The first thing to say is that it has a 6.5-feet (1.98 m) cargo bed (vault). This basically means, for most people, that if you want to travel a long distance and don’t want to bother yourself with renting a room somewhere, you can easily take a (comfortable) 2h nap in the vault, and then drive further.
The Perfect MCV (mobile construction vehicle)
Ever since I’ve build bases in Command & Conquer: Red Alert (a real-time strategy video game released in 1996), I’ve told myself that the ultimate car would have to be something like the MCV in Red Alert: a vehicle that helps you establish your “base” wherever you go. In normal, day to day translation, it should enable you to: carry your bikes, new fridge, furniture, DIW stuff; tow trailers, camp on the go and feel relatively comfortable while driving. It should give you the freedom to do whatever you want.
To be fair, most trucks are suitable at this, but no truck will be more badass than the Tesla Cybertruck: 0-60 mph in less than 2.9 s, 500+ miles of range (800+ km), All-Wheel Drive, 100 cubic feet of storage (2800 liters), 3,500 pounds load capacity (1590 kg), adjustable air suspension and 14,000 pounds towing capacity (6350 kg).
The Cybertruck is a tank
In a feat of what seems as complete madness, Tesla will use a form of very strong stainless-steel alloy for the exterior of the truck (ultra-hard 30x cold-rolled stainless-steel). According to Elon Musk, the same materials used by SpaceX in building the Mars colony ship Starship, will be used to give Cybertruck this outlandish look and durability.
Throughout automotive history, there aren’t many examples of cars made of stainless-steel. Some examples though, include the DeLorean, used as the time-machine in the Back to the Future series and the 1964 Autocar stainless-steel semi.
Among the advantages of a stainless-steel Cybertruck count ultra-durable dent resistant panels, overall low maintenance, easy to clean surfaces (no polish required; only soap and water) and no corrosion. It will, however, attract a lot of fingerprints; future owners should prepare themselves for this inconvenience.
The price starts at $40,000.
Tesla is currently listing three versions of the Cybertruck available for pre-order:
- Single Motor RWD starts at $39,900. It does 0-60 mph in less than 6.5s and it has a range of 250+ mi (400km) and towing capacity of 7,500+lbs (3,400kg). Production of this model will begin in late 2022.
- Dual Motor AWD starts at $49,900. It does 0 to 60 mph in less than 4.5s and it has a range of 300+ mi (480km) and towing capacity of 10,000+lbs (4,550kg). Production will begin in late 2021.
- Tri Motor AWD starts at $69,900. It does 0 to 60 mph in less than 2.9s and it has a range of 500+ mi (800km) and towing capacity of 14,000+lbs (6,350kg). Production will begin in late 2021.
All three versions include Autopilot and have Full Self-Driving capability.
I had no luck in achieving this “a car good at everything” dream with the German cars I owned so far. They either broke down too often and I always keep thinking, “I wonder how long till the next repair”, or they were not environmentally friendly enough and I always had the feeling that I’m brushing my teeth while the tap water is running. But they are luxurious, I’ll give them that.
Until now, the Cybertruck has had great success. Inspired from the post-apocalyptic world of Blade Runner, it was unveiled in November 2019 (the same date as the action in the movie) and it gathered 250K reservations in the first week. After the numbers of reservations passed half a million, Elon Musk said he stopped counting.
The Gigafactory in which the Cybertruck will be built is still under construction in Austin, Texas. Although it is making great progress, it will be a difficult process for Tesla. If everything works as planned, we should expect to see the first units delivered to customers at the end of this year.
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