Wild speculation alert!!!!
There were images of a CT display with 600+ miles range. Perhaps there is some way to add auxiliary battery storage, in a trailer?
Consider how Tesla engineers ponder the larger battery problem where long range is only required rarely. It may make more sense to put...
Given the cost of the tooling and machines it would be a design requirement to use the same castings for all CTs. I also think these castings could be used for a Van. There are auxiliary castings bolted onto the rear casting for sail mount points and another for the tailgate.
It would end up in Scottsdale. The Fashion square showroom is upstairs and they do have vehicles there but perhaps the CT is too big? Seems odd that Tesla would not have one in AZ. Maybe they place the trucks based on where they have the most preorders.
The future is better than rosy. There will be a cyberthing: a Optimus arm that can crawl and retrieve anything lost on the vast dash. It will also find loose change in the back seat.
There is FEA software that can show where Metal fatigue would happen so it can be designed out of the part. Those castings are likely a bit over designed except where they are designed to fail.
You are quite correct. I think it is that angle of incidence thing. you could only get glare from a horizontal hood when the sun is on the horizon. As the hood is angled down on the CT the reflected light angles upward away from the windshield. Call it a feature.
Interesting Idea: a semi flexible heat shield ceramic that is about 0.5-1.6 mm thick that can be adhered to CT ss panels. This would be essential for AZ.
Energy Density = Energy stored / volume.
However in automotive applications volume matters as does weight plus cost of materials. Tesla would certainly target greater energy density as it lowers cost and size.
He was positive about some things but grumpy about the realization that Tesla cars are too expensive for the masses. He blames the FED and insists that they are working hard to shave pennies (VAVE?) but first principles thinking would design a low cost vehicle much like Chinese competitors are...