[HN Gopher] Tesla Cybertruck Pricing and Specs
       ___________________________________________________________________
        
       Tesla Cybertruck Pricing and Specs
        
       Author : futureisnow23
       Score  : 87 points
       Date   : 2023-11-30 20:57 UTC (2 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.tesla.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.tesla.com)
        
       | RockRobotRock wrote:
       | If Silicon Valley was still airing, Russ Hanneman would have one
       | of these.
        
         | ethbr1 wrote:
         | Please, it barely has thousandaire doors.
         | https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=M2Xe-U4NcyU
         | 
         |  _makes hand motions_
        
           | jaggs wrote:
           | OMG, that is probably one of the ugliest pieces of tin ever
           | put on this planet. Subjectively speaking of course. :)
        
           | bigkahuna1986 wrote:
           | Do you have to roll down the window part way to open the
           | door?
        
         | losvedir wrote:
         | This comment is so on point I'm sitting here in my chair
         | giggling to myself. Ah, I miss that show.
        
           | objektif wrote:
           | Was incredible really how accurate it was.
        
           | voisin wrote:
           | Plate 3COMMAS
        
         | oh_sigh wrote:
         | Well, we can just see if Cuban is spotted in one. My guess is
         | no.
        
         | jansan wrote:
         | Great thing of the Cybertruck's stainless steel is that you
         | cannot scratch the paint with the rivets of your expensive
         | jeans.
         | 
         | I likes the Russ Hanneman character so much that during COVID
         | lockdowns, when I was a bit down, I paid Chris Diamantopoulos
         | (the actor) on Cameo to do a short motivational video for me.
        
         | legitster wrote:
         | It's amazingly bad timing that Silicon Valley ended before
         | NFTs, OpenAI, and Musk's purchase of Twitter.
        
       | outside1234 wrote:
       | I can't wait to point and laugh at the first one of these I see.
       | Just horrendously ugly.
        
         | floren wrote:
         | I saw one on 101 near the Oyster Point exit. Absolutely bizarre
         | on the road.
        
         | hyuuu wrote:
         | let's not punish grand experiments like these
        
           | nullstyle wrote:
           | There's nothing grand here, just bad taste and a bit of
           | grift. It's just a _bad_ experiment, IMO.
        
         | hnhg wrote:
         | It's all very subjective. I love them. I hope there is a
         | version 2 at some point (I am not a Tesla/Musk fan boy, I just
         | want to see what might be next).
        
           | sonicanatidae wrote:
           | Agreed. The Aztec was the same way. I hate them, my partner
           | thought they were cool.
        
         | raffraffraff wrote:
         | I honestly think Musk kicked the designers out of the room and
         | said "how hard can this be?", Then took up a pencil and ruler
         | and drew _exactly what you see_ , and told everybody "This is
         | what we're building because it fucking rocks". It doesn't. It's
         | a 12 year old boy's shitty drawing of dream car, and I
         | guarantee you that his drawing included lots of stupid specs
         | and measurements in a box to the side of it. And his name and
         | age, bottom right.
        
           | jdminhbg wrote:
           | Yeah, that's probably what happened.
        
           | matthewdgreen wrote:
           | Apparently this is something close to the truth.
           | https://insideevs.com/news/686770/some-tesla-staff-hated-
           | cyb...
        
         | ldbooth wrote:
         | I've seen a couple now. They look awkward and tacky in the real
         | world.
        
       | jessehattabaugh wrote:
       | No thanks, I'm reserving an Alpha Wolf
       | https://www.alphamotorinc.com/vehiclereservation
        
         | photonbeam wrote:
         | Thats a big list of models for a company Ive never heard of
        
           | WXLCKNO wrote:
           | Lol was thinking the same. Seems like some random newish
           | startup? Love the look of it but not reserving a car without
           | proof.
        
             | jessehattabaugh wrote:
             | > but not reserving a car without proof.
             | 
             | and that's why you're a beta, not an Alpha
        
           | jessehattabaugh wrote:
           | Probably the same platform with different bodies. Might end
           | up being vaporware, but I'm voting for the design language.
        
           | tashoecraft wrote:
           | Last I looked it was more of a design company than an actual
           | car manufacturer. They seem to have a prototype, but I have
           | doubts it'll ever arrive. Hope to be wrong.
        
         | promiseofbeans wrote:
         | These look really cool, but I've never heard of the company.
         | Are they legit?
        
         | bagels wrote:
         | They are all renderings. On a vapourware scale of Faraday
         | Future to Nikola, where do these guys sit?
        
       | stetrain wrote:
       | The specs mention a "range extender" option but there don't seem
       | to be any details on what that actually is.
        
         | idlewords wrote:
         | Cool silvery bungee cord that hooks onto the car in front of
         | you.
        
         | Whatarethese wrote:
         | Its a add on battery that goes in the bed compartment.
        
         | grecy wrote:
         | "Yep, a toolbox-sized battery against the back of the cab in
         | the bed"
         | 
         | https://twitter.com/baglino/status/1730337374058463305?t=Pb5...
        
       | ugh123 wrote:
       | How come the "Cyberbeast" model has the same 11k lbs Towing
       | Capacity as the "All Wheel Drive" version ($30k cheaper)? The
       | Cyberbeast has significantly more Torque at 10,296 lb-ft vs. "All
       | Wheel Drive" at 7,435
        
         | ajross wrote:
         | Presumably the limit is the hitch, not the drive train. You can
         | put only so much force on a standard-sized chunk of steel.
        
           | xeromal wrote:
           | Yeah, you'd need a goosneck at some point
        
         | shrubble wrote:
         | It could be a rating on the frame and hitch that keeps it at
         | that level. Or possibly braking.
        
         | mholm wrote:
         | Likely what the frame/towhook attachment is rated for, rather
         | than the motors
        
         | hotpotamus wrote:
         | Without knowing much about towing things, I'd guess it's
         | limited by the brakes. Could also be whatever attaches the tow
         | hitch to the frame.
        
         | Toutouxc wrote:
         | Towing capacity is not a function of torque alone. You need to
         | be able to brake your load, keep it stable behind the car and
         | have enough juice on board to actually get it somewhere.
        
         | xeromal wrote:
         | Probably limitation of the battery pack structure.
        
         | blcknight wrote:
         | 11kish is usually ther upper limit of most half ton pickups.
         | Probably a function of what the frame can handle.
         | 
         | But Towing 11k on that thing is already going to tank your
         | range to ~100 miles. I couldn't imagine towing our camper with
         | this thing (and the design is stupid enough that you probably
         | can't tow a fifth wheel right the cybertruck anyway)
        
         | Aurornis wrote:
         | Towing capacity is generally limited by things like the frame,
         | braking capacity, and cooling capacity.
         | 
         | If you hook any automatic transmission truck up to a really
         | heavy trailer (100,000 pounds) you can probably move it around,
         | but if you try to actually tow it anywhere the truck will
         | either overheat or crash into something when you can't stop it
         | going down a hill.
         | 
         | Torque really only determines how fast you can accelerate the
         | load, not how much you can tow on the road.
         | 
         | Also, EV "torque" specs are not comparable to traditional car
         | torque specs because they're measured differently (ICE measured
         | at the engine before the transmission multiplies torque to the
         | wheels, EV measured directly at the wheels)
        
           | sonicanatidae wrote:
           | Also, traction.
        
         | llm_nerd wrote:
         | I apologize for adding to a load of already good answers, but
         | towing capacity is often limited by tongue weight limits (how
         | much weight is sitting on the tow hitch, and thus supported by
         | the suspension), which should be 10-15% of the total payload.
         | While it seems like they could just balance the trailer and
         | reduce tongue weight, if it is below 10% the payload becomes
         | extremely dynamically unmanageable.
         | 
         | The other limits come into play too -- torque, brakes, etc --
         | but tongue weight on suspension is often why there is a
         | mismatch like this.
        
