightly better aerodynamics when the bed is open. I doubt this is the reason.
2) Makes the tonneau cover shorter, and therefore more compact
3) Provides room for a rolled-up tonneau to be stored at the top of the roof.

To me, this means they are trying to accommodate a pass-through.

What I don't get: why does the rear roof glass extend so far back? Perhaps there are rear-facing cameras mounted up there, above where the tonneau rolls up? This would provide an awesome view for towing and backing trailers.

3) seems physically impossible to have the vault cover stored in the roof...if anything they might replace the vault cover with a fixed slide out glass panel from the rear roof, and thats why they needed the extra length of the roof lip. Would also mean the midgate works perfectly and the solar rear is dead easy to do. To be honest would be so much better and secure.

We should start a "No rollup Vault Cover!" group?

 

[JBee]

Just had a look at my original CT CAD model and even there the roof lip extends of the bed and is offset to the line of the rear side windows by a bit.

But it's also not far away from making a fixed sliding glass panel a viable vault cover replacement, according to my measurements the lip on the current CT version would only have to go back another 4-5" and then we'd have a solid sliding one piece glass vault cover with integrated solar. Surely that has to be cheaper, lighter and better than the whole vault cover fluffing around with tracks and weather sealing issues etc. I wouldn't even mind them moving the roof apex forward a bit now to accommodate the rigid sliding vault cover and giving the bed some more headroom. It's all very close to possible dimensionally. Obviously a two part would work as well.

The only issue I see is the rear glass roof, in that when the glass panel vault cover is stowed it will block the view out, and then there's also the issue of dirt on the sliding panel. So we might loose the visibility through the rear glass, but I could live with that, especially if we get midgate and solar options as standard as a result.

I'm really starting to think that the roller door vault cover itself is a poor design choice overall for many reasons. I think it's going to be the most failure prone part of the CT.

 

[fritter63]

But it's also not far away from making a fixed sliding glass panel a viable vault cover replacement,

I mean, it wouldn't be any different than current (and well known) sliding sunroofs, right?

The only issue I see is the rear glass roof, in that when the glass panel vault cover is stowed it will block the view out, and then there's also the issue of dirt on the sliding panel. So we might loose the visibility through the rear glass, but I could live with that, especially if we get midgate and solar options as standard as a result.

Meh, trust me, the only thing I use the model 3 glass roof for is to make sure the garage door has finished opening before I back out. You really can't see all that well through them. Not like you're going drive Yosemite and gawk at the formations.

I'm really starting to think that the roller door vault cover itself is a poor design choice overall for many reasons. I think it's going to be the most failure prone part of the CT.

Although Sandy Munro had good things to say about them including that they had a history of being very reliable in the airline industry.

 

[fritter63]

However, length notwithstanding, if you look at the taper on the upper part of the roof, there's no way you could slide a fixed tonneau cover in there.

 

[JBee]

However, length notwithstanding, if you look at the taper on the upper part of the roof, there's no way you could slide a fixed tonneau cover in there.

Lol I was just going through the footage again and thinking the same.
There is a way to still make it work but it's not a simple sliding window then.

What's noticeable in that picture is that the tailgate now has square sides instead of diagonal like on the first version. Also the ramp doesn't look like it will fit in the tailgate anymore.

 

[firsttruck]

I mean, it wouldn't be any different than current (and well known) sliding sunroofs, right?



Meh, trust me, the only thing I use the model 3 glass roof for is to make sure the garage door has finished opening before I back out. You really can't see all that well through them. Not like you're going drive Yosemite and gawk at the formations.



Although Sandy Munro had good things to say about them including that they had a history of being very reliable in the airline industry.

The difference is airline quality level & cost vs automotive industry quality level & cost.

Automotive industry quality rolling cover could be a nightmare.

I think a single piece rigid carbon-fiber panel with solar cells would be much more reliable.

With today's standard solar cells, solar roof and vault cover should give 2,000W.

 

[JBee]

The difference is airline quality level & cost vs automotive industry quality level & cost.

Automotive industry quality rolling cover could be a nightmare.

I think a single piece rigid carbon-fiber panel with solar cells would be much more reliable.

With today's standard solar cells, solar roof and vault cover should give 2,000W.

This is what you can get out of existing solar tech for the rear areas:
And glass is actually really durable as a vault cover, especially if its the armored version, and easy to integrate solar on.

Cybertruck Rear Area Solar	sqm	sqft	GaAs(Watts)	Sunpower (Watts)
Rear Roof Glass Area	1.85​	19.9​	498​	398​
Vault Cover area	2.85​	30.7​	767​	614​
Rear Surround Area	1​	10.8​	269​	215​
Total Rear area	5.7​	61.4​	1534​	1227​

Note these measurements are based on the orginal CT, the new rear roof glass will be a bit bigger now..

 

[Crissa]

Windshield curvature of the order shown on the video will have minimal effect on drag coefficient.

Drag coefficient is made up of lots of 'minimal' effects.

Not like you're going drive Yosemite and gawk at the formations.

Why not?

https://photos.app.goo.gl/2YxMBkKu9crCQCDAA

-Crissa

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