TFL Says the Cybertruck Will Flop

[rr6013]

You’re in a moment. Aren’t we all? Cybertruck is that VW Bug—ugly, stupid, unsafe and “foreign” vehicle that took over the world.

Tesla is following a paradigm laid by the ‘56 Volkswagon later introduced to the American consumer market. Bring something they want, price they can afford and they can use to get what they need. Ugly was baked-in, price baked-in and “platform” was how they did it — then.

Cybertruck took all those lessons-learned re-inventing ugly, price and platform and baked it all-in to a worldwide network. There is no way anyone has any chance with a vehicle, pickup or otherwise, eclipsing TSLA. Cybertruck has too many ways to better afford Tesla vehicles as competitors disadvantages start costing more TCO.

Witness the vast targeted attack on the messenger EM. That’s no rational genuflect. It’s a campaign. A campaign driven by the fact that the engineering, design, product and moral clarity are unassailable. Like Nicola Tesla, and Howard Hughes attacking the human embodiment behind an ideas is game, effective and people love a good takedown – fair or not.

Elon Musk has enough ventures in which he can step aside the blood feud and accomplish further advances that interest him without damaging Tesla, TSLA or its products.

Cybertruck it has been proffered is EM’s Magnum Opus. Cybertruck was phenomenal. Not an Opus. SO there’s much more in-store that hasn’t been seen that will amount to Magnum. Looking back, it will be apparent Cybertruck was the embodiment of Elon’s magnum opus.

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[Ogre]

Again, my sample size is 1.

Based on that sample not interested. Do they often do ‘reviews’ which are based literally on a giant pile of assumptions in their own heads?

Because what they are predicting is not based on what Tesla presented, it’s based on their assumption that Tesla will completely fail to meet their own launch criteria.

 

[rodmacpherson]

I've never heard of them and have no intention of ever watching their crap. I also do not care who 'wins'. I love the Cybertruck so as long as mine gets made I am fine. You know that bozo, E for Electric? He is also someone I will never pay attention to again, and there are others...taking money from the legacy auto makers to rag on Tesla.

TFL hasn't always been all bad reviews for Tesla.

 

[firsttruck]

You’re in a moment. Aren’t we all? Cybertruck is that VW Bug—ugly, stupid, unsafe and “foreign” vehicle that took over the world.

Tesla is following a paradigm laid by the ‘56 Volkswagon later introduced to the American consumer market. Bring something they want, price they can afford and they can use to get what they need. Ugly was baked-in, price baked-in and “platform” was how they did it — then.

Cybertruck took all those lessons-learned re-inventing ugly, price and platform and baked it all-in to a worldwide network. There is no way anyone has any chance with a vehicle, pickup or otherwise, eclipsing TSLA. Cybertruck has too many ways to better afford Tesla vehicles as competitors disadvantages start costing more TCO.

.....

Yes, you can make some comparisons to the VW Beetle Bug but there are huge positive differences that now almost guarantee the Cybertruck success before 1st production unit drives itself off the line while VW Bug was still a gamble for year after 1st U.S. arrival.

1.- Cybertruck is not unsafe. In fact it should be one of the safest vehicles on the road.

2.- Cybertruck is not ugly. Cybertruck is different. Cybertruck design dictated by aero- dynamics, & durability. VW Bug was primarily to be as less expensive as possible.

3.- Cybertruck almost instantly had huge reservation line and even after attrition might have over 1 million reservations by production start. VW bug slowly gained acceptance. When the VW Bug arrived in U.S. it did not have 1k reservations. In VW Bug's first years in U.S. (1949, 1950) it sold in the thousands annually not even tens of thousands annually.


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The First VW Beetle in the U.S. Landed 70 Years Ago Technically, it wasn’t yet called the Beetle.
By Conner Golden
Jan 17, 2019
https://www.motortrend.com/news/first-vw-beetle-landed-in-the-u-s-70-years-ago/

.....
Case in point: On January 17, 1949, the first VW Type 1 set wheel on U.S. shores; a picture of the event leads off this post. If you're not a VW obsessive, you might know the Type 1 by its other name—the Beetle. Importer and dealer Ben Pon was determined VW's curvaceous little coupe would be a hit in the States, so he brought a Type 1 over for a demonstration tour down the East Coast.

Despite the incredible success of the car in the 1950s and 1960s, initial interest was weak. Pons returned to the Netherlands without the Type 1, allegedly leaving the car behind as payment for a large hotel bill.

It wasn't until automotive importer extraordinaire Max Hoffman won the contract for exclusive distribution east of the Mississippi River when popularity of the Beetle began to take off. By the mid-1950s, 35,000 Beetles had sold in the States, ballooning to 300,000 in 1960.

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[Dusty]

TFL hasn't always been all bad reviews for Tesla.

Yes. But they've changed in their coverage after the incident they had with Rivian. When Rivian was a few months away from first deliveries they held a YouTuber off-road jamboree in Colorado (where TFL is based). TFL didn't get invited, and were essentially snubbed. They got a review unit a few months ago and have dumped praise on Rivian. Don't get me wrong, Rivian's a good truck. But I feel like it was a wake-up call to them. Since then, they seemed to have switched to coverage that feels a lot like "playing ball", and heaping a lot of praise and generous faith on the OEMs, and virtually ignoring Tesla. Notice they don't even talk about Tesla much, or race Teslas vs competitors and ICE competitors any more.

They've also doubled down on things like ignoring Tesla's lead in charging network when reviewing rivals. They parrot CT stuff like "you can't reach over the side" but they love the Ram TRX which only Shaquille O'Neill can side reach. They've been really tone-deaf towards the CT inparticular.

The fact of the matter is that there's nothing that will change until the CT comes out. When the CT comes out and gets reviewed, they will just move the goal posts and make excuses for legacy OEMs.