         | esaym wrote:
         | Towing is complicated. Here is an F-350 at full throttle in
         | second gear barely making it through mountains:
         | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hoHDQ4SKpBI
        
       | twobitshifter wrote:
       | EST. $96,390*
       | 
       | CYBERBEAST
       | 
       | DELIVERY IN 2024
       | 
       | 320 MI. RANGE (EST.)
       | 
       | 2.6 SEC. 0-60 MPH+
       | 
       | 130 MPH TOP SPEED
       | 
       | 845 HORSEPOWER
       | 
       | 10,296 LB-FT TORQUE
       | 
       | 11,000 LBS. TOWING CAPACITY
        
         | adfm wrote:
         | Bed does not fit a full sheet of plywood, so a deal-breaker for
         | practical truck buyers.
         | 
         | You'd assume 96" would be a default parameter in any generative
         | model focused on "optimum truck." Am I missing something?
         | Enlighten me.
        
           | neogodless wrote:
           | Every full size pick-up truck defaults to a 6-6.5' foot bed
           | size (in modern times). Some offer 8' beds but it's
           | relatively rare in practice (as in, most people opt for a
           | quad/crew cab without the long bed). All of them can handle
           | 8' plywood with the bed down, just like this 6' bed on the
           | Cybertruck. Even the Ford Maverick can handle an 8' sheet of
           | plywood by using an adjusted-height tailgate and the wheel
           | wells.
           | 
           | https://www.ford.com/trucks/f150/models/f150-xl/ (Note they
           | offer 5.5', 6.5' and 8' beds. If you go to build, and just
           | click through the defaults, you will not get an 8' bed.)
           | 
           | https://www.mavericktruckclub.com/forum/threads/hauling-
           | plyw...
           | 
           | Nothing wrong with insisting on it if it fits your needs, but
           | you do not need an 8' bed to haul plywood.
        
             | dymk wrote:
             | > Literally every full size pick-up truck defaults to a
             | 6-6.5' foot bed size.
             | 
             | Nope
             | 
             | > Some offer 8' beds but it's relatively rare in practice.
             | 
             | Also nope
        
               | neogodless wrote:
               | https://www.jdpower.com/cars/shopping-guides/short-bed-
               | vs-lo...
               | 
               | > The standard bed of a pickup truck is typically 6'5"
               | long
               | 
               | (So... yup.)
               | 
               | I can't find statistics on sales, but I rarely _see_
               | trucks with 8 ' beds. Sure there are people that buy
               | regular cab, 8' beds, and even some serious professionals
               | that get an HD crew cab with the 8' bed (which is a
               | monstrously long truck!) But in general that is not what
               | I see. Thus... "rare."
               | 
               | (So... yup.)
        
               | dymk wrote:
               | "Standard" does not mean "the average". That's a
               | marketing term of art. You won't see "Standard" beds on
               | jobsites. You'll see long beds, because you can fit a
               | sheet goods in them.
               | 
               | > I can't find statistics on sales, but I rarely see
               | trucks with 8' beds
               | 
               | You probably aren't around job sites very much
        
               | neogodless wrote:
               | Sure. And I would agree that the trucks you see on job
               | sites are, by necessity, more "practical" truck buyers
               | than what is typical. That doesn't mean it's what most
               | truck buyers buy though. (Since way more people buy
               | trucks than those driving them to job sites.)
        
           | grecy wrote:
           | > _Bed does not fit a full sheet of plywood, so a deal-
           | breaker for practical truck buyers._
           | 
           | Specifically said it does with the tailgate down, which is
           | the norm for anything that doesn't have an 8' bed.
           | 
           | > _You'd assume 96" would be a default parameter in any
           | generative model focused on "optimum truck." Am I missing
           | something? Enlighten me._
           | 
           | I can only assume they made a tradeoff between cabin space,
           | bed length and overall vehicle length. There is no perfect,
           | only tradeoffs.
        
           | quickthrowman wrote:
           | I'd say around 1% of new pickup trucks have an 8' bed, if
           | that. You ever seen a super duty (1-ton) crew cab truck with
           | an 8' bed? They're like 22-23' long, it's ridiculous.
           | 
           | Not being able to carry sheet goods in the bed is something
           | it shares virtually every other truck on the road. On a
           | short-bed regular truck, you can get a roof rack along with
           | posts that go in the back corners of the bed to create a rack
           | capable of holding sheet goods, pipe, lumber, ladders, etc.
           | 
           | Regardless, why would you schlep around sheet goods in a
           | pickup bed when you can have the supply house deliver them?
           | The contractors I work with don't waste time running to Home
           | Depot to buy material, it's delivered to the site by a supply
           | house, courier, or company truck. I work in commercial
           | construction, maybe the residential world is different since
           | the cost of labor is much cheaper for residential
           | construction.
        
           | turtlebits wrote:
           | You can't get a Toyota Tacoma with an 8 ft bed, which IMO is
           | the most practical truck model. An 8ft bed truck that can
           | only carry 3 passengers is not very practical.
           | 
           | I regularly purchase 8'x4' sheet goods in my Tacoma with no
           | issue.
        
       | FireBeyond wrote:
       | So the $40K CyberTruck is actually $61,000 and works on the
       | assumption of tax credits being available at the end of 2025, 2
       | years from now... oh, and we've gone back to the bullshit of
       | "subtracting gas costs from the "probable price"."
       | 
       | Another Elon lie. Four, nearly five years after initial claims -
       | meant to be available in 2021, and 52% more expensive.
       | 
       | "Range: 250 - 500 miles". Another lie. Try 250 - 340. 33% less.
       | 
       | No solar roof.
       | 
       | The brake lights might be tied with the Mini for the worst/least
       | intuitive brake lights in history (the Mini has the left light
       | with the left half of the Union Jack, i.e. looks like a right
       | arrow, and the right light with the right half, looking like a
       | left arrow, while the Cyber Truck actually turns OFF lights on
       | the light bar to signify braking is happening, and turns them ON
       | when no braking is happening).
        
         | martythemaniak wrote:
         | Inflation exists independently of Musk or Tesla. $61k is $51.6k
         | in 2019 dollars.
        
           | FireBeyond wrote:
           | This is backwards though. Musk announced the $40K truck in
           | 2019 for initial delivery in 2021. $40K in 2019 is $42.3K in
           | 2021. Even now, we're at $48K.
        
         | jdminhbg wrote:
         | The tax credit timeframe is already written into law, though?
         | Of course Congress can't constrain itself so it could always
         | cancel (or double!) those credits, but it seems pretty
         | reasonable to rely on what the law currently says.
        
         | duskwuff wrote:
         | > So the $40K CyberTruck is actually more like $57,000
         | 
         | $61k. Click on the tab that says "purchase price".
        
           | FireBeyond wrote:
           | Fixed that. Thanks. Love those dark patterns. I'd gone with
           | Purchase Price + Federal Tax. Of course Tesla has also thrown
           | in $3,600+ on "probable gas savings".
           | 
           | Probable gas savings is odd, because they also base some of
           | their comparisons on an arbitrary 20mpg for ICE. "We've
           | assumed a fuel economy of 20.0 miles per gallon for a
           | comparable gasoline powered truck"
           | 
           | Odd, because let's see: the Honda Ridgeline starts at 21mpg,
           | and getting better from there, Tacoma, Tundra, Ranger,
           | Gladiator, Ram 1500 (now we're at 25mpg), F-150, Silverado,
           | Sierra 1500. So you're comparing against 7 or 8 of the best
           | selling pickups, and yet using an MPG that is lower than ...
           | all of them ... for comparative purposes. Not misleading at
           | all.
        
