An impressive amount of anticipation had been mounting across Tesla

fanatics and the industry alike, leading up to Tesla’s new “pickup truck”
reveal Thursday night.

Though speculation was rampant, actual knowledge of what was coming

was bone dry.

When it was driven on stage, it may be fair to say that the Cybertruck
stunned almost everyone. As outlined in the beginning of Elon’s
presentation, the Cybertruck embodied a radical departure from the
historical design of other pickup trucks. A design which has persevered
largely unchanged over the decades.

Design Aesthetic
The focal point of the Cybertruck’s stunning impact stems from its exterior
design: metallic, angular, and futuristic. It immediately requires you to
make an aesthetic judgement, that often won’t land on the truck-
designer’s side - even among the Tesla die-hards who carry large
reserves of goodwill for all things Tesla.

[I’m quite the Tesla fan, and last night when it was unveiled, I was
stunned, but I didn’t quite get it. I walked by the vehicle a couple times on
stage. And still didn’t get it. I waited in line for a couple hours to get a test
ride, watching the other passengers get in and out, and I didn’t get it. And
unfortunately, the line didn’t move too much, so I bailed out.

And then I went to the oculus VR experience. Here you could see the car
pull up in a Blade Runner-esque setting. After climbing aboard, you could
see the amazing views through the straight glass forward window. You
could turn around and see how roomy the cabin was, and how much
space was available in the bed. Then it took you through the desert, then
up a mountain over huge rocks. I started to get it. It was an amazing ride.
I got back in line for another turn. And then another. And then I got it.]
Behind the veneer of this really strange looking “pickup truck” hides
something very different. Something reptilian in nature. And this extends
well beyond the characteristic resilient skin that reptiles developed over
300 million years ago. It extends beyond the ability to traverse any terrain
with the adeptness of a lizard. Tesla’s Cybertruck borrows its best trick
from the DNA of Chameleons, but this has seemingly been genetically
altered in such a way, that it doesn’t control its exterior appearance (did I
mention that it looks metallic and really strange). But rather the
Cybertruck can transform its interior utility.

Virtual Shapeshifting
To the blind observer, the Cybertruck may be recognized as something
more closely resembling a full-size Ford Expedition-like “sport utility
vehicle” than it does a F-150 pickup in terms of its place on the road. But
the magic of the Cybertruck is that depending on the context and intention
of its owner, it can become so many things to so many different people.

 So for the family of six, it is a Chevy Suburban, but with more than
twice the cargo space. It will fit all the kids and all the coolers,
strollers, and luggage needed for the trip to grandma’s, as well as
the playpen, a bike, and a crib. 
 For the off-roader, it’s a Jeep Wrangler, which will climb higher and
faster over coarser terrain.
 For the Landscaping Professional it’s an F-150 that fits all the
mowers and blowers and charges them on the way to each job.
 For the big motorboat hauler it’s a Sierra Heavy Duty that backs
into water.
 For the adrenaline freak, it’s a sports super-car - capable of
drawing exhilaration out of anyone in the car when the accelerator
is pushed. 
 On a Saturday night, it’s a G50 on Hollywood Blvd.
 For the solar shingle installation contractor is the cheapest way to
move tons of roofing across Texas
 On the hills of Malibu it’s a Land Rover.
 For the outdoorsy couple, it’s a Subaru outback.
 For the weekend skier it’s an Audi Q5 Quattro.
  For the hippie it’s a microbus of your eco-conscious camping
dreams.
 For the police it’s the coolest police car ever
 In China it will be filled with full nylon bags delivering them to
distant villages on gravel roads washed out by rain. 
 Cybertruck will be the clear foundation of any self-respecting
motorcade of the future (though that may require the upgraded
window package)
The versatility of the Cybertruck is unmatched. It can do just about
anything any other commonly sold vehicle can do and in most cases
better and much cheaper. It is simply the most operationally capable
vehicle ever designed. 

By the time it’s released, Tesla autopilot will have evolved its feature set
to a point where the Cybertruck will drive itself better than most humans
through cities and highways across the world. You will arrive at your
destination relaxed. After a couple years, you won’t even need to stay
awake. The Cybertruck, will keep its passengers, significantly safer than
anything else they could ever buy.

But most of them won’t buy it. 

CyberTruck Plan B is Plan A

Tesla will build the first alien dreadnought edition Gigafactory to make the
Cybertruck. In 2022, they will gear capacity up towards 10,000 units a
week with this factory.  The scale along with advancing manufacturing
automation will enable them to achieve the $39,900 staring price of the
base model. 

When it’s released, the pent-up demand from the nominal $100 consumer
reservations will serve to absorb several months of full-scale production.
After those to whom the Cybertruck’s design speaks have purchased
theirs, they will never need another one. The vehicle will last a million
miles. Cost-benefit analysis will compel an ongoing segment of new car
buyers to check their aesthetics at the door, some may even stretch their
sensibilities into some kind of cyberhaus design school and start to like it.
But for most, it will be too aesthetically challenging. The Model Y will
remain the safe choice for an increasing number of buyers who begin to
understand the wide array of benefits associated with Tesla ownership.

And this comes as no surprise. As Elon stated during the recode

interview: “You know, I actually don’t know if a lot of people will buy this
pickup truck or not, but I don’t care.”
And while this isn’t literally accurate - there’s no doubt Elon would want
consumers to love owning this car: his new baby, their latest and
greatest. It could be better stated that Elon doesn’t need to care. It won’t
matter too much for Tesla how many consumers buy this vehicle.
Because this Chameleon has a few more tricks. One night along with
Model 3s and Model Ys, it will download the software-equivalent of a
cocoon, and after a few hours, the age of Cybermobility will dawn. This
vehicle will transform into the automotive version of a butterfly - the
world’s first robo-super-taxi. 

