Musk is not wrong. GM, Ford, Dodge, and to some extent Toyota and Nissan have all tried their best to capture whatever the essence of pickup-truckness is that causes Americans to run out and buy them like lemmings following each other over a cliff. Each has a distinctive grille meant to intimidate other drivers as much as possible. Every year, those grilles get higher, wider, and more aggressive looking, which seems to bring more customers into their showrooms.
Vehicle Security: What a Cybertruck Should Really Look Like
Finally, it'll be interesting to find out what'll happen to that peaky roof of the Cybertruck in case of a roll-over accident. We guess the clever suspension and low center of gravity (for a truck) could mitigate the risk in most cases, but it can still happen. We all remember how the NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Association) had a hard time in its consecutive attempts to roll the Model X and we're eager to see such tests performed with a Cybertruck. Will the roof flatten? This should make the glass shatter but then the glass is bulletproof and that means it's amazingly tough. And, considering the top of the roof acts like a cross member adding chassis rigidity, would a roll-over crash be a Cybertruck's biggest enemy?
Clearly, Stephenson has a whole lot to say, and a whole lot not to like about the Cybertruck. He actually goes so far as to say that the fact that its security features and bullet-proof glass are its major selling points, it makes the design feel paranoid and insecure about the future. He points to a Buick electric car concept to show what the future of EVs should look like.
"I would say what we've learned so far [from Lightning orders] is that the customers are largely new to Ford, but they aren't new to the segment. These are customers who really like these silhouetted vehicles. What is really interesting for me is some would portray the full-size truck industry as kind of a conservative customer. It's not what we're seeing. In this very large order bank for F-150 Lightning, they're new to BEV [battery electric vehicle], and they are excited to move to BEV. More than half of them are pickup truck customers," explained Farley.
Disagreements aside, there is no question that the company has shifted the auto industry toward electric vehicles and achieved consistently growing revenues (passing $20 billion in 2019). At the start of 2020, Tesla was the highest performing automaker in terms of total return, sales growth and long-term shareholder value. Surely, there is a method to what seems like madness to so many.
The unique design of the Cybertruck attracts attention. There is no doubt that the Cybertruck is one of a kind, and there are no other trucks or vehicles that look like the Cybertruck on the road anywhere. The mix of refinement and angled steel on the Cybertruck are design features supporting the love of many buyers looking for something new, exciting, and unique. 2ff7e9595c
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