Some Tesla engineers secretly started designing a Cybertruck alternative because they ‘hated’ it::“They were like, ‘You can’t be serious.’ They didn’t want to have anything to do with it,” Franz von Holzhausen said, according to Walter Isaacson.

  • Blackmist@feddit.uk
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    1 year ago

    You just know Elon had a personal hand in designing it, because there’s no other reason a car company would go ahead and build the equivalent of “The Homer”.

    • TwoGems@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      He didn’t have a personal hand in designing anything, because he doesn’t have an engineering degree. And that’s why everything he does is stupid.

      “Musk doesn’t have an engineering degree - and kind of has a science degree. He began the first in physics at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, after he moved to Canada from his native South Africa. He completed it at the University of Pennsylvania, where he transferred after two years to earn his second bachelor’s degree, in economics, at the Wharton School. He completed it the following year. Musk then headed for Stanford to start a Ph.D. in applied physics, which he dropped out of.”

      https://www.news18.com/news/buzz/elon-musk-has-a-problem-with-rocket-scientists-thinks-engineers-deserve-all-the-credit-3136538.html

      • Blackmist@feddit.uk
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        1 year ago

        Oh, I know that. Neither did Homer.

        He likely doodled it (or got some lackey to be his remote controlled pencil), and then it was some other poor fucker’s job to turn that sketch and a handful of vague notes into an actual car.

    • BroccoliFarts@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      I don’t like Musk, and I’m not a fan of Tesla in general, but I kind of dig the design. Completely understand why it’s controversial and how others could perceive it as ugly, but I like it.

      Then again, I liked the PT Cruiser when it came out (compared to all the other cars of the era), but within a year it became the car that was falling apart and owners hated it, and within 5 years it looked really dated.

      I still like the Chevy HHR and Plymouth Prowler designs. They are truly “bold” designs in that they make decisions that a large percentage of people disliked. Not the marketing “bold design” which means “we slightly exaggerated a popular design feature that’s in style right now so no one will object to it”.

      • Blackmist@feddit.uk
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        1 year ago

        You’d probably like the Fiat Multipla, the Renault Avantime or the Lotus Europa as well.

        • Barack_Embalmer@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          I actually really like all those designs. They’re bold, playful, distinctive. Much more interesting than the dreary crossovers of today that all look identical - bloated hatchbacks with unnecessarily high ride-height, angry anime eyes, and oversized grilles. Full-width tail light bar like a dollar-store Porsche completes the look.

        • Zanshi@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          I’m not really into cars and I agree Multipla is horrible. Lotus Europa is wonky, but I don’t hate it. Genuinely curious to know what people have against that Renault when it comes to looks

          • Blackmist@feddit.uk
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            1 year ago

            With the Renault it’s the back rather than the front. Like they were going for something, but nobody could really decide what.

            • Zanshi@lemmy.world
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              1 year ago

              It reminds me of early to mid 2000’s Megane, so I kinda like it. Always liked how that one looked, especially since my parents owned a boring Thalia

      • supercriticalcheese@feddit.it
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        1 year ago

        Liking the design and deciding as an executive that this is what your company are to spend money and resources at are different things.

      • Esqplorer@lemmy.zip
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        1 year ago

        The triangular unibody frame was a very clever functional idea that didn’t seem to work for whatever reason. That happens all the time but it’s insane to keep the same form when the function doesn’t benefit.

      • Concetta@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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        1 year ago

        I’d agree, if it was designed by somebody I respected. Than the lack of design could be perceived as a choice. As it is I think Elons a skillless dipshit and this is the only shape he could make on CAD software or some shit.

  • over_clox@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    The OG cybertruck reminds me of Lara Croft in the OG Tomb Raider.

    If you know you know, looks like a shitty prototype.

  • BeautifulMind ♾️@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Y’know, I wanted one until I learned anything about Tesla as a company or about Elon, and then I decided it’s vaporware and will probably never be delivered for reasons that are stupid. Looking from the outside but with experience shipping big software releases, this smells a lot like what you get when you think of QC not as an engineering discipline, but as a cost to be minimized.

  • ram@lemmy.ca
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    1 year ago

    Completely flat steel’s gonna ding like a bitch and it’ll never come out. You’ll need an entire new sheet to replace it if you want it to look right.