       | nailer wrote:
       | The whole Cybertruck site is really well designed - animations
       | are subtle and way less choppy/annoying (on my M2 Mac) than
       | Apple's website.
        
       | tyingq wrote:
       | Are there any videos of how well a driver can see out of this
       | thing to the sides and rear? I can't imagine it's great.
        
         | neogodless wrote:
         | mkbhd will be putting out a review soon. Otherwise we only have
         | Tesla's marketing materials.
        
           | dvngnt_ wrote:
           | i've had the cybertruck for a few weeks now, here are my
           | thoughts
        
             | kcb wrote:
             | Continue...
        
       | wnevets wrote:
       | That isn't a 500 mile range for $40,000.
        
         | idlewords wrote:
         | You can get a 500 mile range by towing a second, fully charged
         | Cybertruck and switching them at mile 250.
        
           | wnevets wrote:
           | Wouldn't the first truck's range be significantly reduced by
           | the additional weight? The second truck will have to tow a
           | third fully charged truck to get us to 500 miles.
        
             | idlewords wrote:
             | Right, but remember you can also subtract the combined
             | length of all these cybertrucks from the 500 mile target.
             | So there's a sweet spot in there somewhere around the 400
             | car mark.
        
               | felixgallo wrote:
               | also, if you make the tires out of Menger Sponge, then
               | range is infinite.
        
             | TeMPOraL wrote:
             | That's the kind of math you use Tsiolkovsky rocket equation
             | for.
             | 
             | Best would be to do the EV equivalent of _asparagus
             | staging_ - you have all trucks providing acceleration, but
             | trucks 1 and 2 are also being recharged by truck 3. You
             | then jettison it once its battery runs dry, leaving you
             | with trucks 1 and 2, the latter also charging the former.
             | Again, drop truck 2 as it runs out of juice. This lets you
             | get rid of excess mass as early as possible, maximizing the
             | benefit of extra batteries and thrust.
        
               | eunoia wrote:
               | Serious question: do any rocket launch schemes actually
               | use asparagus staging?
               | 
               | I vaguely remember hearing it adds too much complexity
               | for a real world launch. Great in KSP though.
        
               | FeepingCreature wrote:
               | Technically the Space Shuttle, if you really stretch the
               | definition.
               | 
               | I'm not aware of any others. The crossfeed is just too
               | much of a failure risk.
        
               | TeMPOraL wrote:
               | Falcon Heavy was supposed to, in early designs, but they
               | abandoned this idea due to the complexity involved - fuel
               | would need to be pumped, which means complex flow
               | dynamics + extra hardware that could fail (and
               | catastrophically so).
               | 
               | Outside of KSP and some rocketry books, I haven't seen
               | it.
        
       | mcnnowak wrote:
       | > Prices assume ... est. gas savings of $3,600 over 3 years.
       | 
       | Seems shady
        
         | tyingq wrote:
         | Oh wow. I missed that. That even feels illegal. FTC might come
         | calling on that practice.
         | 
         | Edit: Other comments say they've been doing that for a while,
         | even with the 3 series. So, I guess it's accepted? Urgh.
        
           | natch wrote:
           | I think they do it for the intentional Streisand effect.
           | 
           | In other words it generates a new thread on social media once
           | in a while, with people talking about whether or not there
           | are cost of ownership savings, with the truth generally
           | coming down in Tesla's favor. And still regardless of how you
           | interpret the cost equation, the controversy brings
           | attention.
           | 
           | And more in line with Occam's razor it just spurs awareness
           | in the user reading the web page. You could say "no, it
           | deceives the user." I think it doesn't; more deceptive is
           | having a published MSRP when dealers add thousands to that
           | published price and lie about EVs while they sell legacy
           | cars.
        
             | ethanbond wrote:
             | "The competition does shady things too" isn't really an
             | argument for this not being a simple case of posting
             | misleading prices...
        
         | lallysingh wrote:
         | Weekly I put $90 in the tank. Charging 100kw I believe would
         | cost me $15. That figure seems about right.
        
           | baking wrote:
           | My brother spends $100 a month to charge his Tesla at home. I
           | fill up my hybrid less than once a month at about $40.
        
             | r00fus wrote:
             | Without actual miles driven it's impossible to make a
             | meaningful comparison. My wife spends less on her minivan
             | than my EV - but she's not driving to work every day (and
             | she prefers to drive the EV when she can).
        
             | oh_sigh wrote:
             | Call me crazy but I suspect you and your brother drive a
             | different amount. $100/mo in a Tesla I ballpark at driving
             | 1900 miles per month, so you're probably driving less than
             | him, unless you get more than 150mpg in your hybrid.
        
             | bagels wrote:
             | I spend $15/mo to charge my Tesla.
        
           | tills13 wrote:
           | yes but it's not "saving" anything. You are still spending
           | the money on the price tag.
        
             | fiddlerwoaroof wrote:
             | Except that, if you own the Tesla long enough, the savings
             | per month will eat up the difference in cost between the
             | Tesla and significantly cheaper cars.
        
         | maximus-decimus wrote:
         | They're kinda all shady.
         | 
         | "Our car is only 15k!*"
         | 
         | * Except no manufacturer sells the base model. Plus they'll add
         | their own add-ons like anti-rust that has no scientific basis.
         | Also doesn't include the shipping cost. Also AC tax isn't
         | included despite literally all cars having AC
         | 
         | The only manufacturer website I've seen that isn't super shady
         | and actually includes shipping costs by default is Subaru for
         | some reason.*
        
       | martythemaniak wrote:
       | No $40k truck, but $61k is $51.6k in 2019 dollars, so pretty
       | reasonable price and specs.
        
         | addicted wrote:
         | That's the estimated price for delivery in 2025. Things could
         | change by then.
         | 
         | Also, we're talking about a new industry here because of which
         | a lot of costs are also likely facing downwards pressure (so,
         | for example, batteries are almost certainly cheaper today than
         | they were 4-5 years ago).
         | 
         | Edit: This has caught me by surprise but EV battery prices seem
         | to have started going up in constant dollars. It's still lower
         | than in 2019, so the nominal dollars are probably slightly
         | lower than 2019, but I haven't been following this for a few
         | years and assumed battery prices were still going down in
         | constant dollars.
         | 
         | https://www.statista.com/statistics/883118/global-lithium-io...
        
         | idlewords wrote:
         | And if they delay delivery another five years, it will come in
         | below the promised price!
        
         | sonicanatidae wrote:
         | Yeah, but service takes weeks to months, body panels may or may
         | not align, and I'm 173% positive that hardware that was paid
         | for, will be put behind a subscription wall, just like the rest
         | of the Tesla fleet.
         | 
         | While I'm not a fan of this truck, Tesla remains the issue.
        
       | mminer237 wrote:
       | > Prices assume IRA Federal Tax Credits up to $7,500 for Rear-
       | Wheel Drive and All-Wheel Drive and est. gas savings of $3,600
       | over 3 years.
       | 
       | This seems like a new low in scammy marketing. I can't wait for
       | everything to have wildly undermarked prices with small asterisks
       | saying it's when you subtract all the ways it will save you money
       | in the long term.
        
         | mholm wrote:
         | They've been doing this for many years now. The 3 was released
         | with the prices calculated in this way on the website.
        
           | mvdtnz wrote:
           | "They've been lying for years" is hardly a defence. In most
           | countries this kind of pricing nonsense is illegal.
        
         | oh_sigh wrote:
         | You can just click the "purchase price" tab instead of the
         | "probable savings" tab.
        
           | neogodless wrote:
           | Totally missed that subtle dark gray on black design element!
           | You have to begin scrolling immediately to see the three trim
           | levels, and by then, the tabs are lost forever. Quite
           | literally fits the phrase "dark pattern", ha!
        
