[HN Gopher] A Cultural Critique of the Tesla Cybertruck
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A Cultural Critique of the Tesla Cybertruck
Author : MBCook
Score : 35 points
Date : 2023-12-09 20:56 UTC (2 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (www.roadandtrack.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (www.roadandtrack.com)
| dieselgate wrote:
| I thought this article had a pleasant historical summary of car
| related culture in the US but thought the parts about the
| Cybertruck fell kind of flat.
| troelsSteegin wrote:
| To my read, the author sets up owning a Cybertruck up as the
| vehicular equivalent of owning an assault weapon: "A
| bulletproof three-and-a-half ton stainless-steel truck equipped
| with "Bioweapon Defense Mode" designed to slam through other
| cars is the perfect vehicle for a society where over a third of
| people are scared to walk around at night." Hard to support
| that without hearing from buyers, but I thought that was rather
| pointy.
| threeseed wrote:
| That statement is entirely factual though.
|
| Musk has continually promoted the car as being bulletproof.
|
| And we know from regulators and crash tests that it's going
| to be a nightmare for pedestrians. To the level where in many
| countries it is likely to not be street-legal. Factor in the
| sports-car level acceleration and it is going to be an
| unprecedentedly dangerous car.
| huijzer wrote:
| If I have to choose between a "comfortable" car to be hit
| by without active safety features and an uncomfortable car
| that has active safety features, then I rather choose the
| latter. In other words, rather a car that is driven by a
| human and might break from itself than a "comfortable" car
| driven by only a human.
| verve_rat wrote:
| That's a total false dichotomy though. No new consumer
| vehicles in that price range lack active safety features
| like automatic breaking.
|
| The cybertruck is just unnecessary in its disregard for
| other people.
| maxerickson wrote:
| Didn't they roll down the windows when they shot it? Pretty
| sure the standard windows aren't bulletproof (and therefore
| the vehicles with the standard windows aren't bulletproof
| either).
|
| So in the end it's mostly just for show.
| pa7ch wrote:
| We don't know that. I think its likely safer to pedestrians
| then an F150 because the hood is significantly lower. The
| steel ia irrelevant, trucks don't crumple already for
| pedestrians, they crumple for other cars.
| Avshalom wrote:
| It felt like all lead-in no body.
| bbor wrote:
| Great article, all very true. Just look at the patent absurdity
| of modern American pickup trucks. What this article was missing
| (for good reason) is tying this to politics more directly; IMO "I
| want a car that will 'win' if I get in an accident" is based in
| the same toxic intuitions as "America First"
| FirmwareBurner wrote:
| _> "I want a car that will 'win' if I get in an accident"_
|
| That's not at all an American exclusive. I live in Europe and
| everyone parrots the same line when they justify why they're
| getting a SUV even though they live in the city and never go
| off-roading.
|
| A work colleagues who just got a baby recently told me he had
| to get a SUV even though he wanted a sedan because his wife
| pushed for the SUV with the same argument: "I feel safer in
| one." What's a guy to do? Do you want to risk for your wife and
| child to "feel unsafe" because you're too cheap to buy your
| family a SUV? Same with my cousin, she just got a baby and
| pushed her husband to get a SUV for the same reason, so I'm
| definitely seeing a pattern in my circles as well as on the
| streets.
|
| The estate/station wagon and the mini-van were the traditional
| vehicle of the family here but now SUVs and the jacked up
| cross-over abominations are flying off the shelves here. Just
| look at Volvo's UK line-up[1], it's 8 SUVs and 1 crossover.
| WTF?!
|
| Justified or not, consumers are noticing this arms race, and
| manufacturers are more than happy to market and sell you bigger
| and taller cars for you to "feel safer" in, if you've got the
| cash.
|
| [1] https://www.volvocars.com/uk/
| 01100011 wrote:
| IME it is often the female pushing for the bigger vehicle. My
| ex-wife kept pushing to upgrade our Subaru Outback to
| something bigger and we only had 2 dogs and no kids in the
| suburbs. Similarly, my wife hated my Chevy Bolt because of
| its size. I think folks stereotype big vehicle purchasers as
| males looking to compensate for feelings of inferiority, but
| from what I've seen(beyond just the examples given) is that
| this isn't really true. I'm sure it sounds good to folks
| looking to denigrate people with vehicles that are deemed
| excessive but is trite and silly.
| nervousvarun wrote:
| We seem to be conflating different vehicles/demos in these
| comments. SUVs and pickups.
|
| Large SUVs for sure are appealing to women.
|
| The negative stereotypes of male compensation etc though
| are associated with large pickup trucks not SUVs no?
|
| When we think "large SUV" we think soccer mom.
|
| When we think "large Pickup" we think male ego
| compensation/etc.
| orwin wrote:
| In my experience, people in huge vehicles are either bad
| drivers or drivers who lack confidence (or both).
|
| I'm pretty sure females in general have less confidence
| than males. At least in my family.
| jakderrida wrote:
| I don't think it's just about superiority or safety in the
| event of a crash. I almost always buy Coupes for my
| personal vehicles, but was hired to drive an F150 pickup
| truck to transport materials throughout the city. It had
| two advantages. One was being able to see what's behind me
| and estimate with high accuracy the distance from me things
| were, but that's less relevant. The other major advantage
| was that my head was higher than almost everyone else on
| the road, allowing me a much better 360 view of what's
| around me. However, I was also obstructing the view of
| every other driver, which is why only a complete douchebag
| gets one for a personal vehicle.
