Yeah maybe you could drive your car on solar

[Undertoad]

Elon Musk introduced the Cybertruck last night. There are a lot of opinions on it. One thing he didn't mention during the demo, but tweeted later:

They intend to put a solar panel tonneau cover on it.

Depending on local conditions, it will recharge 15 miles of range per day.

If you could extend wings of solar panel out from it, it could recharge 30 miles per day.

Average car is driven 20 miles per day.

[xoxoxoBruce]

But snow or rain or heat or gloom of night stays these panel from their appointed duty.



The things I read said he was telling how the truck is bulletproof up to 9mm, and he had someone throw ball bearings at the window which cracked to his embarrassment and and the reporters glee. Doesn't anyone understand how bullet proof glass work? The outer layer show the impact, the subsequent layers should not. Like a windshield it's laminated but with a lot more layers. Duh

Most pickup trucks look pretty much alike from the cab back. The reason is it evolved over 100 years to meet the needs of the people who used them. This reminds me of the Lincoln Mark LT, Ranchero, and El Camino. Not a serious truck, but there's so many people driving trucks now that don't need one there may be a market.

[Undertoad]

It's weird that he did mention the 110/220v AND that you can run pneumatics via the air suspension system, as if to say it could be a work truck.

[xoxoxoBruce]

The reporter called it a power center for the jobsite. I think that's hyperbole.

[Clodfobble]

Possibly it's because they know the average person won't have that monstrosity in their driveway, but it wouldn't be as out of place on a job site where the vehicles aren't exactly attractive to begin with and everyone can say the boss makes them drive it.

[Undertoad]

Hmm the bed is stainless steel too

[xoxoxoBruce]

I guess we'll have Tesla Fanboys in the model of Apple Fanboys. They'll love the Buck Rogers looks and The grand poobah changing their software on the fly with his string of low earth orbit satellites.
This truck has some good ideas, also some excellent features, but it misses the mark for a working tradesmans pickup. It was designed by space cadets, dreamers, the way all big strides are achieved, and I'm sure it will evolve when they get in touch with people who would use this for work. Or maybe that's not the target.

You see millions of people driving pickups that don't need one other than picking something up from Lowes or the Antique store. The main reason they've become popular for the two car family, other than the manly man image, is you sit high enough to see more than a trunk lid in front of you. Tesla's truck is low, maybe too low, but I guess you don't have to see ahead when you've got bullet proof.

[glatt]

You don’t have to see ahead when the car drives itself.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Certainly not, just sit back and write out your last will and testament.
So who will buy them in the next 10 years before they can be trusted?
They won't be close to safe until ALL vehicles are self driving.

[Griff]

I'm surprised at the price. Idiots around here spend numbers like that on their trucks. I don't think Hillbillys will drive them but maybe Ford's will come in at a similar pp.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Yeah, pickups over $100,000 are not all that rare, of course those Tesla numbers are followed by "and up" like the others.

[Undertoad]

150K pre-ordered so far

[Griff]

I want this to succeed. Maybe there will be a Tacoma down the line.

[Happy Monkey]

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce

So who will buy them in the next 10 years before they can be trusted?
They won't be close to safe until ALL vehicles are self driving.

I suspect they'll be safer than human drivers somewhat soon, but part of that will come from driving less agressively, so human drivers will be cutting them off constantly, and part will be because they will give up and transfer control to humans part of the time.


Also, when they do make mistakes, they are likely to be ones that no human would make, so people will me much more freaked out by one robot doing something we find bizarre than by 100 humans rear-ending someone while texting.

[Undertoad]

The opening/closing of the tonneau cover is very slick. They say you can stand on it when it's closed.