Electric Car Prediction - Whatdayathing???

[LarryHoward]

I agree. I’ve been looking at the Model Y. Not enamored with the looks from the “seen in the wild” shots but the Mustang looks like an attempt to build a cheap copy of the Macan. The performance numbers are all in comparison to the Base Macan. Seems an attempt to avoid a comparison to the Tesla.

[slap]

[LarryHoward]

Horse seems to be getting a bit chunky as it ages.

[Chris Chesley]

I dunno, papier mache never much impressed me as strong and powerful...

Yup, the horse got fat....

[TheOffice]

Tonight is the Tesla pickup big reveal.

Will they play it safe or go radical? I wonder if they will use the S platofrm now that sales of the S are down.

Joel

[BeauV]

Tonight is the Tesla pickup big reveal.

Will they play it safe or go radical? I wonder if they will use the S platofrm now that sales of the S are down.

Joel

It'll be fun to see what comes out. I'm guessing (I have no idea) that they'll re-use the Model S/X battery system etc... That is the most expensive bit of an electric car and this system is well tested as well as in mass production. The stupid doors on the Model X resulted in Tesla failing to execute on its original plan to use the Model S platform and build an SUV on top of it. Those stupid doors did result in the Model X frame being massively stronger than the S. So.... my guess is they'll use the floor pan, battery system, and suspension from the Model X with a PickUp body of some sort. In which case they'll be launching the world's fastest pickup truck! LOL!

In talking to the very few friends I have left at Tesla, the word is that the Model 3 has proven to be "good enough" for almost everyone and has sucked buyers away from the larger Model S. I'm pretty sure I'd buy a Model 3 if I were buying right now, but my Admiral still loves the S because of its size.

[TheOffice]

If i were looking to buy a Tesla I'd probably look at a used S for the price of a 3. Looks so much better and has real buttons. But I've never driven a 3.

[BeauV]

If i were looking to buy a Tesla I'd probably look at a used S for the price of a 3. Looks so much better and has real buttons. But I've never driven a 3.

Well, the used Tesla Ss are holding up really well, much less maintenance than expected. The reason I'd buy a 3 is 1) I like smaller cars, easier to park, more nimble and fun to drive. 2) The newer design which indicates that Tesla has learned a few things (no surprise there). EG: the door handles on the S move horizontally out, actuated by a small motor. The door handles on the 3 are manually operated, much higher reliability if not quite so "cool".

Then there's the "performance model" of the 3 which is really REALLY outstanding!!

Just for grins and giggles, there was a BMW M4 (their fastest 2-door) which was roaring away from stoplights in SF as I was driving home last night. I waited next to him at a light with a pretty long run ahead. Our Model S left him about 100' behind coming out of the hole and was quietly waiting at the next light. Good fun!! He wouldn't look at me while he was sitting there. Pretty funny!! An old gray-haired guy in a dirty souped-up golf car clobbers spiky-haired tech-bro drag racing! The poor BMW never had a chance even with launch control, two-wheel drive and no torque until the turbos spin up just can't stay with the souped-up golf cart from zero to 40.

[TheOffice]

I've driven both the S and M4. nothing launches you like an electric!

I generally prefer smaller cars, but the S is still sexy to me.

[kimbottles]

Well I guess that truck launch did not go quite as planned......

Weird looking vehicle too.

[TheOffice]

My thoughts:

First vehicle designed with a straight-edge. (Second, after the DeLorean?)

John DeLorean is laughing somewhere.

The tailgate with integrated loading ramp is a nice innovation.

Everyone will know you are at the club when you park it in the lot.

Joel

[Ajax]

I previously said that I didn't care what it looked like as long as it met my use case.

Musk must have taken my statement as a direct challenge. The truck is hideous. It stretches my boundary of acceptance to the very limit. The unholy love-child of a Pontiac Aztek and a 1970-era futurist's idea of what future vehicles would look like. If I decide to buy one, I would have to swallow very hard while I stroke the check. Ugh.

