The Cybertruck: “f***ing fearless”
Just a few days ago the Tesla Cybertruck was unveiled. A lot has been written since, mainly due to its polarizing design. For me it certainly has been the most exciting product reveals in a long time, even though it’s a car I probably won’t consider buying. I wrote this post in an attempt to explain to myself why it is so exciting.
The genius of the unexpected
“Unexpected” describes this product unveiling in so many ways. The style of the presentation: raw, almost unprepared. The failure with the broken window. And, of course, the design. After the initial shock and letting it sink in, feelings left are around boldness, strength, rawness, audacity, and counter-culture. Overall this product unveiling is a really impressive marketing achievement. Here’s why:
The truck (in general, not the cybertruck only) serves an audience that is looking for toughness. (This is best experienced in the US, albeit I assume similar trends can be found globally.)
Some of the folks most critical of Tesla and its mission to transition to sustainable transport are right at the core of the target audience for big, tough trucks such as the Ford F150. Heck, there is even a “sports” of sorts of so-called “coal rolling”, often targeted at Teslas. This is almost exclusively carried out with trucks. Google it — or watch this clip:
(A similar hobby is to “ICE” supercharger stations.)
This is nothing the majority of truck customers would ever do, of course. But, it does illustrate the point, that if you build an electric truck, it better be tougher than anything else on the market. And I think Tesla nailed it! Imagine seeing the vehicle’s front with the mono light-bar in your rearview mirror. It doesn’t get any wilder than that! On top of it, the technical specs speak for themselves: almost indestructible steel shell. Tug of war pulling an F150 easily — uphill. Bulletproof (?) glass…
From that angle putting toughness at the core of the design makes total sense, and the result is maybe not so unexpected anymore.
Form follows function
But the design move is also unexpected from another angle: Tesla won in EVs by making one of the first electric vehicles that looked “normal”. (Of course, also performing extremely well.) Before Tesla, every incumbent car manufacturer designed EVs as “futuristic” and “innovative”. Which didn’t work out at all. Now all the incumbents are announcing EVs with “normal” design — and Tesla decides to go the total opposite way with the truck!
The reason the vehicle looks like Origami is that it is Origami. Well, almost. The way the body is built is that is “cut” from a steel sheet and then “folded” into its shape. Similar as you know it from folding a flat cardboard shape into a box. The benefit of this, as described in the presentation, is that no steel frame is needed and a tough exoskeleton gives strength stability. The steel is very tough, doesn’t scratch and doesn’t need a paint job.
So with the original requirement of toughness, form really follows function. On top of that, it makes the vehicle production much cheaper. The car comes at a very competitive price point compared to any truck, electric or not.
Audacity
Of course, the move to go public with a design like this takes a lot of courage. (Arguably even more than removing a headphone jack or Flash.)
Apparently, also the idea of the designing a car from a folded sheet of steel has been around for a while in the auto industry — just “no one had the balls to do it so far”, as explained by these guys:
One criticism that was voiced frequently is that the truck is too big, too uneconomical, and too dangerous. Smaller, lightweight cars for city use would be better. This is true. But it misses the point: we are talking about folks buying a big gas-guzzling truck. It will be hard to switch these folks to a Smart car. Switching them to electric (eventually from sustainable sources) is the lesser of evils.
So, bottom line, the cybertruck design choices really belongs on the very far right of this chart, which caught my eye at John Schoolcraft’s Slush presentation last week:
(We can argue about where Cybertruck lands on the y-axis :))
