Three-plus years ago, Tesla CEO Elon Musk surprised the industry by announcing that his company would build an electric pickup truck with no windows and a stainless steel body that looked nothing like a Ford F-150. The resulting Cybertruck, which rolled onto the stage in a show with smoke, strobe lights, and balls of fire, was instantly polarizing. And for good reason. The vehicle looks like something straight out of the sci-fi film Blade Runner and instantly became the stuff of memes.
While the Cybertruck has had difficulty entering production, with delays and pricing far higher than the model CEO Musk touted in 2019, its angular, polarizing design will help boost the Tesla brand, the electric vehicle maker’s chief designer said on Thursday. Speaking at the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles, which is adding Cybertruck models to a Tesla exhibit, Franz von Holzhausen said, “Love it or hate it, it’s a conversation starter,” and he stressed that the truck was no experiment.
Unlike most trucks, the Cybertruck uses an exoskeleton construction that is bolted and welded together. This allows for much more significant structural integrity and saves on the cost of manufacturing components such as blanking and stamping dies. According to an analysis by Munro & Associates, a competitive benchmarking firm, Tesla could save $60 million on a 50,000-a-year vehicle run by using this approach.
However, this approach also adds to the production timeline, as it is challenging to manufacture a stainless steel body with sharp angles and wedge shapes. And this is one of the reasons that it has taken so long for the Cybertruck to enter production. The vehicle has been plagued by a series of powertrain, braking, suspension, and structural problems, resulting in a lengthy delivery delay, according to Motortrend.
Although some Tesla engineers weren’t happy with the Cybertruck design, von Holzhausen remained determined to push through with it. In an interview with Walter Isaacson, the author of a new biography on Tesla founder Musk, von Holzhausen admitted that some of his colleagues were not fans of the look and secretly worked on a different design.
Despite the controversy, the vehicle continues to draw interest from customers. The Cybertruck is even bringing in customers who have never owned a pickup before, and it has attracted celebrities such as Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian.
And while the polarizing truck has yet to be tested in the real world, it may be on its way to becoming a reality. Tesla has started notifying some buyers of their delivery date; the first deliveries are expected to begin next year.