In every other way, the truck is very good. Lots of innovation, but I really like the minimalist interior. I prefer that my trucks and utility vehicles be minimal inside. I can afford and would be happy with the mid-package model. I'm praying that they change the exterior to be a little less extreme for the "production" model.

[Jamie]

Looks like my scribblings of cars when I was a kid - kind of what the future was supposed to look like from the vantage of 1983.

[JoeP]

Aaccckk!

[Steele]

It does look like a junior high-school project where the assignment was to build a car as fast as possible out of plywood. If it is the real design you would have to opt for the self driving feature since side and rear sightlines look non-existent.

A question to those more knowledgeable than I, is it possible this is Musk just showing a cheap place holder while he works on the real thing? There is certainly a lot of pressure comming form Rivian, Bollinger Ford and now Chevy. Perhaps he is just keeping Tesla in the news.

[Olaf Hart]

It reminds me of a Ute version of Australia’s very own Ford Edsel, the Leyland P76.

A total flop, but used versions are worth big money now.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leyland_P76

Could end up a collectors dream, like the Delorean

[kdh]

Is it a joke? The armor windows demonstration was hilarious.

Are you going to trust this guy to write a computer program to drive your car for you?

[BeauV]

That "truck" (which it really isn't) is the ugliest thing I've ever seen! But, I thought the GM H3 was also and it sold. I think this product will be a total flop.

I can't imagine it'll be that difficult to build a different body for it. After watching the twitterverse light up with people vomiting on the screen, I think there may be a new wrapper for this turd very very soon.

So sad, my son-in-law was literally ready to go buy one. But that's not going to happen with the ridiculous "truck".

[Chris Chesley]

Just when you couldn't imagine something more mind boggling (and head shaking)......along comes Elon with his ability to boggle your mind!

[kdh]

The H3T is not bad looking to my eye. At least it doesn't look like it was made in a high school metal shop.

[TheOffice]

Stock is down 5.7% I guess we are not alone!

[JoeP]

It must be a joke/placeholder. This is the guy who launched a sports car into orbit.

[BeauV]

Keith, one of my neighbors has a Jeep pickup. It's really cheaply built. I doubt it would last long if used as a truck, but as we all know only 10% or so of pickup truck owners actually use their truck as a TRUCK.

[kimbottles]

I think Ajax has the right idea of what a truck should be.

[SemiSalt]

Did you expect something like this?

[Ajax]

Did you expect something like this?

No. A lot of magazines and enthusiast websites took Musk's "hint" photo and extrapolated what they thought the truck would look like. Many of those renderings were unconventional but still aesthetically tolerable. I was (foolishly) expecting something along those lines. The media made a big deal about the windows breaking during the demo. Big deal? It wasn't a feature I cared about anyway. I don't live in L.A. where I'd need bullet proof windows.

I hate to say it, but I think Musk damaged the brand and the idea of an electric truck with this unveiling. It's being widely mocked, even by people who generally have a positive view of Tesla. It's tragic because the price, features and capabilities are all totally on-point. It does everything I want it to do and more. I really, really hope Musk re-designs the exterior before production.

The Bollinger B2 electric pickup has the ideal aesthetic but is totally out of reach of the common man.
https://www.popularmechanics.com/cars/t ... ric-truck/

[Steele]

Even ignoring the awkward appearance the Tesla truck has several design flaws. The small windows redcuce visibility in a vehicle that is big and designed to tow large loads. The 4 wheel drive version should have good off road capabilities but can you imaging placing it in a tight spot on a narrow trail or steep climb? I am sure it will end up covered in cameras, but they don't work as well as our eyes, and dont work at all covered in mud.