             | shepherdjerred wrote:
             | It shows a reasonable disclaimer at the bottom:
             | 
             | > * Prices assume IRA Federal Tax Credits up to $7,500 for
             | Rear-Wheel Drive and All-Wheel Drive and est. gas savings
             | of $3,600 over 3 years.
        
             | wilg wrote:
             | I mean clearly you can read it since it's the same text
             | color and background color as the price you are complaining
             | about, as well as all the specs.
        
         | chr-s wrote:
         | They also do this thing at the top of their product page [0]
         | where they say 11,000 lbs towing capacity, 340 mi. range
         | (estimated), 2.6 sec 0-60 mph (with leadout). But they aren't
         | selling a truck with those exact specs. The AWD has a 340 mi.
         | range (est.) and a 4.1 0-60 and the Cyberbeast has a 320 mi.
         | range (est.) and a 2.6 0-60 mph (with leadout). They pick the
         | best attribute from each to highlight on the top of their
         | product page. Note that they also advertise one model's 0-60
         | with leadout and one without so the difference between them
         | looks more substantial than it is.
         | 
         | [0] https://www.tesla.com/cybertruck
        
         | zeusk wrote:
         | How is it any different from $10,000 Full Self Driving
         | "Autopilot" will be out anytime next year(tm)
        
           | constantly wrote:
           | You get the credit on your taxes, enshrined in law.
        
         | 7e wrote:
         | In most (32) states there are extra fees added to yearly EV
         | registration to compensate for the lack of gas tax revenue, but
         | Tesla never includes them in their calculations. Insurance
         | costs and tire wear are usually much higher for Teslas, too.
         | Neither does Tesla include the costs of the charger or the
         | electrician's installation fees (~$1,000). Supercharging fees
         | on road trips are completely ignored. It's also highly unlikely
         | that anyone considering the purchase of these cars meets
         | federal tax credit income thresholds ($7,500). Borderline
         | fraudulent.
        
         | verdverm wrote:
         | I'm looking at insurance plans and it is the same story, they
         | show price as if you get the maximum govt assistance, even if I
         | put in $1M for annual income.
         | 
         | I see this style of price hiding more prevalent everywhere. Too
         | much psychology and dark patterns have invaded everything we
         | do. I cannot count how many times I click a cool new open
         | source project link on HN, see a pricing page, and find a
         | "monthly" price with an astrix and toggle to see the real
         | monthly price
        
         | shepherdjerred wrote:
         | This doesn't seem very different than advertising a price after
         | a rebate.
         | 
         | Saving $1,200 a year on gas seems reasonable if you pay $4/gal
         | and fill up a 14gal tank twice a month. I'm not sure about the
         | tax credit -- I assume those are guaranteed to whoever
         | purchases the vehicle, but maybe that's not the case.
        
         | modeless wrote:
         | The tax credit is guaranteed as long as you made less than 300k
         | this year or last year (150k if not married), and it is now
         | given directly at time of purchase instead of later when you
         | file. Seems OK to include. The gas savings is much more
         | speculative.
        
           | microtherion wrote:
           | Do people making less than 150k buy 100k cars? I don't have a
           | good sense for how Americans budget their vehicle purchases.
        
         | DennisP wrote:
         | The $7,500 at least is pretty legit, since in 2024 the IRS will
         | let you get the discount at point of sale.
         | 
         | https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/taxes/ev-tax-credit-elect...
        
         | nikcub wrote:
         | If you switch the site to Australia[0] you'll notice they don't
         | do this - it's because by consumer law they're not allowed to,
         | and you have to quote the "drive away price"
         | 
         | You can't even deduct the various gov rebates or tax
         | exemptions; only mention that you _may_ qualify.
         | 
         | They have a smaller and lower contrast "after cost savings" at
         | the bottom of the page - but the price on the site is the
         | price, as it damn well should be.
         | 
         | [0] https://www.tesla.com/en_au/model3/design#overview
        
       | siquick wrote:
       | > With the ability to pull near infinite mass and a towing
       | capability of over 14,000 pounds, Cybertruck can perform in
       | almost any extreme situation with ease.
       | 
       | This is direct quote from the Tesla site from 3 weeks ago.
       | 
       | It's now 11,000lbs on the linked page. More Musk bullshittery.
        
         | FredPret wrote:
         | OK but nobody takes "pulling infinite mass" as an engineering
         | specification. That's clearly marketing talking, something all
         | car co's do.
        
           | unregistereddev wrote:
           | parent ignored "pulling infinite mass", I believe, and was
           | pointing out the significant reduction in towing capacity.
           | 14,000lbs sounded like a promised specification.
        
         | SOLAR_FIELDS wrote:
         | Just for reference because I was curious what the competition
         | offered:
         | 
         | R1T - 11k
         | 
         | F150 Lightning (beefiest trim) - 10k
        
         | shrubble wrote:
         | It can pull infinite mass. Just not all at once!
        
       | CobrastanJorji wrote:
       | What surprised me is the "order with card" choice. I haven't
       | bought a new car in a while, but is it normal to be defaulted to
       | putting a $100,000 purchase on a credit card?
       | 
       | Edit: Nevermind, it's a $250 deposit on a later $100,000
       | purchase.
        
         | tracedddd wrote:
         | That's because it's for the $250 deposit.
        
         | unregistereddev wrote:
         | That's just the $250 deposit. Car dealers also require deposits
         | when ordering a car, and it is common to put that on a credit
         | card.
         | 
         | I would be surprised if Tesla allows placing the entire order
         | by credit card.
        
         | jayflux wrote:
         | It's the deposit, the car payment isn't by card
        
         | doitLP wrote:
         | For the people that can afford one? Sure. AMEX has no limit and
         | plenty of other cards for high net worth individuals are
         | similar. Plus weirdly, people like that usually really like to
         | collect the credit card points.
        
           | chomp wrote:
           | I've tried multiple times to pay the full balance with
           | credit, the most I've seen dealerships be okay with is 3k or
           | 4k of the balance.
        
             | bryanlarsen wrote:
             | My father-in-law has done it. He was in a strong
             | negotiating position; I'm not sure why he didn't just use
             | that position to lower the price an extra 3% instead...
        
           | sonicanatidae wrote:
           | Amex Green, at least, has a soft limit.
           | 
           | You can raise it, but you have to have strong financials and
           | talk to them.
        
         | ggreer wrote:
         | You use the card to put down a deposit. Then you get a loan,
         | and/or pay by check or bank transfer (or even cash, I guess).
        
         | popcalc wrote:
         | It's worth having the choice. Have a friend who was flying
         | private to his college campus when he realized his tuition was
         | due and got flustered. Pulled out the Amex and a couple minutes
         | and 50K later it was no longer an issue. The convenience is
         | appreciated at times like that.
         | 
         | Moreover, a substantial amount of remote European contractors
         | who use US LLCs put their personal expenditures on company CCs
         | to evade CRS.
        
       | thedaly wrote:
       | How long will it take to get one? Three years?
        
       | StephenSmith wrote:
       | There's an estimate they have 1.9M reservations. Even at 1k
       | deliveries a day, that will take another 5 years. I doubt they'll
       | hit that delivery rate soon.
        
         | tills13 wrote:
         | It's a $100, refundable deposit to hold your position in line.
         | I would be surprised if they convert even 1% of those
         | reservations.
        
           | idlewords wrote:
           | According to the site it's now $250.
        
             | Whatarethese wrote:
             | Yep but the past 5 years its been $100 refundable to
             | reserve.
        
         | shrubble wrote:
         | Even at $100 each that is a $200 million dollar interest free
         | loan. Pretty nice!
        