    That said, it will never look right since it’s not being built with thermal expansion in mind.

    • ivenoidea@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      It‘ll also slice really nicely through pedestrians. I don’t see this being allowed in most EU countries.

      • BroccoliFarts@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        The US laws on bumpers has been refined in blood over the years. At least 20% of the people I know in my area have damaged their car by hitting a deer.

        How will this truck fare if hitting a 90 kg deer? It’s different enough that it might be substantially different (better or worse) than a more conventional truck.

        I’m also reminded of a famous car made of paneled stainless steel. It was a terrible car and ruined the company that made it. It’s only remembered fondly because of a popular movie series.

          • AngryCommieKender@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            Doc Brown was secretly a coke head, and DeLorean was his dealer. He threw the car in for free when he delivered the last couple kilos to Doc.

            • accidental@lemmy.sdf.org
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              1 year ago

              How do you think he got matched up with the Libyans? It’s not everyday you get offered to help smuggle nuclear material…

        • IHaveTwoCows@lemm.ee
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          1 year ago

          To be fair, John DeLorean got nabbed and imprisoned for coke before the company could stabilize

        • PraiseTheSoup@lemm.ee
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          1 year ago

          and yet, each new generation of vehicles has less and less of an actual bumper, meanwhile the cost to replace basic shit like headlight housings have skyrocketed. I live in deer country too, and you have to add your own aftermarket bumper if you want any real protection.

        • doggle@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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          1 year ago

          From the sound of it you’d be lucky to get it off the lot /s

          Fr tho I bet it’d cut the deer in half. Then again it’s kinda huge, so maybe it would just ramp up on top of the deer and launch itself.

          I assume it’s also crazy fast like most Teslas, so maybe it would just pink mist the poor animal.

          I think the truck would be totaled regardless, only real question is if the driver survives and if it catches on fire

  • Rubanski@lemm.ee
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    1 year ago

    I am still very confused why it’s not called the X Truck or CyberX TruX or something stupid containing the letter X

  • doggle@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    1 year ago

    Hasn’t Tesla’s design language always been about not rocking the boat aesthetically? The model S looks nice, but except for the lack of a grille it kinda just looks like any other car. You could make an EV look pretty weird as you don’t really need an engine compartment, but it’s harder to sell someone on both an exotic drivetrain and an exotic appearance. This think looks like it fell out of blade runner…

    It also doesn’t look very aerodynamic. I have some concerns about range, especially considering that Tesla doesn’t exactly have the best record of honesty in that particular area.

    I guess we’ll see how it sells. Eventually.

    • WhiskyTangoFoxtrot@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      This thing looks like it fell out of the 1997 Blade Runner computer game if Westwood had decided to go with polygonal 3D graphics instead of pre-rendered FMV and voxel 3D.

    • SCB@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      This think looks like it fell out of blade runner…

      The entire reason I was ever potentially interested in the cybertruck was how fuckin weird it looks.

      Specifically this take from another poster

      This thing looks like it fell out of the 1997 Blade Runner computer game if Westwood had decided to go with polygonal 3D graphics

      I love that shit.

      • ashok36@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        It looks weird but no worse than any other truck. Anyone that tells you an F150 is aesthetically pleasing is full of shit.

  • WuTang @lemmy.ninja
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    1 year ago

    you mean, the mockup on a model s chassis that Elon’s groupies pre-purchased ? Financing for free (of interests) a multi-billions dollars company … no!

  • Lucidlethargy@sh.itjust.works
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    1 year ago

    There’s a lot to hate. It’s insanely ugly. It’s like a PT Cruiser and a Nissan Cube mated and all the worst car genes went right into the CybeR TruCk.

    • SirQuackTheDuck@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Not to mention that it’s an absolute hazard to pedestrians and cyclists. I hope that if this thing gets released, the EU just straight up bans it from the roads.

      This thing, while not as body-crushing as a twice-raised SUV, will still fuck you up acting like a blunt knife.

    • Da_Boom@iusearchlinux.fyi
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      1 year ago

      Are you kidding, if musk hears about it, he’s sure to shut it down, and fire the people for wasting time or some bs