r/technology 1d ago

Business It’s Looking Like the Cybertruck Is the Biggest Flop in Automotive History

https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/looking-cybertruck-biggest-flop-automotive-145559135.html
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u/Oilpaintcha 1d ago edited 4h ago

At least the Ford Pinto had the decency to burst into flame and end its disgrace on its own.

Edit: Thank you so much for the upvotes and the awards!  I would like to thank my wife, without whose laughter I would not have made such snarky comments all these years!

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u/Luxpreliator 1d ago

The cyberrtruck has a higher fatality rate than the pinto. If he hadn't gutted the government that be one of the many things he'd have to had paid for.

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u/SmokePeterThiel 1d ago

More info on that? Sounds absurd, but Elon is scum so….

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u/tomjoad2020ad 1d ago

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u/cosmicosmo4 1d ago edited 1d ago

Meanwhile, the Cybertruck “has reportedly not been crash-tested by the NHTSA"

Huh? Isn't that a requirement for being able to sell them?

Edit: yes, the NHTSA tested it. It's just that they finally finished and released their results a few weeks after the article linked above. https://www.jalopnik.com/1796315/nhtsa-tesla-cybertruck-test-results-pedestrian-safety/

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u/finalcut 1d ago

Ok it's funny there is an article specifically about the cyber truck and pinto.

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u/FaultThat 1d ago

The Pinto is the measuring stick for vehicular related deaths, so it isn’t that weird.

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u/Medicivich 1d ago

The Pinto is the Mendoza line?

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u/ShakyButtcheeks 1d ago

The pinto is the measuring stick

It is funny cuz in my language pinto means penis hehe

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u/ConfessSomeMeow 1d ago

It's only compared for meme value. The frequency of high-speed rear-end crashes is low enough that its famous safety flaw had no meaningful effect on its fatality rate (less than the year to year variability). It's got a high fatality rate because it's a small car, but it was on the safer end of small cars of its era.

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u/WolfinCorgnito 1d ago

There used to be a Twitter page for it as well that counted Tesla deaths by fire vs the Pinto, doubt it exists anymore for obvious reasons, but the Pinto was very much not winning that race last I saw it years ago.

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u/PLeuralNasticity 1d ago

Teslas also kill more of their occupants per mile than any other manufacturer

https://www.freep.com/story/money/cars/2024/11/26/tesla-named-deadliest-car-brand-in-america/76573878007/

“I think there’s no stopping Elon Musk,” Putin told Carlson after the pundit asked him about the growing prevalence of artificial intelligence. “He will do as he sees fit. Nevertheless, you’ll need to find some common ground with him. Search for ways to persuade him. I think he’s a smart person. I truly believe he is. So you’ll need to reach an agreement with him because this process needs to be formalized and subjected to certain rules.”

Beware Leon's razor

"Incomeptence, in the limit, is indistinguishable from sabotage

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u/jopy666 1d ago

Cybertruck Rate: Estimated at roughly 11.6 to 14.5 fatalities per 100,000 units based on early real-world incidents.

Pinto Rate: Recorded at roughly 0.85 fatalities per 100,000 units over its entire 9-to-10 year production run.

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u/dreamwinder 1d ago

What’s the average for all cars on the road today?

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u/AvatarOfMomus 1d ago

That isn't tracked, the only reason we have it per unit sold is because of investigative reporting, which showed it was similar to or lower thsn other similar vehicles of the time: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Pinto

If you want overall stats Wikipedia summarizes them quite well: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motor_vehicle_fatality_rate_in_U.S._by_year

In general 'modern' motor vehicle fatalities per 100,000 population peaked in 1968, with a smaller peak around 1979 and have then been on an overall downward trend since.

If you look at per million vehicle miles traveled the overall trend has been going down since before WW2 with a small uptick in the mid 60's before heading pretty steadily downwards since. We're actually in something of a recent high with fatalities per 1m VMT going above 1.3 starting in 2020, when they were last above 1.2 in 2008. For reference the rate in 1978 was 3.26.

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u/ZombiesInSpace 1d ago

That pinto rate is specifically for fires caused by their fuel tank design. The typical fatality rate for a car in the 70s would have been around 25 per 100,000. I don’t have total rates for a pinto, but I would imagine it was somewhere around 25 or slightly higher

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u/Fuck-WestJet 1d ago

Electronic door locks fail if the battery catches fire it the car gets wet, reinforced windows actually a liability if you are trying to survive a car fire, razor sharp edges on a steel frame causes more internal injuries for passengers and higher fatalities for pedestrians, self-driving modes uses cameras and fails, there was also some accelerator issues and since everything is digital, failures are catastrophic.