       | Ninjinka wrote:
       | We all knew the pricing would never hold, but seeing it now it
       | still hurts
        
         | brownkonas wrote:
         | The tri-motor 500 mile range was probably the aspect that I
         | found most exciting, seeing that removed hurts as well.
        
       | natch wrote:
       | The race against the Porche 911 is hilarious:
       | 
       | https://x.com/Tesla/status/1730326461469331929
        
       | AndrewKemendo wrote:
       | I ordered mine for resale the second it was available.
       | 
       | The more of a Clusterfuck this is the more valuable they will be
       | to the current breed of nihilist capitalists.
       | 
       | Knowing you can't resale for a year again, just ensures demand
       | for Gen 1 Cybertruck will just be delayed but increases the
       | scarcity fears of people who actually care for some reason.
       | 
       | Reselling cult members their own merch is old magic
        
       | unglaublich wrote:
       | What kind of hatred for their surroundings needs one to consider
       | buying this death-sentence-on-wheels?
        
         | owenpalmer wrote:
         | Why is it a death-sentence-on-wheels?
        
           | Toutouxc wrote:
           | It's huge, weighs three tons, has the acceleration of a
           | supersport, has only sharp edges. Like your usual US truck,
           | but somehow even more asocial. If this was construction
           | equipment or any other kind of machinery, you'd need so much
           | training and insurance to just be allowed to touch it.
        
             | kcb wrote:
             | Have you seen the massive flat surface on the front of
             | pretty much every pickup? It seems like if anything the
             | hood angle would make it better than those.
        
       | everfrustrated wrote:
       | Faster quarter mile drag speed than a Porsche 911 _while also
       | towing a 911_
       | 
       | That's incredible marketing.
       | 
       | https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1730331223992472029
        
         | mvdtnz wrote:
         | I am a car enthusiast (although not one who could afford either
         | a 911 nor a Cybertruck) but respectfully, who cares about
         | quarter mile times? Most car people I know want a car with some
         | poke, but care much more about how it handles twisties (and how
         | much fun it is doing so). And I'd bet my bottom dollar the 911
         | would beat the refrigerator-looking truck all day long.
        
           | Freedom2 wrote:
           | But what if you need to help your friends move a quarter mile
           | at a time as fast as possible?
        
             | vaidhy wrote:
             | We call it a sprint in software engineering and that is how
             | we run marathons :)
        
           | brewdad wrote:
           | Car people may want a car for the twisty roads. Average Joes
           | want a car that will let them beat the line for the freeway
           | merge and cut in ahead of all the losers in slow vehicles.
        
             | adgrnhioaedntio wrote:
             | Dangerous jackasses, you mean. Anyone who regularly floors
             | the accelerator on public roads has no business driving.
             | Any modern car has more than enough power for any practical
             | purpose.
        
           | m463 wrote:
           | Most people don't need 16gb of ram, or a pickup bed, or more
           | than one bathroom, or...
        
         | tamimio wrote:
         | Comparing apple to orange.. still will get 911 any day.
        
         | grecy wrote:
         | Elon said a long time ago they wanted their vehicles to be a
         | smackdown for Internal Combustion Engines, and I think they're
         | getting there. This is the kind of marketing that make regular
         | people go "Wait, what? How is that possible?".
         | 
         | More than about 10 years ago that was simply unheard of, and
         | I'm certain people would have said it was impossible.
         | 
         | Useful or not, it's a very impressive thing to do. 99% of
         | automakers would be happy if they could build a sports scar
         | faster than a 911, let alone a pickup with 11,000lbs towing
         | capacity.
        
           | bryanlarsen wrote:
           | AFAICT, sports cars faster than a 911 are relatively common.
           | What automakers would be happy to beat would be the 911's
           | handling.
        
           | ska wrote:
           | > a sports care faster than a 911
           | 
           | Eh, it's not really interesting if you can't corner. Lots of
           | trucks aren't actually bad at it, all you need is a ton of
           | torque, tires that can take it, and enough weight and length
           | to keep the front end down. Easy enough any automaker can do
           | it if they choose, but 1/4 mile numbers are a mostly
           | meaningless pissing contest unless you are actually building
           | drag cars.
           | 
           | Now if Tesla could build anything that handled up near
           | Porsche territory, that would be interesting.
        
         | rgmerk wrote:
         | There is something quite shocking (pardon the pun) to older car
         | enthusiasts about just how fast off the line dual-motor EVs
         | are.
         | 
         | The super coupes of one's youth are utterly obliterated on the
         | dragstrip, not by EV coupes, but by family SUVs and pickup
         | trucks.
         | 
         | That said, just because they can go fast in a straight line
         | doesn't make them in any way equivalent to a 911. Give me a
         | mountain pass or a racetrack, (and no kids or stuff to carry)
         | and I'll take the 911 every single time.
        
         | JumpinJack_Cash wrote:
         | > > That's incredible marketing.
         | 
         | Still the best statement to describe Musk and his companies.
        
           | hx8 wrote:
           | Are you saying the best statement you can use to describe
           | SpaceX is "incredible marketing"?
        
         | burkaman wrote:
         | That's a cool video, but very strange decision to have audio of
         | Elon at some press conference or something instead of the
         | actual race. You're expecting engines and tire screeches and
         | instead it's like 5 or 10 mildly excited people that aren't
         | there.
        
         | adgrnhioaedntio wrote:
         | The 911 Turbo S has a 0-60 time of 2.6 seconds, but Car and
         | Driver clocked it at 2.2. Its quarter-mile time is 10.1
         | seconds.
         | 
         | https://www.caranddriver.com/porsche/911-turbo-turbo-s
         | 
         | I don't know what's going on with that video. If we take
         | Tesla's specs at face value, which I definitely don't, the 911
         | Turbo S is dramatically faster on the straights. Not that it
         | matters, because no one has ever bought a 911 to drive in a
         | straight line.
         | 
         | Methinks Tesla is up to their old tricks!
         | 
         | https://www.cbsnews.com/news/tesla-autopilot-staged-engineer...
        
       | danans wrote:
       | The cheapest F150 Lightning (available today not in 2025) is $50k
       | (vs $60k for Cybertruck), same 250 mile range but _AWD standard_
       | , and is a regular pickup truck compatible with standard
       | accessories and parts for doing actual pickup truck work.
       | 
       | Of course, most of the buyers of either the Cybertruck or the
       | F150 Lightning probably aren't getting much dirt under their
       | fingernails. Everyone I know doing construction/trade work tends
       | to drive much smaller pickups.
       | 
       | We need a lot more Chevy Bolts and electric buses, and a smaller
       | electric pickup truck with 2 doors, but instead this is what we
       | will get due to the cultural moment we are at, and because of who
       | has the money to spend on new vehicles today.
        
         | redox99 wrote:
         | > The cheapest F150 Lightning (available today not in 2025) is
         | $50k
         | 
         | Can you actually buy it at that price?
        
           | danans wrote:
           | I see several listed in my area for around $53k. So
           | approximately yes.
        
             | jdminhbg wrote:
             | What you see listed and what the dealer will actually give
             | it to you for are not necessarily the same thing,
             | infamously so in the case of in-demand models like this.
        
               | NewJazz wrote:
               | _Car dealers say they can't sell EVs, tell Biden to slow
               | their rollout_
               | 
               | https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38460281
               | 
               | I wonder if the price-gouge-EV-customers and complain-
               | about-EV-subsidies groups overlap... Hmm.
        
               | jmacd wrote:
               | I think the tide has turned on the Lightening. I know
               | that dealers near me are trying to sell the ones they
               | have.
        
         | caycep wrote:
         | I'd vote for updated bmw i3 as well. that thing was under
         | appreciated.
        
