This Article originally was published on Jake's Rolex World on November 24, 2019.
"Everything considered classic today
was once considered to be modern"
TESLA
CyberTruck
The Complete Reinvention of the
Truck for the 21st Century
Keep in mind I am not talking about or referring to Blade Runner 2049, which starts Ryan Gosling, but Blade Runner 1982.
Below is a photo of Harrison Ford wearing his Rolex Datejust while he was shooting the original Blade Runner back in the early 1980s.
There is a Fine Line Between
Love & Hate
I have often said "I have to hate something before I can love it", and despite being a little shocked at first glance when Elon Musk debuted the polygonal shaped CyberTruck, it instantly grew on me! Elon Musk debuted his upcoming all-new Tesla Truck recently in Hawthorne, California and the response has been amazingly polarizing!?!! People either seem to love it or hate it. Personally, I love it, and I am writing this article to share my insight with you into why I believe the Tesla Truck is beyond brilliant! Notice there are ZERO logos or badges on the Tesla CyberTruck...That is because the truck is already so iconic, it does not need logos...
CyberTruck
The Complete Reinvention of the
Truck for the 21st Century
Tesla invited me to the launch of the CyberTruck event, and unfortunately I was not able to attend, but that does not mean I still can't share a lot of insight into this amazing historical event. I have a dedicated Tesla blog named Jake's Tesla World, but I usually end up publishing my Tesla stories on Jake's Rolex World.
Tesla is an amazing company that has been growing like crazy. Today Tesla is the most valuable American Car company as far as market cap, and is second in market cap only to Toyota and VW. The Tesla Model 3 is the best selling electric car in the world, and the 5th best selling car in the U.S. today. Tesla is also the number one selling brand in Switzerland today!
The Tesla CyberTruck Launch Event was held in Los Angeles, which is profound as Elon Musk had mentioned months before the truck was unveiled that it looked like something out of the seminal 1982 science fiction movie, Blade Runner which starred Harrison Ford. The supreme irony is that in the opening of Blade Runner we see the image below which states that Blade Runner is taking place in Los Angeles, in November of 2019:
"All those moments will be lost in time. Like tears in rain."
—Blade Runner
Tesla is an amazing company that has been growing like crazy. Today Tesla is the most valuable American Car company as far as market cap, and is second in market cap only to Toyota and VW. The Tesla Model 3 is the best selling electric car in the world, and the 5th best selling car in the U.S. today. Tesla is also the number one selling brand in Switzerland today!
BLADE RUNNER
The Tesla CyberTruck Launch Event was held in Los Angeles, which is profound as Elon Musk had mentioned months before the truck was unveiled that it looked like something out of the seminal 1982 science fiction movie, Blade Runner which starred Harrison Ford. The supreme irony is that in the opening of Blade Runner we see the image below which states that Blade Runner is taking place in Los Angeles, in November of 2019:
"All those moments will be lost in time. Like tears in rain."
—Blade Runner
Below, we see a screen grab of a car from the 1982 movie, Blade Runner.
Below is a photo of Harrison Ford wearing his Rolex Datejust while he was shooting the original Blade Runner back in the early 1980s.
Electric cars and trucks are the future. Most major car manufacturer including Mercedes, BMW, VW, and Porsche have announced they plan to convert their entire future fleets of cars to electric, and for great reasons. My single most favorite feature of owning an electric car is that you plug it in when you get home or to work, and when you drive off, you have a fully fueled car. When I had gas powered cars, I remember it was such a pain to have to go to gas stations all the time, and I would always run low on fuel at the most inopertune times.
I watched the Tesla CyberTruck launch event live, and since I am a designer, thoughts began racing through my mind on how to make the CyberTruck look much better. So I sat down at the computer and started playing with the design. In the image I created below, I extended the geometry of the rear window to complete the pyramid look which could house optional solar panels. Then I painted the bottom of the car a matte black (as seen below) and added a wide red pinstripe, which I think looks super badass!!!! Completing the pyramid windowscape also reminds me of the Nike swoosh logo, which looks like it's in motion when standing still...
In the Tesla video below we see a video Tesla released on the Cybertruck.
The image below overlays the Tesla CyberTruck on top of the Ford F150, and as we see they are practically identical dimensionally.
“The vision recurs; the eastern sun has a second rise; history repeats her tale unconsciously, and goes off into a mystic rhyme; ages are prototypes of other ages, and the winding course of time brings us round to the same spot again.”
—Mystic Rhyme 1845
Below is a photo of the spacious interior of the Telsa CyberTruck.