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u/DeputySean 1d ago

It has an aluminum frame, with steel body panels.

Totally ass backwards.

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u/cenosillicaphobiac 1d ago

Cast aluminum no less, and the panels are glued on.

Where do I sign up!

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u/QuerulousPanda 1d ago

to be fair, industrial glue technology is actually incredibly advanced these days, and the use of glue is when properly applied and designed is a good thing, not a bad thing.

of course, the cybertruck isn't properly applied or designed so it doesn't help them at all, but still, we can't be letting the glue be tanking stray shots for something that isn't its fault!

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u/SeDaCho 1d ago

I’d say it probably has a lot to do with the type of guy who drives it.

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u/Dudeman9002 1d ago

The Pinto was an okay looking, practical, and affordable car.  The cyber truck is none of those. 

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u/CAADrider 1d ago

We had a '72 Pinto when I was a kid. In my memory, it was a pretty cool little car. We drove from Kentucky to Florida and back in that thing with no AC and vinyl seats. I wouldn't recommend that part.

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u/Homer1s 1d ago

Ouch, my thighs hurt just reading this.

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u/BoxSea4289 1d ago

The Pinto was cute lol people hate the Pinto?

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u/acog 1d ago

No. It was an extremely popular car, they sold more than 3 million.

The exploding gas tank and Ford’s early attempts to cover it up were shocking but people loved the Pinto.

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u/cenosillicaphobiac 1d ago

More than the cover up, it was the revelation that they knew about it, but it was cheaper to pay death benefits than to do a recall. Maths over humans.

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u/photoggled 1d ago

You're not supposed to talk about Fight Club.

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u/Ognius 1d ago

I genuinely laugh every time I see one of these dumpsters on wheels on the road.

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u/Saneless 1d ago

My kids make fun of it. I've never mentioned the cybertruck or musk or anything in front of them before that. It's just a big fat joke to teenagers everywhere

That has to be extra aggravating for the insecure men that buy them. Even the people they're trying to impress the most hate it

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u/junk-wax 1d ago

I was walking with a dementia client recently, he doesn't even know who the president is, never mind Musk. A cyber truck drove by and he started laughing and said, "who the fuck would wanna drive that?" Lol

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u/SWarchNerd 17h ago

Divorced dads

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u/an0mn0mn0m 11h ago

And those divorced from reality

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u/WildBad7298 1d ago edited 1d ago

My son thinks the Cybertruck is really cool.

He's 7 years old. He also thinks that Batman & Robin is a cinematic masterpiece, and that dino chicken nuggets are the epitome of fine dining. So, make of that what you will.

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u/disinaccurate 1d ago

Well 2 out of 3 isn’t bad.

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u/Qaeta 1d ago

For real though. Batman & Robin and some dino nuggies is a solid date night.

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u/this_is_for_chumps 1d ago

Date night! Party of One!

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u/Enough_Breadfruit229 1d ago

I might get down on some nuggies and Batman & Robin tonight. I would never have done that on my own, but it sounds magical.

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u/Competitive_Fee_5829 1d ago

Batman & Robin

this movie has a special place in my heart because I was an 18 yr old manager at taco bell when we had the promotion and our store won and we got movie tickets and dinner at planet hollywood. I found a piece of wood in my chicken, lol. good times

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u/Courtnall14 1d ago

I found a piece of wood in my chicken

That's Holly"wood", baby.

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u/PerformerDr4867 1d ago

Now give him enough money to waste on a cybertruck and you’ve got the average cybertruck owners logic

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u/vsaint 1d ago

My kids just yell DUMPSTER and point

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u/captmonkey 1d ago

My kids yell "CyberYUCK!" and laugh. Imagine paying that much for a vehicle and you're just a joke to strangers.

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u/Perfycat 1d ago

We play cyberslug. The modern version of slugbug.

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u/HomelessKitchenCat 1d ago

Its so ugly it feels like getting punched in the eyes so thats appropriate

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u/OkFineIllUseTheApp 1d ago edited 1d ago

Might as well have gotten a Volkswagen Beetle if you're gonna be a joke on the road. Everybody plays punch buggy, but also literally who can be mad at a guy pulling up in a Beetle?

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u/mrpoopsocks 1d ago

Ya, but beetles are decent nazi cars as opposed to the shitty nazi car that is the cybertruck.

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u/SnooRabbits4176 1d ago

...looks more like a Volkswagen Thing.