           | NewJazz wrote:
           | I like the Minis personally. But they are 10k more than a
           | bolt. Something about chickens not paying their taxes?
        
           | andrewmunsell wrote:
           | Everyone made fun of me for having one, but it was the
           | _perfect_ city car. Great turning radius  & it fit basically
           | anywhere. And the plastic body meant that if someone opened
           | their door into you, it just bounced off instead of leaving a
           | dent.
           | 
           | It's a shame they never made any significant improvements on
           | the range. After degradation, the range on the i3 ends up
           | pretty abysmal. The REx was a fun idea too and even let me
           | take the car on multi-hundred mile road trips, without
           | recharging, after coding the REx to one of the buttons in the
           | car.
        
             | caycep wrote:
             | yeah, I wonder where it would be if they'd continue to put
             | development money on the drivetrain and battery tech. It
             | just seemed they left the concept behind despite growing
             | sales numbers, and moved towards 6000 lb SUV EVs...
        
         | TaylorAlexander wrote:
         | > Everyone I know doing construction/trade work tends to drive
         | much smaller pickups.
         | 
         | Smaller than an F150? Maybe it's because I live in the Bay Area
         | where there's more money being thrown around but trucks of that
         | size and larger seem to be common for trade workers.
        
           | paulddraper wrote:
           | Not just you.
           | 
           | Anyone who uses a truck a lot will have a 150+
           | 
           | ---
           | 
           | How many programmers do you see with MacBook Airs
        
             | BoorishBears wrote:
             | I'd bet good money the average Ford Ranger/Maverick hauls
             | more than the average F-150 today
             | 
             | > How many programmers do you see with MacBook Airs
             | 
             | The people working on some of the most complex projects of
             | our times rely on compute that isn't available in a laptop,
             | so they're perfectly fine taking an Air. I personally used
             | an M1 Air for a couple of years.
        
               | js2 wrote:
               | I'd take that bet. The Ranger isn't manufactured anymore
               | and I've never seen a Maverick used commercially. I don't
               | think I've even seen one that didn't look freshly washed.
               | 
               | I mean, this isn't even hard to figure out: the F-150 is
               | the best selling _vehicle_ (not truck, but vehicle) in
               | the U.S. for what, a decade or more?
        
           | m463 wrote:
           | Trucks last longer in the bay area. The cost is amortized
           | over basically... forever.
           | 
           | Take a 10-year old california pickup to anywhere with winter
           | and people will be amazed.
        
           | kubectl_h wrote:
           | Yeah what a weird comment from GP. The refrain that no one
           | needs a full-size truck, that they're mall crawlers or
           | compensation for undersized you-know-what is common on this
           | site but I've never seen it taken to the level that "trades
           | workers largely don't drive full sized trucks, actually".
        
           | microtherion wrote:
           | Here in Switzerland, you sometimes see e.g. a Piaggio Ape:
           | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piaggio_Ape
           | 
           | And a number of construction jobs in our house were performed
           | by a gentleman who arrived with a Vespa unless he
           | specifically had to transport something sizeable.
        
             | TaylorAlexander wrote:
             | Oh certainly. Trucks inside the USA are their own kind of
             | culture (which I do not feel great about).
        
           | js2 wrote:
           | Ditto in NC. I'm not even sure what's smaller than an F150
           | these days. The Maverick? Now that's a truck I've never seen
           | used commercially.
        
         | Waterluvian wrote:
         | Are all the future autonomy claims still a selling point or is
         | Tesla downplaying that more these days?
        
         | chollida1 wrote:
         | > Everyone I know doing construction/trade work tends to drive
         | much smaller pickups.
         | 
         | Odd for me all my friends who farm or do construction own
         | either the F150 or the equivalent dodge RAM truck.
         | 
         | The other trucks either don't have cabs big enough to fit
         | multiple workers or fit full sheets of drywall.
         | 
         | Now I'm in Canada, perhaps you're European?
        
           | danans wrote:
           | > Odd for me all my friends who farm or do construction own
           | either the F150 or the equivalent dodge RAM truck.
           | 
           | From what I've seen at local lumber yards, new F150s and Rams
           | are the trucks that the boss usually drives, not the workers
           | who are actually picking up the material. They are buying and
           | driving cheapest truck that gets the job done. It's an F-150,
           | it's an older one. A lot of Toyota Tacomas though.
           | 
           | > Now I'm in Canada, perhaps you're European?
           | 
           | I'm in the US.
           | 
           | > The other trucks either don't have cabs big enough to fit
           | multiple workers or fit full sheets of drywall.
           | 
           | Large sheet goods either go on the lumber rack or if it's
           | enough, is delivered on a delivery truck. Usually not in the
           | bed. That's for tools, bags of material, etc.
        
           | imglorp wrote:
           | This. Full sheets of almost everything are 4x8.
        
         | al_borland wrote:
         | From what I've heard, trucks are huge now due to various fuel
         | efficiency regulations. A big truck is easier to make with
         | fewer regulations. It seems like all the electric trucks want
         | to prove they are bigger and tougher than the ICE trucks, but
         | it seems like the perfect platform for small trucks, as the the
         | efficiency standards would become a moot point. I'm looking for
         | trucks like the old Ford Ranger from the late 90s to come back.
         | The Maverick was a start, but they need to take it a step
         | further.
         | 
         | Maybe it's like with the Model S. First they have to prove it's
         | cool and remove all the excuses (too slow, too weak, not enough
         | range), then they can scale down to the smaller more mass
         | market options at lower price points.
        
           | jamie_ca wrote:
           | Yep. And that's also why SUVs are the way they are - they fit
           | the regulatory definition of "truck" and get different
           | emissions and fuel efficiency rules as a result.
        
           | danans wrote:
           | > From what I've heard, trucks are huge now due to various
           | fuel efficiency regulations. A big truck is easier to make
           | with fewer regulations.
           | 
           | That's only a part the reason. The more important half is
           | that bigger vehicles, whether trucks or SUVs, have much
           | higher profit margins.
        
         | zitterbewegung wrote:
         | I don't think the perspective of selling product X should be
         | judged in a vacuum because it can do things like subsidize
         | battery costs.
         | 
         | For video cards they got to the point where average consumers
         | could buy them and then that started the road to accelerator
         | cards. Saying that people shouldn't buy something is naive and
         | disingenuous. People will buy things regardless of anything
         | else.
        
         | joewadcan wrote:
         | When you say "we need" do you mean... "you want to see" ? The
         | highest selling vehicles are trucks and so the company that
         | makes the best selling car wants in. Seems logical and good for
         | the industry
        
         | Moto7451 wrote:
         | The Rivian is probably their real competition based on price,
         | specs, and trim.
        
       | nosequel wrote:
       | I would like to know the range when towing 11,000 lbs. In the
       | full size market, I can only think of the Nissan Titan as having
       | less than 12,000 lb tow rating. A base Ford F150 has a 14,000
       | rating. When you move up to diesels, you can easily tow 20,000+
       | lbs and even at 10,000 lbs you take very little hit on range if
       | your load is somewhat aerodynamic. Pulling a full-size Airstream
       | you can still get 20+mpg even in a small diesel like in the Chevy
       | Colorado.
       | 
       | Other folks mentioned the frame or brakes as the reason for the
       | low tow rating. I imagine the cybertruck has a strong frame,
       | Tesla has never gone cheap when it came to that sort of thing,
       | and I'm sure the braking is fine for small loads. Most big loads
       | require the trailer to have its own braking anyway, so that's
       | almost a moot point, even in the biggest truck, I'm not pulling
       | over 10,000 lbs without a proper brake controller. I'm guessing
       | they set the rating at 11,000 lbs because anything over that and
       | you probably end up with a very expensive 30 mile battery range.
       | I would initially compare the cybertruck to something like a
       | Tacoma which has more like a 7,000 lb towing capacity, but then
       | you look at the weight of a cybertruck at 6800 lbs, the damn
       | thing is nearly 2000 lbs heavier than a base F150. The curb
       | weight of the biggest F150 you can get is only 5800 lbs, still
       | 1,000 lbs lighter than the cybertruck.
        