It’s the Economics, Stupid

Costing 20 cents per mile to operate at high speeds, the Cybertruck will
get anyone anywhere from point A to B, with everything they need. It will
be approximately 50% more efficient at this task than the Model 3, which
is already 2x better than gas, but with 6 times the cargo space.

It will drive you across New York City for 30 minutes at a cost of $5.

At this rate, the cybertruck will generate $60,000 per year. A figure close
to it’s purchase price, which means it will effectively pay for itself within
two years, with 800,000 miles of life left on the drivetrain.

Cybertruck will take a grandmother one the three-hour drive from Portland
to the Seattle airport for just $60, no extra charge for 5 big suitcases
along with even for 5 more grandkids if they want to come.

The winter drive from Denver to Aspen will cost around $50, with the bed
full of ski-gear, where winter enthusiasts will experience the beauty of the
first snowstorm landing on the metallic glass. The carefree autopiloted
handling of the Cybertruck through the curving mountain passes, will let
everyone relax and enjoy the scenery - even in the most brutal conditions
which has never been possible before.

Today Greyhound from NY to Washington is $40. A cybertruck with just 4

people in it could run for that route twice a day and generate over
$200,000 /year revenue.

Delta Airlines will start to buy Cybertrucks in bulk to get millions of people
across the Georgia region to Hartsfield-Jackson Airport for their flights
across the world. 

High schools will soon adopt Cybertrucks into their bus systems, and
while the students are in school, these trucks will uber others or even
move cargo across town.

Corporations will buy Cybertrucks to move their employees across their

facilities, and on weekends, employees can check them out as a perk.
These employees will rarely be deterred by the strange aesthetics of the
vehicle.

The demand for Cybertrucks to haul heavy loads will be considerable,

given that the cost of fuel per mile will be half that of gas. 

Add-ons to the bed of all types will be enabled by the onboard electricity.
Cold drinks? No problem. Cooking? Sure? Solar charging, of course.

Is your Model 3 out of charge? Just plug it into Cybertruck’s 240-volt

outlet for a couple hours.

One of the most paramount take-aways I learned from the whole Cybertruck roll-
out experience, was how amazed I was that people blindly follow Elon Musk in that
whole world of Tesla Motors. I’m not used to vehicles looking this way. If Elon
announced that he was going to make something that was even uglier than this, it
now wouldn’t surprise me that his groupies would lend their unwavering support,
and for those who could afford it, they’d blindly buy it, sight unseen, instantly. The
long wait list for it doesn’t surprise me. It proves it!
But I have to give Elon credit. This experience also taught me a lot about myself, the
eye they say I have for the auto industry, and why once I get over my initial
reactions which are at times emotional (remember with guys, cars and car
purchases are purely emotional ironically and unlike it is for most women) to take
two steps back and to look at the bigger picture to put everything in context that
most people really don’t do. I now see the bigger picture.

Obviously there’s nothing aesthetic about this vehicle. Because it is electric the
shape is to extend range. Materials used are to make it durable in off road and off
grid settings. With this vehicle you never have to worry about being self conscious
about driving a dirty vehicle, as you can’t tell if it is or isn’t. We all get it with the
smashing of the windows at the unveil. I’ve always said and wrote that skateboard
BEVs make the perfect ballistic hardened security vehicle. Most of us don’t need a
bullet and bomb proof car like an armored truck or the president’s state car. Tesla
now has a vehicle that is perfect for hardening against any kind of ballistic attack.
So the bigger picture starts here with vehicle itself. This truck will now send a ripple
into the market. Let me explain.

A fundamental shift is occurring in the auto industry, and with electric vehicles they
don’t have to look like gas vehicles anymore, at least not radically until we get used
to them like we did 125 years ago when cars looked like horse buggies. We need an
impetus to get out of front engine rear wheel drive and gas and go mode. I now
see a purpose and a reason why this vehicle exists as it does, and why it has a
decent chance of success. I’ll even give you a hint: this isn’t all about beating Ford.
There are people who think a Hummer is ugly as well. Looks aren’t everything in the
light duty truck segments, especially in this emerging one. Form factor sometimes
helps with function. Follow me:

My first impressions of what was once called the Tesla Model U, the utopian idea of
what the first ever Tesla pickup truck should be, was that Elon wanted to make a
heavy duty cab utility or truck tractor based modular pick up truck for heavy duty
use, something like a GMC Topkick, like the original render in this picture he gave
us, with beloved Tesla Semi as the sacrificed bride of Frankenstein nobody seemed
to mind. Hell, it even gave people ideas like turning Sweet Semi from her original
duty as a class 8 truck tractor into modular frame duty like providing the frame for
a camper van, a great idea. Everyone loved it including me:

That’s my take on Cybertruck. It isn’t for me, but I sincerely give it my blessing to
wish it it well and hope it succeeds for Tesla! I want Tesla to succeed. I want
electromobility to succeed. I want the human race to succeed. I hope I answered
your question. It is my honest answer.
It is about what I expected. We knew the styling would be weird. We knew that all
of the things that a Tesla car has…it would have (torque, LOTS of torque).

The thing is - in the USA, there are two completely distinct communities of truck
buyers:

1. The people who use the truck for their business - contractors,
repair guys, etc, etc.
2. The people who just like to drive a truck and use it just like a car.
They almost never carry anything in the bed.
The first community will like the 110v, 220v and compressed air take-offs, along
with six seats.