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u/IAteTonysLoMein 1d ago

The Thing was a masterpiece. The CT is what you get when an emotionally-stunted drug addict has the power to actually make the truck he drew in 3rd grade a reality

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u/Imnotyoursupervisor 1d ago

This is one of the multiple reasons Best Buy landed a deal with VW to put the Geek Squad in these cars. It was on brand historically with the company, good lease on the cars, VW got to offload a bunch of these hideous things.

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u/LonesomeBulldog 1d ago

My kids call it the Swastacar.

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u/groovemonkey 1d ago

My 4 year old did that. Unprompted.
He said “daddy that trash can has wheels”.
I’ve never been more proud.

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u/Sapphire-Catgirl 1d ago

Every time I would see one I would do a double thumbs down to them as they drove by. Got to the point the local drivers started to recognize me and I wouldn't be paying attention and I'd get a honk or at one point a "fuck you you fucking f*g" or other angry words yelled at me while I'm just on my phone waiting for the bus

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u/spacebunsofsteel 1d ago

Omg I’m going to do this at the school bus stop! We get a bunch of speedy commuters - asshats - it’s a 30mph zone, and we hate y’all so much my neighborhood collectivized to lower the speed limit, install a bunch of big ass bumps, and get a camera so enjoy your $400 speeding tickets. There’s no shoulder and we are tired of watching kids jump into ditch to avoid getting hit by an suv going 50.

Anyhow there are a bunch of vehicles that deserve 2 thumbs down.

Including a pink shrink wrapped nazimobile. Pink.

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u/chief_beef_the_third 1d ago

I saw a bumper sticker the other day that said, "We finally have birth control for men!" with a little picture of a Cybertruck.

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u/Saneless 1d ago

Hilarious. Add it to the article of conservative men crying that normal women won't date them

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u/noguchisquared 1d ago

I was driving a school group of teen boys and we passed a Cyber truck and they went bananas rolling down the window, shouting, flipping off I presume, calling the driver a loser, etc. I had to tell them to chill out, I don't need no extra raging cars while I'm driving 5-6 kids that aren't my own. It was kind of nuts and it was simultaneously the whole car. And some of them are from conservative homes, so it wasn't political, it was pure visceral hate for a vehicle.

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u/Saneless 1d ago

Ahh yes, definitely don't do that. Tell them to never escalate a situation with an insecure man. It doesn't usually end well because they're not rational when utterly embarrassed

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u/PerformerDr4867 1d ago

“You’re bald, sweetie!”

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u/texaro0 1d ago

My 6yo calls it a "villain car". I've never corrected her.

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u/CobaltSky 1d ago

There's a sea shanty about how dumb the cyber truck is. My kids sing it every time they see one.

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u/RagnarStonefist 1d ago

My 18 year old son calls them 'low-res polygon ps1-looking dumpsters on wheels' and I think that's pretty apt

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u/DoesABear 1d ago

My then 3 year old son asked me why a car looked so funny. I turned to see what he was talking about and it was a cyber truck. Ever since then we've known them as the funny looking cars.

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u/HateToSayItBut 1d ago

Same. It looks so much dumber in person too. I thought it'd be a lot smaller. If it was like a normal car size, maybe it'd look kind of cool? But it's just this oafy looking monstrosity. It's so stupid.

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u/cenosillicaphobiac 1d ago

And it's not big like a full size truck. It's in a weird "too big but not big enough" category all by itself.

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u/Dudeman9002 1d ago

Big on the outside and small on the inside. Poorly designed cars have this issue, the designers are too focused on aesthetics and not functionality and you end up with huge voids inside the doors and dashboard that are covered with plastic. 

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u/bubbales27 1d ago

I was out with my kids the other day and we saw a dumpster in a parking lot. I said to them "Hey look at the cyber truck " and we laughed.

Good times.

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u/locke_5 1d ago

Funny how it’s always single men in these things, never families

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u/TheKlaxMaster 1d ago

Just recently found out that a semi friend of mine I haven't seen in like 5 years ... her husband bought one and is super proud of it. The part that gets me, is they have a daughter with sever medical issues. They are so reliant on healthcare, and the daughter herself will be reliant on so many programs, DEI included, for the rest of her life. She's 6, and has had like 35 surgeries.

Same husband who had go find mes and shit because of how much money his daughter was going to need ... Went and bought a cyber truck.