         | tyingq wrote:
         | The electric F150 weighs 6500 lbs...1,800-pound battery.
        
           | nosequel wrote:
           | Yeah, reading my post, I didn't do a great job making the
           | point I set out to. I was considering the size of the
           | Cybertruck, wondering if Tesla were trying more for the
           | Tacoma & Ranger sized truck market. I started to make that
           | point and then looked up the weight of the Cybertruck and
           | attempted (poorly) to use it as a metric for the size. I
           | should've just used overall length, which would've been more
           | clear and wouldn't have had the weight of the battery
           | involved. Either way, at 223" inches, it is certainly in the
           | full-sized market.
        
             | bryanlarsen wrote:
             | It's about a foot longer than a Ranger Supercab and 10"
             | shorter than an F150 Supercrew.
        
         | TheSwordsman wrote:
         | The 11,000 may be limited by the suspension system.
         | 
         | So in terms of comparisons I don't think you're wrong, but it
         | might be better to compare it to the F-150 Lightning for more
         | of an apples to apples comparison. The F-150 Lightning Platinum
         | vs Cybetruck AWD is probably the most fair comparison in terms
         | of specs, but the CT is ~$20,000 cheaper
         | 
         | If we compare the F-150 Lightning Lariat with XR Battery to the
         | Cybertruck AWD, because of price:
         | 
         | F-150:
         | 
         | Range: 320mi
         | 
         | Towing: 7,700lbs
         | 
         | Curb Weight: 6,361lbs
         | 
         | ---
         | 
         | CT:
         | 
         | Range: 340mi
         | 
         | Towing: 11,000lbs
         | 
         | Curb Weight: 6,603lbs
         | 
         | ---
         | 
         | F-150 Lighting Platinum to CT Cyberbeast, because of price:
         | 
         | F-150:
         | 
         | Range: 300mi
         | 
         | Towing: 8,500lbs
         | 
         | Curb Weight: 6,893lbs
         | 
         | ---
         | 
         | CT:
         | 
         | Range: 320mi
         | 
         | Towing: 11,000lbs
         | 
         | Curb Weight: 6,843lbs
        
       | liminalsunset wrote:
       | Seems like there's been relatively less attention on the 48V/800V
       | architecture and the Ethernet comms/steer by wire setup, but I
       | think those are what make this particular vehicle quite
       | interesting. Up until recently I think 48V power electronics have
       | been fairly rare outside of telecom/other high cost situations,
       | but I suppose one major difference is that at 48V, transformer-
       | based DC-DC conversion is usually a better choice for digital
       | electronics compared with a simple buck, which historically seems
       | to be a significant jump in cost and faff to design. Perhaps PCB
       | planar transformers will help here, but this may be one reason we
       | don't see 50V EPR USB C devices yet (disappointed that the
       | Cybertruck didn't decide to be the first 240W USB-C device, still
       | stuck at 65W)
       | 
       | Seems like if there were to be some kind of electrical failure,
       | now with full steer-by-wire it could be quite a harrowing
       | situation.
       | 
       | Based on the images posted from the event [1] it seems to have
       | two discrete power steering motors (we know from previous
       | vehicles that these have two motor driver channels internally for
       | failover), so there's probably a decent amount of redundancy
       | here. There seems to also be some kind of a sensor that's only
       | populated on one side, though I can't tell what it does from the
       | picture (position sensor?)
       | 
       | Given that the steering is variable gain now, seems like the
       | vehicle speed data would also be important, as in, the
       | communication bus is now quite important for the function of the
       | steering module.
       | 
       | With the Ethernet architecture they're using now, it's likely
       | that it's not as problematic as with CAN bus (where water
       | intrusion can take down the whole bus) but it would be
       | interesting to see what the design choices there were.
       | 
       | [1]
       | https://twitter.com/DriveTeslaca/status/1730305183572177107/...
        
         | TheLoafOfBread wrote:
         | Audi A6 48V mild hybrid from 2018 -
         | https://www.greencarcongress.com/2018/02/20180228-audi.html
        
           | liminalsunset wrote:
           | This one is a little bit different since there are actually
           | still two (well three systems here: 48V, 12V, and the ICE).
           | 
           | These systems have existed for quite some time, since it was
           | a lot easier to use high voltage rated components for all of
           | the 48V high power stuff (e-turbochargers, e-hybrid-
           | compressor-whatevers, other motor driven stuff) but keep just
           | a single downconverter to 12V for everything else.
           | 
           | The problem is that most digital electronics expect something
           | like 1-5V to operate, including most controllers, processors,
           | sensors etc, and typically this conversion is done at the
           | module level in a distributed way. Going from 12V to 1V isn't
           | really a problem (or 24V ish for that matter, which is what
           | they use in notebooks), and 20V and 30V class semiconductors
           | are easy to find and have desirable performance
           | characteristics.
           | 
           | Going from 48V at every module to 12V as an intermediate bus,
           | usually requires a transformer because otherwise you'd be
           | switching the current on for a very short time per cycle
           | (duty cycle proportionate to voltage ratio), and this has
           | implications for efficiency and component sizing. So I'd
           | think this is quite a huge change compared to the old mild
           | hybrid systems
        
         | whelp_24 wrote:
         | why do steer by wire at all? Is it cheaper somehow?
        
           | m463 wrote:
           | Hmmm.. I would guess decoupling would allow variable ratio
           | steering based on speed or preferences.
        
       | dymk wrote:
       | Stainless steel exterior with sharp edges. Not looking forwarding
       | to seeing pedestrians get gored when these things run into them.
       | Not holding my breath on good crash compatibility with cars,
       | either.
       | 
       | If you care about humans, you won't get one of these.
        
         | bryanlarsen wrote:
         | A low sharp front is what you want if you get hit by a vehicle
         | at speed. A high blunt front might be less likely to break your
         | legs but more likely to kill you.
         | 
         | https://www.iihs.org/news/detail/vehicles-with-higher-more-v...
        
           | dymk wrote:
           | "Sharp" as in "low to the ground", not a literal sharp angle.
           | A car with a low, rounded front won't maim as badly as the
           | Cybertruck's sharp angle aimed at your torso.
           | 
           | What the article calls "blunt" (the thing that kills peds the
           | most) is pretty much what the Cybertruck maximized.
        
             | bryanlarsen wrote:
             | Sure, but you'd likely fare better being hit by a
             | Cybertruck than an F-150 or a Ranger or a large SUV.
        
               | dymk wrote:
               | The people who would consider buying an F150 or a
               | sprinter van are not the people who would buy a
               | Cybertruck. Smaller bed, can't tow nearly as much, lower
               | range. The dominant market for this truck is going to be
               | people who may as well buy a Model 3.
        
         | rgmerk wrote:
         | All full-size American pickups are pedestrian killers,
         | particularly of toddlers.[1] There's nothing unique about the
         | Cybertruck in this respect.
         | 
         | They also are more than twice as likely to kill the occupants
         | of other vehicles in crashes.
         | 
         | The public policy choices that led to full-size pickups as
         | currently designed becoming the family transport of choice were
         | incredibly dumb.
         | 
         | So be mad about the Cybertruck, by all means. But all these
         | vehicles are killers.
         | 
         | [1] https://www.wral.com/story/car-tech-to-prevent-frontover-
         | acc... [2]
         | https://www.sciencedirect.com/org/science/article/pii/S15389...
        