| FredPret wrote:
| People want the wrong things damnit! They should want to be
| in a bus or on a scooter so that everything can be easier to
| plan. Instead they want to be happy, safe, and comfortable!
| george-in-sd wrote:
| Note they have no cultural problems with a $150k gas guzzling
| SUV:
| https://www.roadandtrack.com/reviews/a44600208/2023-cadillac...
|
| Follow the money here folks.
| Avshalom wrote:
| Aside from that being a complete different byline:
|
| Tesla is worth more than GM and Musk is one of the wealthiest
| people on the planet.
|
| he is "the money"
| efnx wrote:
| Different money though.
| mrtksn wrote:
| It's a fascinating phenomenon, the "People's billionaire"
| thing. Reminds of the movie "Don't look up" where they phrase
| it as "The working class, the cool rich and them".
| HPsquared wrote:
| It's the classic "high-and-low vs middle" dynamic.
| Barrin92 wrote:
| All the correct criticism about what the car represents
| culturally aside, the article also hints at what is for me the
| biggest aesthetic issue:
|
| _" He [Musk] has called the Cybertruck "what Bladerunner would
| have driven"_
|
| The car reminds me of what Mark Fisher called the "spectre of a
| lost future". Instead of imagining genuine futures the most "sci-
| fi" car imaginable is something that looks like it could come out
| of a 40 year old movie set. It's the same kind of design
| sentiment you see with skyscrapers in the Emirates were you can
| almost guess they were demanded by people who grew up on 80s
| science fiction with a 30 year delay.
| Avshalom wrote:
| Yeah, it's extremely galling to see lines like "the future
| looks like the future" or "it looks like it was designed by
| aliens from the future" in reference to a car that is
| constantly being compared (by the same guy) to 30-50 year
| design languages.
|
| (I also want to emphasize that the car everyone remembers from
| bladerunner is the police spinner, which looks absolutely
| nothing like a swollen Lotus Esprit)
| chasd00 wrote:
| The ironic thing about the cybertruck being some prepper vehicle
| for the apocalypse is when the lights got out so does the
| cybertruck.
| PartiallyTyped wrote:
| During apocalypse, you'd be able to recharge a cybertruck
| through solar panels.. Batteries are also a thing..
|
| I am not sure you'd be able to find working refineries,
| gasoline that hasn't evaporated, or oil...
| ceejayoz wrote:
| During an apocalypse, neither type of vehicle is likely to be
| particularly useful versus a horse or donkey.
|
| Fuel everywhere, making new ones is easy, and a bonus
| emergency food source.
| PartiallyTyped wrote:
| I concur, I am just saying in the context of the original
| comment, an EV is likely a better vehicle than an oil-
| chugging ice vehicle.
| ceejayoz wrote:
| Maybe, I'm just saying that's a "what's the tastiest
| poop?" sort of question.
| PartiallyTyped wrote:
| I ... don't disagree.. Thanks for the laugh :)
| RandomLensman wrote:
| Maybe you can swap it for a course of antibiotics or
| something else of actual value.
| kipchak wrote:
| Like a lot of products I think part of it's appeal is a feeling
| of security which doesn't necessarily equal practical security,
| in the same way a 4x4 might appeal to someone wanting to feel
| "rugged" even if it never leaves asphalt. I think to some
| extent Tesla employed a similar strategy with it's other models
| and green appeal.
| wrycoder wrote:
| This article has a very narrow view of the Cybertruck phenomenon,
| as seen through a prism of lefty emotionalism. It is more a view
| of the general sociological scene of the early 21st century
| United States, than about its motor vehicle component. The author
| wanted to be a cultural critic, but is writing for Road and Track
| as a fallback. In addition, she left rural Idaho and moved to
| Seattle, which is telling.
|
| "Musk's bulletproof wedge-shaped machine is the physical
| manifestation of America's fear, and whether it is good or bad,
| we deserve it. "
| rsingel wrote:
| We had a test run for the apocalypse in 2020, and the vehicle of
| choice was a bike.
|
| The cybertruck isn't built for the apocalypse, it's built for the
| I got mine class.
|
| SUVs are mobile gated subdivisions. The cybertruck is a mobile
| safe room.
| mrtksn wrote:
| It's not just the first not-ugly Tesla, but it is culturally
| appropriate product. I don't know if it will be a successful
| product but this thing will be in museums.
|
| You know the Apple's famous ad:
|
| "Here's to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The
| troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who
| see things differently. They're not fond of rules. And they have
| no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with
| them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can't do
| is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human
| race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we
| see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they
| can change the world, are the ones who do."
|
| Musk fits that perfectly. With all his faults, he has some
| answers(some good, some not so) but more importantly he has risen
| some questions and this particular vehicle is a question on
| design.
|
| The world is changing, mostly for the worse and its time to ask
| questions so we can have answer on how to have a new normal that
| is better than the one before everything started crumbling.
| noitpmeder wrote:
| Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I'd say the Tesla
| Roadster is pretty not-ugly to me!
|
| I don't think the cybertruck is "pushing the human race
| forward" in any capacity. It's a unique looking truck, big
| whoop. The only museum it'll be in is Elon's mausoleum.
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(page generated 2023-12-09 23:00 UTC)