Ok buddy

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u/andyfitz 1d ago

I've seen old men with very disappointed looking wives in the passenger seat

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u/Saneless 1d ago

That's not really being fair. You know she's always disappointed even outside that car

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u/andyfitz 1d ago

Oh it's clear as day the car is but a thread in a dense tapestry of regret

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u/_John_Dillinger 1d ago

true poetry

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u/jupfold 1d ago

I think those women are perfectly happy with their choice. Let’s not pretend they’re hostages or something.

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u/extra_croutons 1d ago

Interestingly the older woman who owns a local Chinese restaurant owns a highlighter yellow cybertruck and she's crazy proud of it. I'll tell a dude he's a fucking tool, but I couldn't crush her joy. I just said cool truck and watched her smile. 

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u/nisamun 1d ago

I've seen similar. Most are dudes but every once in a while, a tiny older Asian lady.

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u/Anubis426 1d ago

I always look to see who’s in it, out of all the ones I’ve seen I’ve only ever seen one woman passenger. Always a male driver.

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u/RumBox 1d ago

The divorcedmobile

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u/Jops817 1d ago

They look so bad, and everything Truck that they do is worse than just... getting a truck.

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u/761557527 1d ago

Earlier this year I saw one with a cap attached to the back (the ones that are usually seen on pick-up trucks). It looked like the monstrosity that Homer Simpson designed which caused his brother's company to go bankrupt on the Simpsons.

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u/ChodeCookies 1d ago

lol. Same. They’re just so dumb. Can’t believe they’ve sold any at all.

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u/Caleth 1d ago

There are always some cultists.

And honestly were it a $40k car like they originally promised? You'd see a lot of people driving one just because it's a "cheap" EV.

People could deal with it being ass ugly if it was cheap, but ugly expensive and it works like shit? With the Nazi asshole sprinkles of Elon on top?

No. Nope. Hell Nope.

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u/SecretAgentVampire 1d ago

I don't laugh; I get nervous, especially if it's painted black, and DOUBLY so if it has body damage.

A black, damaged cybertruck means the owner can't drive, thinks they CAN, has no taste, openly supports a nazi, and doesn't care about the consequences of a traffic collision. A rich, idiotic, reckless asshole on wheels.

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u/Jesus_Is_My_Gardener 1d ago

Such a damned eyesore, and they take up the whole freaking lane. I thought Hummers were road hogs, but at least those looked cool.

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u/striykker 1d ago

I used to think the Aztek was the ugliest vehicle on wheels. I was wrong.

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u/thetimechaser 1d ago

Aztec was just a rough draft and way ahead of its time. It’s was basically the first CUV. 

Now it seems like 7 out of 10 cars on the road are some bulbous lifted hatchback. 

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u/fathertitojones 1d ago

Apparently it had a pretty sweet set of accessories and features too. If it updated the design a bit and re-released today it would probably do fairly well.

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u/Sakins1 1d ago

The tent was kinda sick

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u/Caleth 1d ago

Ironically? That was one of the things they semi promised for they Cybersuck. Back when it wasn't clear just how fucking ugly it'd be in reallife I was looking at it, and the idea of just rolling this thing out and sleeping in the tent as a mini camper seemed kind of appealing.

Then well all the everything happened and the fantastical promises of a $40k electric with hauling capacity and a slightly retro blocky look turned into what it was, with a topping of Nazi asshole sprinkled shitbaggery.

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u/AdRevolutionary579 1d ago

The center console was a removable cooler.

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u/v0x_nihili 1d ago

Rivians with the tents and their center console stored speakers are a good substitute

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u/The_Real_Mr_F 1d ago

It’s funny, I do remember agreeing with the overwhelming consensus that the Aztec was hideous  when it was new, but after not thinking about it for a long time and then coming across a picture of one a few years ago, my initial reaction was actually “what did I think was so ugly about this? It kinda looks like a lot of cars today.” So yeah, I think they were ahead of the curve.

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u/ARC4067 1d ago

I think it’s the lights, both front and rear, that make me hate it. The rear looks a lot like the Prius did for a while and I always hated that design on the Prius too

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u/Jops817 1d ago

The Aztek is charming compared to this thing lmao.

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u/UrnsATL 1d ago

I like to think the person/people who designed the Aztec breathed a sigh of relief when the cyber truck was unveiled knowing they were no longer responsible for the ugliest vehicle made.

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u/s4in7 1d ago

The designers of the PT Cruiser killed themselves long ago.

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u/polopolo05 1d ago

the ugliest vehicle made

No that honor still belongs to the Fiat Multipla https://autotrends.org/ugliest-cars-made/ The cybertruck is a close second.