       | freediver wrote:
       | Saw one on the street yesterday. It looked enormous and out of
       | place.
        
         | grecy wrote:
         | It's smaller than a F-150, the best selling vehicle in the US
        
       | rich_sasha wrote:
       | Steer by wire sounds like a disastrous idea to me, especially in
       | a car made with attention to detail of Tesla.
       | 
       | I'm not even sure where to start. It's less reliable, surely it
       | must be (at least without significant investment into QA and
       | redundancy). A physical wheel physically connected to bits
       | turning the wheels, well, the power steering can do, but you can
       | still turn the thing.
       | 
       | Then, it's all software driven. And it can't be air-gapped,
       | because surely the various driver assistance programs need to
       | turn the wheel. But so if the crappy OTA-updated software
       | crashes, I can't steer? Or steering reverts, or who knows what.
       | 
       | Finally, I'm not holding my breath on a new membership option
       | including "you can steer your car again".
       | 
       | I'm no Luddite, I'm keen for what technology can do for us, but
       | some places I don't want it.
        
         | shrubble wrote:
         | Brake by wire has been a standard on many vehicles for at least
         | a decade at this point.
         | 
         | I would guess that steer by wire is a standard off the shelf
         | module. Both Bosch and ZF at the least offer this.
        
           | whelp_24 wrote:
           | Brake by wire has a physical backup
        
         | AYBABTME wrote:
         | Given that my backup camera lags half the time I use it on my
         | Model Y, I'm also not excited about this. But perhaps they'll
         | have solved the whole real time thing in the process.
        
         | baz00 wrote:
         | Yeah look at planes. I'd rather have hydraulics and mechanical
         | controls still in a car. Which is why I drive a primitive POS
         | (Dacia Duster).
        
           | psunavy03 wrote:
           | Tell me you have zero flight time or aircraft engineering
           | experience without telling me you have zero flight time or
           | aircraft engineering experience. This is no different from
           | Trump claiming he wanted "damn steam" for aircraft carrier
           | catapults despite electromagnetic ones having clear
           | advantages. This isn't 1969 anymore.
        
             | baz00 wrote:
             | I do actually but that's irrelevant. It's an engineering
             | trade-off. In a car, it's a stupid one because its built to
             | a cost profile not a safety profile.
             | 
             | You can't compare a $200m Airbus to a whatever it's going
             | to cost but is being lied about vanity machine kicked out
             | by a vendor with a history of software problems.
             | 
             | Actually the risk profile is probably higher on the damn
             | car.
        
           | dopamean wrote:
           | I think all airbus commercial jets are fly by wire.
        
             | baz00 wrote:
             | Not totally. They have two redundant computers in the
             | control loop. But they worked out this was a shitty idea if
             | there was a failure so there are mechanical and electrical
             | backup systems. Whilst "fly by wire" technically speaking
             | they don't involve a computer in the loop.
             | 
             | I'd still rather have a totally mechanical backup.
        
             | m463 wrote:
             | They have some mechanical bits. I think you can fly the
             | a320 by modulating the engine thrust and using trim wheels.
        
         | psunavy03 wrote:
         | Drive-by-wire throttles have been a thing for over a decade,
         | and the only company to epically screw it up was Toyota.
        
           | teejmya wrote:
           | Also Volvo. I'm sure there are others.
           | 
           | https://www.matthewsvolvosite.com/volvos-electronic-
           | throttle...
        
         | ed_balls wrote:
         | Steer by wire is ok. We had all pedals by wire for ages.
         | Hopefully they won't screw up the implementation again
         | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=agMrewRJTow
        
           | whelp_24 wrote:
           | Gas not working is usually just inconvenient, brakes have
           | physical failsafe, and steering is more important than both.
        
         | sitzkrieg wrote:
         | i look forward to the recalls
        
         | megaman821 wrote:
         | I lost pneumatic steering during a turn, and it nearly tore my
         | arm off. Not sure most people would be able to drive over a few
         | mph without powered steering.
         | 
         | Hopefully the steer by wire systems are backed by another steer
         | by wire system, so it would be terrible luck if you lost both
         | at the same time.
        
       | caycep wrote:
       | curb weight?
        
       | dang wrote:
       | Recent and related:
       | 
       |  _Cybertruck Launch_ -
       | https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38465944 - Nov 2023 (476
       | comments)
        
       | ttfkam wrote:
       | I see from the photos it will have side mirrors now, so no side
       | cameras after all. Still haven't heard anything about crash
       | testing, which I'm curious about since thick stainless steel
       | isn't what one would usually associate with crumple zones. To be
       | sure, I wouldn't want to be hit by one if I were a pedestrian in
       | a crosswalk.
        
         | modeless wrote:
         | Side mirrors are required by law, but they were supposed to be
         | easily removable after delivery. We'll see if that made it into
         | the final version.
        
       | TaylorAlexander wrote:
       | Interesting that the marketing image on that page is clearly
       | meant to suggest driving around on Mars. I think it is clear from
       | the design and marketing that this truck is meant as a fashion
       | statement not a work vehicle. It will be interesting to see if it
       | catches on. I like some of the ideas used in the vehicle's
       | construction, though I do not like how dangerous it appears to be
       | for pedestrians.
       | 
       | If I made a prediction, it would be that lessons learned from the
       | cybertruck will influence a new generation of vehicle designs. It
       | seems to be a design that takes a lot of risks and tries new
       | things, and I would expect some of that to stick. Tesla certainly
       | has experience making vehicles and a desire to simplify and
       | innovate, so I would expect at least something of this design to
       | inspire new vehicle designs.
       | 
       | A lot of people are saying its ugly. I feel that way too though I
       | am unsure if it will grow on me. But as much as people say that,
       | I think it will catch on anyway. It's a very flashy fashion
       | statement and I think that will appeal to people with money and
       | those aspiring to look like they have more money than they do.
        
         | taurath wrote:
         | I feel like it already has limited social value except as a
         | sort of MAGA hat for Elon. I predict it'll have some rabid
         | adherents but also develop a reputation as a vehicle for
         | assholes - already in a lot of circles the Tesla brand has a
         | negative association due to Elon behaving like a nepo bully.
        
           | TaylorAlexander wrote:
           | You know that's a good point. I know everyone in my circles
           | will feel that way. You can get away driving a normal Tesla
           | but this one is really going to say something in particular.
           | That you also have this sort of immature brash attitude that
           | has led to Musk's negative public opinion. So you are right
           | that might tank the product.
        
         | m463 wrote:
         | I think there are lots of people that want an EV, but drive
         | terrible roads.
        
       | rowanG077 wrote:
       | I love the style of the cybertruck. But I will never buy a car
       | that large. It's ridiculous. I hope they will make a car in the
       | same style that isn't totally ridiculous.
        
       | gonzo wrote:
       | I'm assuming the torque spec is at stall (0 rpm)
        
       | jasongill wrote:
       | Funny that the cheaper model's 0-60 time is listed as "4.1 SEC.
       | 0-60 MPH", but the more expensive model is listed as "2.6 SEC.
       | 0-60 MPH With rollout subtracted."
       | 
       | The whole rollout for 0-60 thing is a big fuss in the car
       | magazine subculture - instead of counting zero to 60 from a
       | standstill, they now count zero to 60 in a drag race style, where
       | you have to trip the starting light by going forward a foot or
       | two.
       | 
       | What that most likely means is that the fastest model doesn't
       | have enough grip to keep the tires from spinning off the line, so
       | they are basically spinning the tires for a fraction of a second
       | (or longer) and then once they start to move forward, they start
       | counting the 0-60 time. I imagine if you did the same for the
       | cheaper model, it's 0-60 time would look better as well.
        
       | terminatornet wrote:
       | god help anyone slamming their head into that angled dashboard in
       | a crash
        
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