In the photo above we see the Tesla CyberTruck with its third front seat in the up position so it can seat 6 people, and in the photo below we see it with the seat down, which results in a huge armrest with 3 drink holders...Also, if you look closely at the center rear seat, it features a fold down armrest with a pass-through for extra-long cargo items. in this photo we also see a large white interior lighting strip for the rear seats, which could be used for reading or just lighting the back seat well.
The Motor Trend photo below shows the Tesla CyberTruck drivers seat, with the enormous armrest, which is a third seat folded down. It also features a landscape LED LCD screen which measure 17 inches diagonally, which is 2 inches more than the screen on the Model 3. Also, if you look closely, you will notice the absence of a shifting stalk, as this function is controlled on the single screen.
Below we see the Tesla CyberTruck with a special camping tent extension, and fold out cooking grill...The Tesla Truck is so powerful that users can plug in 110 and even 220 powered devices to it!?!!
Tesla Solar Vault
In the photo below we see the Tesla CyberTruck with the optional rear bed solar panel which can increase range by up to 15 miles per day!!!! Talk about a game-changer!!! If you keep this truck parked outdoors, it could always be charged up to full just from the sun, especially if you drive less than 15 miles per day!!!
Elon Musk tweeted and said:
"Will be an option to add solar power that generates 15 miles per day, possible more. Would love this to be self powered. Adding fold out solar wings would generate 30-40 miles per day. Average miles per day in U.S. is 30.
The reason it's called 'The Vault' is that it is so strong, an adult male can walk on it without denting it.
#Cybertruck rear cover being closed. So much cooler than expected! #cybrtrck @Tesla pic.twitter.com/hm4x9QE78D— M@ttLond.re (@MattLondre) November 22, 2019
Braking Barriers
Many people criticized Tesla's head designer, Franz von Halzhausen after he threw a solid steel ball bearing the size of a baseball at the Tesla Truck and broke its specially developed metal glass. This destructive criticism is beyond absurd!?!! The bottom line is these men on the Tesla Team are pushing the envelope far beyond what anybody else has tried to do, and they deserve credit for that in my opinion. Elon Must published the following tweet seen below that shows Franz throwing the metal ball at the window earlier and it bouncing off. Apparently they tried this dozens of times prior to the event and it didn't break. That is VERY IMPRESSIVE!!!!!
Franz throws steel ball at Cybertruck window right before launch. Guess we have some improvements to make before production haha. pic.twitter.com/eB0o4tlPoz— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 23, 2019
Update: Elon Musk tweeted the reason the windows cracked when hit by the 1KG steel ball Franz threw at them was because of micro-fractures that were made when Franz first hit the side of the CyberTruck with the sledgehammer:
King of the Road
Below we see a photo of the Tesla Truck Design team standing in front of the Tesla Truck which offers a superb idea of the scale of the Truck. The CyberTruck measures 231.7 inches long by 79.8 inches wide, and 75 inches high. CyberTruck come standard with six seats and a 6.5-foot rear bed, and rides on 35-inch knobby off-road tires coupled with the Tesla softly sprung air-suspension. I believe this photo was taken in the Tesla design studio, and if you look closely, it appears there is another Tesla CyberTruck poking out on the left side of the photo, but this one seems to be black with some kind of gold skin on the top!?!!
"We were going to use titanium skins for Cybertruck, but cold-rolled 30X stainless is much stronger...We're creating this alloy at Tesla. Not a problem to create a lot of it, but we'll need to come up with new body manufacturing methods, as it can't be made using standard methods...We're going to be using the same alloy in the Starship rocket...Reason CyberTruck is so planar is that you can't stamp ultra-hard 30X steel, because it breaks the stamping press...Even bending it requires a deep score on the inside of the bend, which is how the prototype was made."
Tesla originally contemplated using carbon fiber to make the CyberTruck, but it cost $130K per ton v. only $2,500 per ton for steel.
EXOSKELETON
Below we see a photo of the Tesla CyberTruck exoskeleton which according to Tesla:
"Cybertruck is built with an exterior shell made for ultimate durability and passenger protection. Starting with a nearly impenetrable exoskeleton, every component is designed for superior strength and endurance, from Ultra-Hard 30X Cold-Rolled stainless-steel structural skin to Tesla armor glass."
Elon Musk mentioned during the Tesla CyberTruck Keynote: "This is different to how most trucks are designed, with a body and bed on frame essentially." Just to be clear, regular cars and trucks consist of a chassis, and then the body/coach is attached to the chassis frame. The Tesla CyberTruck is basically, unibody construction where the entire body and chassis are a one-piece frame, which results in an infinitely stronger and safer truck.
Elon also discussed how Tesla had tested ballistic impact test using a 9-millimeter full metal jacket bullet that weighed 115 grain from 10 meters. Elon pointed out this literally makes the Tesla truck bulletproof:
"You want a truck that's tough? You want a truck that's really tough—not fake tough?"