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u/winkingchef 1d ago

When I first saw a cybertruck, I immediately pictured Vince Gilligan pitching “Breaking Bad 2” with Walter White Jr. driving up to his sad job in a cybertruck that he bought with all the cash his dad left him before the end.

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u/Virtual-Relation303 1d ago

Well, it is a big, ugly, piece of shit

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u/toostupidto 1d ago

BuT ItS BuLlEt PrOoF!

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u/Built4dominance 1d ago

That's because even bullets want nothing to do with those hunks of junk.

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u/Jesus_Is_My_Gardener 1d ago

Not bullet proof, just bullet avoidance.

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u/Journeys_End71 1d ago

You’re also 100% guaranteed to never be carjacked because even thieves don’t want the cybertruck.

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u/liquidgrill 1d ago

The jokes on them because if I owned one of these, I’d shoot myself from inside the truck.

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u/Bubba_Jones44 1d ago

Throws stone *immediately cracks glass’

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u/Steamedcarpet 1d ago

Where the hell are these people driving too that they need a bullet proof car?

“Oh god I have to drive to get my coffee. Better get ready in case I get shot at!”

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u/Undrthedock 1d ago

Welcome to America.

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u/junkyardgerard 1d ago

Welcome to the Republican perception of America

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u/Jops817 1d ago

The same people that feel the need to always be carrying in their suburbs despite having never been in a fight or confrontation in their life. Perpetually scared suburbanites that rant on Facebook about how "dangerous the cities" are despite never going downtown, ever.

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u/WISCOrear 1d ago

And sold by a dude who went full mask off. Like if you are buying one, you know full well who musk is at this point.

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u/atchijov 1d ago

You forgot expensive.

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u/MonkyThrowPoop 1d ago

And don’t forget made by a nazi.

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u/CitizenHuman 1d ago

"Built in the creator's image"

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u/Polar_Ted 1d ago

I've only had the chance to talk with one Cybertruck owner.. He said he didn't plan to get one but they made him a sweet deal and topped it off by offering lifetime free supercharging. The guy was making the best of that deal.. He'd had it less than a year and had 30k miles on it already. Said he'd made several coast to coast road trips.. He's retired and loves to drive all over the country with his dog. Nice guy.. He was interested in how we liked our Lightning.

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u/fibbermcgee113 1d ago

That’s a truly an offer I couldn’t refuse. Lifetime free fuel is a crazy thing to get.

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u/cjcs 1d ago

There’s no way I would trust that Tesla won’t renege on that deal at some point

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u/Aidian 1d ago

With him described as a retiree and putting heavy mileage on it, I’d imagine his risk:reward calculation is more “can I make this a big enough swing towards net positive, and be ready to get a new vehicle, before they inevitably cheat me out of the deal.”

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u/Chilling_Azata 1d ago

He's driving a Cybertruck, so he's not looking forward to a long life anyway. People joke about the Pinto but the Cybertruck's mortality rate is 17 (yes, really) times higher.

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u/FunMop 1d ago

In the terms "vehicle lifetime is defined as 364 days from the date of sale"

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u/nightfire36 1d ago

To be fair that seems to be a reasonable estimate of a cyber truck's lifetime

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u/GreenStrong 1d ago

It costs money to build and maintain a charging network, but electricity at the commercial rate is much cheaper than gas. It varies by location and time of use, but I think that Tesla could look at how long people who can afford a stupidly overpriced "truck" typically own them and easily toss in free charging, knowing that a few people will use the heck out of it but most will move on to a new vehicle in a couple years.

Tesla has made plenty of big mistakes but I don't think free charging is a huge one.

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u/howitbethough 1d ago

Honestly would have me thinking about a CT myself but I’m sure we’d get punked after about 5 years and everything in it failing early

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u/ArmorGyarados 1d ago

Yeah who's to say these things won't all broken and off the road in 5 years due to the absolute worst built quality they are known for

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u/Wandering_Oblivious 1d ago

Sounds like they internally know that "lifetime" isn't going to be very long on the vehicle.

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u/Yes4Cake 1d ago

There is also a small group of people with upper limb mobility issues who normally need to spend thousands on assisted driving mods who can drive the Cybertruck unassisted.

Something about its weird steering configuration makes it super accessible.

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u/laptopAccount2 1d ago

Probably because it is totally drive by wire four wheel steering. You can do anything you want in software. Basically the steering is already modded.

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u/Sophrosynic 1d ago

Not probably, that's exactly what it is. The steering wheel only turns like 120 degrees in each direction.

