Model Y line to pause in July and workers moved to Cybertruck production line

RVAC · Jul 1, 2023

Compared to the 2019 concept that Musk described as "a North American ass-kicker" they have made design decisions that make it more of a global vehicle. Whether it was a conscious effort or just a byproduct of chasing efficiency and competitors is not clear.

Setok said:
The length is a bit more problematic. It’s substantially longer than most cars here, including all the most common pickups. Now it’s not uncommon to see vans which are longer, but people don’t generally drive them into shopping centre car parks. Still, there’s no regulatory reason the CT can’t be that long, although many will not want a vehicle that is that awkward.

4WS would help some in terms of driving maneuverability.

CyberGus · Jul 1, 2023

All I know is that I'll be holding my breath every time I drive the CT though a parking garage

cvalue13 · Jul 1, 2023

CyberGus said:
All I know is that I'll be holding my breath every time I drive the CT though a parking garage

after a particularly rough period in 2013, one night on a whim I bought a Raptor

around midnight that night, it dawned on me that my then-offices’ 4-floor underground garage seemed… short of ceiling.

I rounded up two (still awake friends) and headed into the office.

the building security guard watched us, at 1am, driving the Raptor with the moonroof open at approx 0.1mph with every encountered overhead pipe, sprinkler, signage, etc., causing a group-wide teeth grind and Yalta convention around the truck

it cleared everything

cvalue13 · Jul 1, 2023

RVAC said:
Compared to the 2019 concept that Musk described as "a North American ass-kicker" they have made design decisions that make it more of a global vehicle. Whether it was a conscious effort or just a byproduct of chasing efficiency and competitors is not clear.

I have to imagine at some point it was concluded that the optimum market for a Tesla truck required prioritizing both range and maneuverability

Improving range requires minimizing frontal plane, and so width

a 2-for-1 benefit considering maneuverability

Deleted member 11233 · Jul 1, 2023

A lot of #Wishcasting going on here.

HaulingAss · Jul 1, 2023

Greshnab said:
IMHO an international verision IS possible but it would indeed require a complete rework.. the truck is simply to wide for roads outside of north america.. and not sure there is the same demand over seas for a LARGE truck.. and lets not kid ourself at 22' long and just short of 80' wide that is a large truck!

I can easily see them once the demand has been proven.. and offshore people want one.. designing one slightly smaller for sale both inside and outside the US..

The road size isn't really the main problem because most countries have roads big enough for semi-trucks and box trucks larger than an F-150 regularly deliver to the city centers. One of the primary reasons why full-sized pickups sell so well in the US is due to the combination of cheap gas combined with a relatively high standard of living that is not present in most other countries. They tend to either have a high standard of living and expensive gas or a low standard of living and cheap gas.

Full sized pickup sales in China are growing rapidly and many other less populated countries like Brazil, Argentina, Thailand, Austrailia, etc, all of which import full-size American pickups but they are relatively expensive, so they are purchased more for their ability to move goods or work on farms and ranches, etc, not to get to work. Ford recently started exporting their F-150 Lightning to Europe, starting in Norway:

Ford F-150 Lightning finally joins EU market, beginning in Norway (electrek.co)

The fact that the Cybertruck costs far less to operate and fuel than a full-sized American ICE pickup means the Cybertruck will be easier to sell in many countries, compared to an ICE pickup. Sure, small roads in many countries city centers make the full-sized truck unappealling to a large swath of buyers in those countries but they still need trucks to get work done. It's not correct to say the roads are incompatible with a pickup, most roads and highways can handle a Cybertruck just fine. A factor likely just as important is the smaller body sizes of people in many countries that have low adoption rates of full-sized pickups. Full sized pickups were designed around the larger American bodies and simply are not a good fit in a society where a common height is just over 5 feet and people tend to weigh not a lot more than 100 lbs.

Tesla will not export the Cybertruck outside the US before they increase production to meet N. American demand. It could take years but it's a good bet they will export the full-sized Cybertruck before they develop a smaller version, often dubbed "Wolverine" which is thought of as just a downsized Cybertruck, retaining a cab big enough for at least 5 adults. Larger roads in America are only a small part of the American pickup phenomenon.

Even though an electric full-sized truck is more palatable to buyers in many countries than an ICE truck, I think sales of pickups in N. America will dwarf all other markets, with the possible exception of China.

Setok · Jul 1, 2023

RVAC said:
Compared to the 2019 concept that Musk described as "a North American ass-kicker" they have made design decisions that make it more of a global vehicle. Whether it was a conscious effort or just a byproduct of chasing efficiency and competitors is not clear.

4WS would help some in terms of driving maneuverability.

Yes, 4WS helps. But it doesn’t solve it being too long for almost all parking squares here. It will always have its backside sticking out.

I mean vans face that problem too, but as mentioned, they’re not commonly used for picking up the groceries