The tall sloping bed sides were a feature of the first Honda Ridgline, also a failure. Despit the odd looks I considered purchasing one but realized even at 6 foot I could not lift anything in or out from the sides, I had to crawl into the bed from the back. The Ridgleine also had small windows which was a real issue navigating and parking in Seattle.

[kdh]

Even ignoring the awkward appearance the Tesla truck has several design flaws. The small windows redcuce visibility in a vehicle that is big and designed to tow large loads. The 4 wheel drive version should have good off road capabilities but can you imaging placing it in a tight spot on a narrow trail or steep climb? I am sure it will end up covered in cameras, but they don't work as well as our eyes, and dont work at all covered in mud.

The tall sloping bed sides were a feature of the first Honda Ridgline, also a failure. Despit the odd looks I considered purchasing one but realized even at 6 foot I could not lift anything in or out from the sides, I had to crawl into the bed from the back. The Ridgleine also had small windows which was a real issue navigating and parking in Seattle.

Exactly, the Bollinger for example has a practical shape. A truck should be designed to function.

Kind of interesting thing I just appreciated about trucks. We're on our third GMC, and I've always noticed our wheels/tires have never looked like others on most trucks. I just replaced the tires on ours, and I've noticed there is a significant trade-off between aggressive/noisy/grippy and quiet. We've always gone with quiet. The look isn't there but in 4wd our trucks have always been great in snow, which is all we care about.

The truck is for runs to the dump and to haul Ann's horse trailer. We're not in it for the image at all.

[BeauV]

I think Ajax and Steele have hit the nail right on the head. I completely agree.

"We have found the enemy and he are us." Pogo

Regarding the way it looks: Elon and his team are so far away from a typical pickup truck buyer that they don't understand, even intellectually, that their personal design aesthetic and taste is simply irrelevant in this market. They utterly failed to realize that the vast majority of pickup truck buyers don't need a truck. Those buyers are making a cultural statement about themselves and it is wrapped in a set of design traditions which most of those buyers don't completely understand. But, the buyers do know that the test of "Did I buy the right truck?" is expressed correctly as: "Will my buddies laugh at me if I show up in this truck?"

We have just seen (another) massive failure of Tesla Mangement and that has driven the stock price down, 6% last time I saw it. One of the key things about shareholder perception was the belief that Tesla, and specifically Elon, had a sense of a marketplace that they didn't understand and hadn't believed was there. While that was clearly true with the Model S and 3 (to a lesser extent with the X), it clearly and painfully false with the pickup truck. This is a failure of gigantic proportions and deserves the derision which this management team is receiving.

Moreover, it is one that any less arrogant person could have easily learned by watching the "Big Three" automakers over the last few decades. Remember the Cadillac with the "hump of distinction", or the absurdly styled Corvettes of the '70s, or the Edsel? In every one of those cases, Senior Management had weighed in on what the car should look like. I happen to know that the Tesla Roadster and Models S and 3 were designed with a great deal of help from Lotus Design Group. I don't know about the X. In every case, I believe that Lotus provided the aesthetics and was on target. But, they were also selling to a market that is a lot like Elon and his direct reports. In this case, they were out of their depth and didn't know it.

I think Steel's example is a great one. Tesla has a chance to re-make this abomination into something more like the version of the Range Rover which BMW did for Rover during their brief ownership period. Retain the basic design aesthetic, but make it new, hip and cool. However, that requires a much lower level of arrogance than Elon has exhibited in the last five years.

[Jamie]

Technically it's quite clever - from its construction to it's capabilities. How many trucks have 16" ground clearance? Most 4x4 trucks don't even have proper LSDs.

PIckups are a lifestyle choice kind of like owning a compact .45 handgun with optical sights and colored grips or stacks on said diesel pickup. Given current pickup drivers penchant for parking in EV recharging stations, I'd hazard they've not lost a lot from that demographic. The only people that were ever going to buy this are software enginerds anyway.

When I see it, I think of this


Doesn't make as good a technical


Most likely target segment


google photo links-rots fast