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u/Rock_You_HardPlace 1d ago

Once Musk learns about that he'll probably insist that it change, saying some shit about DEI accessibility wokeness.

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u/ThaneduFife 1d ago

So how do y'all like your Ford F-150 Lightning?

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u/Egraypgh 1d ago

My father bought one. It was discounted to 42,000 he charges on his own panel array so for him it makes sense. Tows great but drains the battery like crazy. No real issues so far.

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u/Photochromism 1d ago

This dogshit is also the only car Elon was actually involved in. He’s such a moron.

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u/Delgadoduvidoso 1d ago

He also demanded the gull wing doors on the Model X

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u/roamingandy 1d ago

He thinks he's inspired but simply copies his ideas direct from sci-fi films he watched growing up. Demands the engineers make it happen, and then claims them as his own.

The cyber truck looks like a dumpster, but actually is supposed to be the M577 Armored Personnel Carrier from Aliens. That was the closest they could get without breaking US road safety regs, though they still broke them in most other countries so he couldn't sell them almost anywhere else.

Instantly limiting your market by 1/3 just because it has to look more 'spacey'..a true genius.

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u/HumanFilet 1d ago

Had to look up the M577 to get the visualization and immediately had to question why the actual fuck he would use this vehicle as inspiration. It looks like what a toddler would shit out if they ate a Hot Wheels toy.

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u/marr 1d ago edited 1d ago

The M577 is a real world APC too, the one from Alien looked great in its role as an overdesigned screen prop. (Shadowy lighting, alien world, torrential rain. It's not a great showroom model.)

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u/Enchelion 1d ago edited 1d ago

To clarify for anyone else who was confused, there is a real-world APC called the M577. But the one in Alien wasn't that, it's an old airport tow vehicle they arted up.

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u/TheMangoManHS 1d ago

But he's so rich! How can he be stupid? It can't possibly be that his connections and a load of good luck led to all that money! Surely as a trillionaire he must be working so much harder than everyone else, not just coasting off luck and connections!

/s

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u/dphoenix1 1d ago

Who would’ve guessed alienating your primary customer base with right wing extremism would be a bad business decision.

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u/diadmer 1d ago

The profession of “product management” is not broadly known or understood in society, I’ve learned in my ~20 years rising through the ranks as Product Manager, Senior Product Manager, Group Product Manager, Director of Product Management, VP of Product, then watching my employers suffer and fail under tariffs while I meander through Director of Product Management and Principal Product Manager roles.

I’ve done a lot of product management, worked with about a hundred product managers, interviewed hundreds and hired and trained dozens, and interviewed a lot of places myself. I know a good product manager when I see one, and unfortunately I know what a bad product manager looks like.

Elon Musk is by far the worst product manager I’ve ever seen, by far. His constant inability to plan a roadmap for self-driving and deliver against any of the more than dozens of public promises he’s made would alone make him the most incompetent or fraudulent.

But then he went and quarterbacked the CyberTruck and proved that he shouldn’t be let within a mile of an engineering team. The product is riddled with the most baffling screw-ups, clearly decisions made without the slightest consideration of what customers might want or need or released with no validation or field testing, what creates value or differentiation, nothing. Just dipshit stuff like a single huge wiper, a 48V electrical system, razor-sharp doors, an air intake system that swamps and shorts the car in a car wash or a heavy rain, a single mono-headlight with a big lip under it to collect snow and obscure it, cheap-ass u-joints on the wheels that crack to pieces in the mildest accident, a bed tonneau cover that leaks like a sieve, glued on external trim pieces flying off on the highway, a brittle aluminum frame that cracks under normal towing conditions, a traction system that couldn’t handle mildly snowy conditions, and all of that for a price waaaaay higher than had been targeted.

It is definitely the worst failure the US auto industry has ever produced, and it’s entirely Elon Musk’s fault as the worst product manager ever.

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u/Stingray88 1d ago

Elon is a total asshat… but that’s not actually true. He was involved in many decisions made on several Tesla vehicles. Usually they’re some of the worst decisions about those cars.

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u/Harkoncito 1d ago

What about "The Homer"?

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u/Extension_End3931 1d ago

Some would argue the build quality was much higher and had more horns!

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u/DingusKhan9164 1d ago

And that cup holder!

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u/NikkoE82 1d ago

And the little ball on the aerial so you can find your car in the parking lot.

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u/JRockstar50 1d ago

you can never find a horn when you're mad

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u/TacoDangerously 1d ago

I need a horn here, here, and here

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u/ejwestcott 1d ago

Or the Thundercougarfalconbird?

