So THAT'S Why Tesla's Cybertruck Gives Us All The Ick
- by HuffPost
- Oct 16, 2024
- 0 Comments
- 0 Likes Flag 0 Of 5
Illustration:Jianan Liu/HuffPost; Photo: Getty Images
As a popular meme shows, the car bears a striking resemblance to a stainless steel trash can on wheels.
Has there ever been a car as polarizing as the Tesla Cybertruck?
The futuristic-looking electric pickup truck released by Elon Musk’s EV company last November recently became the best-selling vehicle priced over $100,000. There continues to be high demand for the car — but there are just as many detractors as there are fans.
Critics point out its technical issues ― most notably, a defective accelerator pedal that led to nearly 4,000 of the cars being recalled last April. Its stainless-steel exterior makes it susceptible to grime and annoying to clean, others say, while its angular, far-out design calls to mind a stainless steel trash can on wheels.
Advertisement
Ahmed Ibraheem, the creator of the popular The Car Care Nut YouTube channel and an automotive diagnostic technician, sees both sides of the debate.
Advertisement
“I look at it as a tech demonstration of what happens when you give car designers and engineers the freedom to do whatever they want,” Ibraheem told HuffPost. It’s a very impressive leap in technology, he said — though you can get the same EV tech in other Teslas for a fraction of the cost — but it’s an eyesore on the streets.
“The design of the body reminds me of a 9-year-old ’s idea of a car drawn on a piece of construction paper,” he said.
Advertisement
Still, given the sameness of car designs these days, he gives Tesla points for thinking outside the box.
“It’s nice to see something different, whether that’s good-different or bad-different,” Ibraheem said.
Another reason the Cybertruck is easy to mock? The high price tag ensures that only the wealthy (or reckless spendthrifts) can afford it. The internet is deep in its anti-consumerist “eat the rich” era, and such a gaudy status symbol is an easy target for ridicule. (Plus, outside of Donald Trump himself, you’d be hard-pressed to find a more polarizing figure than Dark MAGA’s own Elon Musk.)
“The Cybertruck embodies the best and the worst of America: Audacious design and potent power meet frat boy attitude and wretched excess,” said Tom Voelk, an automotive reviewer on YouTube and a contributor for NBC News.
Generally, Voelk said, the cars we ridicule have a certain geekiness to them. If we anthropomorphize vehicles, cars like the Yugo, Pontiac Aztek, Chrysler PT Cruiser and AMC Pacer and Gremlin, with wide-set headlights and round or boxy frames, are your dorky friend. The Cybertruck is not your friend. It’s more like a humanoid alien Klaatu on four wheels, Voelk joked.
Advertisement Gary Hershorn via Getty Images
A Tesla Cybertruck drives on 7th Avenue on July 17, 2024, in New York City.
Still, there’s clearly an audience for the car, said Scotty Reiss, the founder of the site A Girls Guide to Cars. She personally finds the exterior of the Cybertruck a bit boring, but she can see how the aesthetic is a tech-bro futurist’s dream.
“It’s like a video game fantasy — not just in its appearance but in its function, too,” she said. “It’s supposed to be able to go anywhere, to be impenetrable by objects, to protect its occupants in a post-apocalyptic world, which is how so many video games portray their universes.”
To Tesla’s credit, Reiss said there’s a lot of good technology within the car ― its steer-by-wire electronic steering system that eliminates the mechanical connection between the steering wheel and the wheels, for example, and an interesting flat-bottom steering wheel design, both of which other car manufacturers have also been experimenting with.
At its price point, though, she thinks there are too many flaws in the design.
“There’s a poor sight line that limits the driver’s rear visibility, and the stainless panels ... have sharp edges and are dangerous for passengers,” she said.
Advertisement
On a Tesla fan forum, one Cybertruck owner said he accidentally cut himself on the side of a door. And then there’s the question of whether the stainless body panels are really “stainless”; owners are reporting rust and stains on their Cybertrucks.
“The only way to really protect your investment is to have it wrapped,” Reiss said. (But wrapped Cybertrucks have been mocked, too ― especially one internet celebrity Adin Ross gave Donald Trump recently, featuring an image of the Republican presidential nominee moments after he survived an assassination attempt in July.)
via Associated Press
In 2019, Tesla CEO Elon Musk introduced the Cybertruck at Tesla's design studio in Hawthorne, Calif. At the live demo, Musk awkwardly busted the "armored" glass windows that were supposed to be shatterproof.
Support Free Journalism
Consider supporting HuffPost starting at $2 to help us provide free, quality journalism that puts people first.
Can't afford to contribute? Support HuffPost by creating a free account and log in while you read.
Thank you for your past contribution to HuffPost. We are sincerely grateful for readers like you who help us ensure that we can keep our journalism free for everyone.
The stakes are high this year, and our 2024 coverage could use continued support. Would you consider becoming a regular HuffPost contributor?
Thank you for your past contribution to HuffPost. We are sincerely grateful for readers like you who help us ensure that we can keep our journalism free for everyone.
The stakes are high this year, and our 2024 coverage could use continued support. We hope you'll consider contributing to HuffPost once more.
Please first to comment
Related Post
Jeep Aims to Overtake Tesla in the EV Luxury Market
- Oct 16, 2024
Stay Connected
Tweets by elonmuskTo get the latest tweets please make sure you are logged in on X on this browser.
Sponsored
Popular Post
Tesla: Buy This Dip, Energy Growth And Margin Recovery Are Vastly Underappreciated
28 ViewsJul 29 ,2024