 

[Crissa]

The bug was safe - compared to cars of its size and capability. Safer than a Jeep.

-Crissa

 

[Foxx]

I would love to see farm/lawn equipment get into the EV world but I don’t expect it for a long time. Have a 100g fuel tank on trailer and 50g diesel tank to run lawnmowers and tractor. Small farm, (60 acres) but I guess I’m classified as a farmer. My father and I both have a CT on order and expect them to be the last trucks we ever purchase as well as function as daily drivers.

 

[SparkChaser]

I would love to see farm/lawn equipment get into the EV world but I don’t expect it for a long time. Have a 100g fuel tank on trailer and 50g diesel tank to run lawnmowers and tractor. Small farm, (60 acres) but I guess I’m classified as a farmer. My father and I both have a CT on order and expect them to be the last trucks we ever purchase as well as function as daily drivers.

Check out solectrac.com

 

[TBONO]

If one knows what YouTube is and is interested in trucks it’s hard to argue that TFL is a good source with great content. I think their argument on the video is fair

What I think they miss on this review is the market demand for CT. It’s not just farmers or workers. The Prius was wildly successful as it creates a new category, many people trading in their BMWs for one at first.

same for Tesla model three and Y.

will be same for CT

what I do give them credit for on the review is that there is no cybertruck available and not much is really known about it. This is very disappointing for many, myself included as a reservation holder made right at the live launch, and last year bought a truck to hold me over until my CT is ready, hopefully 2023 as now promised.

 

[Ogre]

… Don't get me wrong, Rivian's a good truck. But I feel like it was a wake-up call to them. Since then, they seemed to have switched to coverage that feels a lot like "playing ball", and heaping a lot of praise and generous faith on the OEMs, and virtually ignoring Tesla. Notice they don't even talk about Tesla much, or race Teslas vs competitors and ICE competitors any more.

This is YouTube coverage in a nutshell. You pander to the manufacturers if you want access.

Though I have to say Tesla has their favorites too. They just don’t have big fleets dedicated to pleasuring the influencers.

The fact of the matter is that there's nothing that will change until the CT comes out. When the CT comes out and gets reviewed, they will just move the goal posts and make excuses for legacy OEMs.

That is entirely possible, but right now they can dig deep into the fact that the Cybertruck currently has no specs. Essentially they can invent their own specs in their head and use that as a basis to compare it.

Once the the Cybertruck comes out there will be real details which are harder to ignore.

 

[Ogre]

… what I do give them credit for on the review is that there is no cybertruck available and not much is really known about it. …

What bothers me about clips like this is that they are inserting their own assumptions into the equation then making a conclusion about those assumptions. Many of those assumptions contradict what was announced on Tesla’s launch. This has little to do with reality.

 

[Deleted member 12457]

Check out solectrac.com

Interesting. They're located in Windsor, a few miles north of Santa Rosa, CA, which is north of San Francisco. Their tractors are small but made for all the vineyards in the Sonoma and Napa Valley regions, one of the best areas in the USA for fine wine production. The 70HP e70N model is not cheap ($75K) but it comes with a "30kWh Exchangeable Battery Pack with 6kW Charger" for $10K, something I've been reading Tesla might be doing although Tesla's idea takes 300 steps. This region of California has plenty of sun (no water, though) so setting up a charging facility would be easy to do. Many tractors need extra weight for stability so having battery packs might be a plus. Would be interesting if Elon took a look at this company, bought them, and added a tractor factory to Tesla's line of products. Soletrac is only 100miles away from Fremont.

 

[Klaxon]

TFL make a good business by pushing their flops into a wasp nest.
Clicks bring money.
There is nothing good that is new to say about CT. so bad opinion sells.

 

[beeeasybro]

Ehh, at least their video is short.

Ugh. Hyperinflation? Are these guys millennials? Last year's inflation wasn't higher than '73-'82.

The truck needs a custom camper? So does the Hummer, Rivian, Silverado.

The truck 'has a small bed'? Compared to what? What?

'You can't reach into it!' ...Then they show an image of Franz walking along side it, if it was lowered, he could reach right in. Geez. 'For a gas can'. Gas can? Why would you have a gas can?

*sigh* At least I can still understand them at 2x speed.

...Yes, Elon said they stopped counting at over several hundred thousand orders. They missed that he said more than 250k. The best guess from the spreadsheet is 1 million, not 3 million, guys. They made a fallacy by arguing that extreme number.

...Why won't the truck be sold to a labor trade? *sigh*

'They'll buy these other trucks!' ...There are more reservations for Cybertruck than Fords, and Ford isn't going to fulfill this list for in their best guess two years.

These guys are ignoring the hundreds of thousands of Model Y that Tesla is delivering while Ford is delivering not even a tenth of that.

...I don't want email spam.

You can't buy a Rivian or Ford or Hummer. They're 'sold out'. So no, I can't go and buy these other trucks.

'Folding stainless can't be cheaper'. ...Have they not noticed that the price of stainless is much, much less than it used to be? You can get stainless anything, and it doesn't really raise the price much.

'It's not a car'. Do they even drive trucks? Of course you care. It has to stay on the road.

...Why do you need door handles again? *sigh*

They keep saying that they're certain of these things while using the fact that we don't know the exact specs.

...They are right that some guys will find features as 'silly'. I remember once being told to take the colors out of a database entry UI because 'that's more expensive!' ...As if the pixels on their VGA Windows PCs were going to cost more if I used them instead of black and white?

I still think their 'trucks must be serious and this is unusable small toy' is so... How small-minded.

Bleah. What a waste of a half hour.

-Crissa

Thank you for your trusted feedback. I refuse to watch this video as my time is more valuable than wasting it on small minded points of view

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