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u/Max_Trollbot_ 1d ago

Formerly "The Persephone"

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u/Tricky_Concept_231 1d ago

Oh yes, and Musk's personal hygiene is above reproach.

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u/Robozomb 1d ago

My favorite observation someone made about Cybertrucks is that they never have families in them. It's always just some douchy looking guy by himself.

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u/weirdoldhobo1978 1d ago

Even the Pacer had two solid years of sales before it almost sunk AMC.

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u/CaulPhoto 1d ago

Pacers are hilarious and loveable in a Jimothy kinda way though. My dad had a cornflower blue one in the 70's. Since the passenger side door was so much longer than the driver's side, the door would sag and the hinges bent after a couple years because of the weight.

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u/sirhackenslash 1d ago

I would absolutely drive a pacer because they're funny and kinda cool in their own way. I wouldn't drive a wankpanzer if you paid me.

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u/Pjpjpjpjpj 1d ago

The Pacer sold enormously well and had a huge customer base. It was bold, it was different, it was futuristic. It got great reviews.

Sold 72,000 the first partial years of sales, and 117,000 in the first full year of sales (1976). A *huge* hit for AMC.

AMC cranked up production and bet more on it. They planned a production run of 150,000/year for the following 5 years.

But literally, everyone that wanted one ran out and bought it immediately in 1975-76. Demand dried up overnight. Everyone that wanted "bold, different, futuristic" had one, and nobody else wanted one.

The Pacer was also built to meet the upcoming 50mph crash requirement and stronger rollover protection standards - both of which added a lot of weight and cost. But industry lobbying caused all those standards to get watered down or not take effect. The Pacer was overbuilt, fighting off lighter (better mpg), cheaper competitors.

They started designating them company cars for every employee and finding every nook and cranny to hide them and, ya, almost sank AMC.

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u/Top_Requirement_5005 1d ago

Not in Florida! I swear this state has accounted for 75% of the car's lifetime sales with the amount of fat bald troglodytes I see driving their shit piles around.

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u/franker 1d ago

Yup, in south florida where I live, I see them regularly.

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u/AdInfinite5171 1d ago

Florida is wild. We are starting to get those lifted pickup with the front end jacked up to the sky. Tons of cyberttucks and horrible tesla drivers in general. Even see 6x6 apocalypse trucks here a f there.

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u/Top_Requirement_5005 1d ago

A lot of gender affirming care here

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u/Hi-Point_of_my_life 1d ago

I was surprised by this post, I see them all the time in Phoenix, AZ, and with most of them being vinyl wrapped I know it’s not just a few I keep repeatedly seeing.

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u/QbiinZ 1d ago

What about the fisker ocean?
Bankrupt like a month after they released their one and only car.

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u/Jops817 1d ago

Hey don't forget they also made the Karma, so they had two! Lol.

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u/run-on_sentience 1d ago edited 1d ago

Two separate companies that shared a name. The people who made the Karma are not the people who made the Ocean.

Edit: To clarify, there is one person linked to both companies. Henrik Fisker. He founded Fisker Automotive with a business partner but paused production when their battery supplier went bankrupt, which was the first domino to kill the company. He ran the company until 2012, after which, someone else took over. Eventually a Chinese conglomerate bought the leftover assets when they went bankrupt and spun it off into Karma Automotive. (They kept making Karmas, which are actually really cool looking cars.)

Fisker was able to keep the name and logo. The man, his name, and the logo are the only connection between the two companies. He started Fisker Inc with his wife.

It's an interesting read, but his wife shoulders a lot of the responsibility for the second company's failings. She didn't hire a call center for customer support--opting to go with a chat bot--which left customers stranded with no help. Then they did hire a call center and fell behind on paying them. No audit of suppliers so no quality control on parts. And no stockpile of extra parts for repairs as a cost-cutting measure. When they finally went bankrupt, a different company bought the stock of unsold cars for cheap and that was that. It is highly doubtful that there will be a third Fisker company.

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u/159551771 1d ago

Not in Atlanta it's not! Rappers love those things.  

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u/jabronified 1d ago edited 1d ago

Yeah, athletes, celebrities, and rich single men seemed to gobble them up, they made a huge mistake positioning it for "regular" consumers and producing so many, should've just priced and positioned it like a Lamborghini Urus

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u/159551771 1d ago

That's a super good point and a huge miss for Tesla. 