—Elon Musk
There are many fascinating design details on the Tesla CyberTruck. In the photo below we see the 6.5 inch bed which offers a huge bed that offers 100 cubic feet of lockable storage.
In the image below we see the subtrunk located in the bed of the Tesla CyberTruck, which is not only pretty invisible, but lockable. Also, if you look closely, there are L-Track Rails and T-Slots which will allow users to anchor items in the CyberTruck's huge 6.5- foot bed. In other words, this will easily allow you to stop things from moving around in the bed while driving even if they are not tied down.
The photo below shows the Tesla CyberTruck with it's tailgate down, which features a slide out ramp, that makes loading and unloading the vehicle much easier. Also, when doing so the kneeling suspension raises in the front and lowers in the back to accommodate this process. The suspension is capable of raising and lowering four inches in each direction, and can extend the clearance all the way up to 16 inches, which is insane!
In the image below from the Tesla CyberTruck unveiling we see in the image on the far left side what appears to be large Frunk (Front Trunk), as well as a hidden storage compartments in the rear sail pillars (picture on far right), which could probably hold tools or other smaller items.
The videos below offer further insight and opinion on the design of the Tesla CyberTruck.
Cybertruck design influenced partly by The Spy Who Loved Me https://t.co/HKBzxFNfzm— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 21, 2019
Elon Musk says Tesla has 187,000 orders for its Cybertruck, less than 48 hours after the broken-glass reveal https://t.co/AtBQDgnjUP— Bloomberg (@business) November 24, 2019
Back in Black
Just for the heck of it, I did a few more renderings that show my idea of how to make the Tesla CyberTruck look much better as we see in the three images below. I added a rectangular window extension to the back of the car that could consist of solar panels on both sides. I realize doing so would probably only ad a mile a day of range, but that is better than nothing. Also, I painted the bottom black, and added a thick red pinstripe.
It's fascinating to me because I have NEVER EVER wanted to own a truck in my life, but I LOVE the Tesla CyberTruck. In many ways, due to the brilliant design, it's more of an SUV hybrid Truck than a standard old-fashioned truck. Speaking of which, I can't help but wonder what net effect the Tesla CyberTruck in going to have on the Range Rover brand?
In the image below, it is the same as above, but I changed the pinstripe to green.
I created the set of images below that shows my enhancements to the CyberTruck with a red, blue and green pinstripes. This reminds me of a Batmobile!
I can see how the Tesla CyberTruck will replace the Range Rover as the new urban lifestyle SUV de rigueur for the landed gentry to navigate their way around the new world—from soccer moms to serious off-road enthusiasts...
After all, it is a fact the majority of people who drive pickup trucks don't use them for their intended functionality. According to Edwards:
"75 percent of truck owners use their truck for towing one time a year or less (meaning, never). Nearly 70 percent of truck owners go off-road one time a year or less, and a full 35 percent of truck owners use their truck for hauling—putting something in the bed, its ostensible raison d'être—once a year or less."
After all, it is a fact the majority of people who drive pickup trucks don't use them for their intended functionality. According to Edwards:
"75 percent of truck owners use their truck for towing one time a year or less (meaning, never). Nearly 70 percent of truck owners go off-road one time a year or less, and a full 35 percent of truck owners use their truck for hauling—putting something in the bed, its ostensible raison d'être—once a year or less."
It turns out there are many more people who have the same idea to skin the Tesla CyberTruck including DBrand, who just put up a Tesla Cybertruck Skins and Wraps Customizer page. Their idea of how wrap the Cyber truck is different than mine, and lacks the addition of the rear window that complete the pyramid look, but I put this image together:
Hey @elonmusk, any chance we can get the #Cybertruck in a Matte Black option 😃? I think it'd look great 👍🏽 pic.twitter.com/YOzGCoBkP5— Safwan AhmedMia (@SuperSaf) November 22, 2019
Cybertruck pulls F-150 uphill pic.twitter.com/OfaqUkrDI3— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 24, 2019
Looks Like A...
People keep coming up with things that remind them of the Tesla CyberTruck, so I thought I would share some interesting images. First we see the F117 Nighthawk Stealth Fighter.
Below we see the 1970 Ferrari 512S Modulo Concept car, which also shares the swooping roofline.
Below we see a 1978 Lancia Sibilo from Classic Driver which looks very Blade Runner, and I think it may have been used in the movie Total Recall.
Funny Images
My friend Christian was making fun of the shape of the Tesla CyberTruck and texted me the the image below of the original Apple Mouse, as well as the images below of the high-jacked Tesla Pickup.