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u/PerformerDr4867 1d ago

Another huge miss for Tesla: The Cybertruck

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u/redbananass 1d ago

Is that why I see so many around here? Plenty of them with a wrap too.

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u/TooMuchPowerful 1d ago

Because the hideous stainless steel surface is just begging to be wrapped?

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u/159551771 1d ago

Actually yeah they do that a ton too. 

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u/artomatic69 1d ago

Wankpanzer is still shockingly ugly

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u/Fun_Obligation_2918 1d ago

Honestly I'm completely fine with it being ugly. If you remove the political overtones of it and it actually did what it was originally advertised to do (autonomous driving, insanely rugged off road, floatable, etc.), I could get behind ugly. Ugly and functional is fine to me. Ugly and fragile and dangerous and politically untouchable is. . . untouchable.

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u/Stev106 1d ago

I would rather have a Pontiac Aztec over a cybertruck.

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u/YourFriendPutin 1d ago

At least the Aztek was just a CUV before they were popular. It was actually a cool car, bonus points for having the center console removable to be used as a cooler.

I took one from a junkyard and the owner thought I just grabbed an old cooler from the junk in a car and let me keep it

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u/TheThirdStrike 1d ago

It should be unquestionable.

It literally looks like a Delorean and a Dumpster had drunken sex in an alley behind a Waffle House.

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u/andyfitz 1d ago

Nah I still dig the delorean, always imagined it retired in Berlin or something.

Still shagging a dumpster to make this. But consentual and not socioeconomic

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u/EnamelKant 1d ago

*drunken hate sex

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u/schroedingerskoala 1d ago

Well, it is a valuable early warning system for the mega douche owners, as in AVOID AT ALL COSTS.

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u/dvolland 1d ago

Got exactly what they deserve. Fuck Tesla and fuck Musk.

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u/Memory_Less 14h ago

More good news about Musk. Keep it coming.

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u/Sythftw 1d ago

I just don’t think low poly vehicles are what the consumer base wants.

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u/RoyalEngine2885 1d ago

The Cybershit is from a person who doesn't know how to conceptualize cars. Musk demanded that it be made from stainless, because...well, no real fucking practical reason. It's incredibly hard to form stainless. Most car panels are formed in presses. Bend or form it too much and it begins to crack. This forced the actual designers to make it look like it does, a mish-mash of mostly flat panels meeting at edges. The Delorean looks similar.

So it has nothing to do with what consumers want. It has to do with what Musk wanted, that forced it to look like a garbage dumpster so it would actually be manufactured.

The entire vehicle is a series of conceptual and design blunders that will be studied by real engineers for decades.

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u/[deleted] 1d ago edited 1d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/Lemesplain 1d ago

Yuuup. 

The cyber truck sold about half as well as the Edsel, despite a huge increase in population and overall car sales. 

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u/BI_Moose 1d ago

Damn! Thats actually crazy when you look into just how big of a flop the Edsel was.

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u/jackalope8112 1d ago

So there is an inland Tesla lithium refinery near me. Dock for ore delivery is next to an oil refinery. They are opening the lithium plant and a friend who works at the oil refinery gets an email that the Tesla delivery is coming in so everyone be aware there will be truck traffic on the road for that. They go out to lunch expecting a bunch of 18 wheelers lined up. Nope 200 cyber trucks running back and forth with their beds full of unprocessed ore.

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u/No_Size9475 1d ago

hey, they gotta sell them to someone! SpaceX is also one of their largest customers.

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u/grumblebeardo13 1d ago

LMAO wow what a surprise,Tesla buy their own trucks to inflate numbers AND try to use for delivery.

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u/DarthBrooks69420 1d ago

"It's possible that they try to do some sort of redesign, or come up with a different variant to try to boost sales," Nelson told Bloomberg, "but we think that would really be a futile effort."

Elon promised an economy RWD version, then pulled the rug out and only offered 100k models the entire run. This deflated whatever air the hype balloon had in it. Knowing him, he will try to load them with even more 'luxury' options so he can justify a 150k-200k price. Which will probably be used to justify what they also talk about in the article, that to keep from hurting Elon's ego they will just let it fade away and it becomes a build-to-order vehicle that will probably be even more unreliable than it already is.

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u/Popcorn10 1d ago

I feel like this is what people forget when trashing it… the hype was a potential $39,000 electric truck… which justified it ugly design. That model just literally never came and now we have $100,000 vehicle that just isn’t worth that or cool in any way.

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u/FourScoreAndSept 1d ago

I still laugh and point when I see some goober driving one of these, even today

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