Is the Tesla Cybertruck ugly or not?

[The Moonshiner]

It's ugly. Pretty certain a 8 year old could of made a cooler design with cardboard boxes.
Might just be me though. EVs are a joke to me. I love when people buy them and think they're saving the world.

 

[Lacy Duckwing]

All cars looking the same is not unique to EV's. Been that way for a while.

But to answer a bit more deeply,

Go sit in / drive a model 3/x/y. Then go sit in /drive ANY other electric vehicle in the same price range on sale from an established auto maker. The differences are very apparent, particularly the way things are laid out, the finishes chosen and the actual finish work. Teslas are built on flash and "look at these doodads!" vs "can I easily adjust the AC or set the cruise control without having to take my eyes off the road". And if you're shelling out for something high-end like an EV, it better not be full of cheap plastic and vinyl and look like it was assembled by the last halfway sober dude on the line at 4:55 PM on Friday. In all of this, actual car makers have a lot more experience and skill at making it feel like a car. Yes, quality still varies and you can get individual bad examples (like Pontiac's Aztec). But when it's a consistent thing across all models from a given brand, you form opinions.

We tested Teslas when we were shopping for wifey's EV. They drive decent, lots of power and feel good. But they were not nice to be in. One step above a coach cabin on an airplane. It was a major deciding factor. Their subscription pricing model for things like autopilot and other features that are just included in the price from other makers was a turn-off as well. (And I know that's mostly Mercedes' fault, they started it).


These are my opinions, so grain of salt of course. But the "go try them before you decide" advice should be pretty universal.

Sound is what it is for me. Now I haven't listened to any of the more expensive electric cars, but from what I've heard so far, Tesla sounds the best. Some of these other ones sound absolutely terrible and I hate it whenever I hear one. That's one thing I'm happy with Tesla. So far, their cars seem pretty quiet without that annoying ring to them. (Now as far as how loud, that's not what I'm getting at. I can listen to a loud diesel or a modified muffler all day, but with these electric cars, it's their annoying ring is worst than fluorescent lights.)

 

[azurbanclucker]

Sound is what it is for me. Now I haven't listened to any of the more expensive electric cars, but from what I've heard so far, Tesla sounds the best. Some of these other ones sound absolutely terrible and I hate it whenever I hear one. That's one thing I'm happy with Tesla. So far, their cars seem pretty quiet without that annoying ring to them. (Now as far as how loud, that's not what I'm getting at. I can listen to a loud diesel or a modified muffler all day, but with these electric cars, it's their annoying ring is worst than fluorescent lights.)

electric motor whine is universal. The one that drives me bonkers is Toyota/Honda/Nissan's backup warning that sounds like metal grinding apart as they reverse. Our Kia has a beeper. And the motor whine to me isn't terrible.

 

[Lacy Duckwing]

electric motor whine is universal. The one that drives me bonkers is Toyota/Honda/Nissan's backup warning that sounds like metal grinding apart as they reverse. Our Kia has a beeper. And the motor whine to me isn't terrible.

I haven't heard the grind when in reverse yet. A few years ago I did hear that they were making a different backup sound though, but I thought it was only for big trucks. Supposedly, the reason why they've changed the backup sound because it catches people's attention better than the beeping. If that works, I don't know, but I'd probably prefer it to stay like normal cars with no backup sound.

 

[scyllarus]

Eh, I can respect the design - iirc, the Husband read somewhere that it's sheet metal that's pressed into shape, which is pretty great for manufacturing reasons. I'm always interested in reduce/recycle/reuse, and in that way it's better than the fiberglass molded outside of most cars. Of course, the battery isn't exactly the most environmentally friendly...

I'm really only peripherally aware of it since we don't have a use for a truck right now (this is going to be changing soon), but the biggest issue is that it doesn't really seem like it's suited to being a truck. A truck is for hauling, off-roading, carrying loads - a good truck is a workhorse, and tbh I don't really respect trucks that aren't being used this way because you're just wasting fuel and usually being a crappy aggressive driver at the same time. A Cybertruck just doesn't look like it's suited to working, though I'm happy to hear others' experiences there.

 

[azurbanclucker]

I'm really only peripherally aware of it since we don't have a use for a truck right now

That's OK. It isn't really a truck anyway. More like a lifted station wagon

 

[azurbanclucker]

EVs are a joke to me. I love when people buy them and think they're saving the world.

Dead on with this observation. I know a lot of EV adopters are more hippies and are largely deluded about the eco-friendly aspect of EV's. They're no saints. They do throw less pollutants into the environment at the place they're being used, but the tradeoff is battery mfg is nasty.

For us, it's about saving money and keeping it in our pocket. Less gas, less regular maintenance, longer warranty, cheaper insurance, no annual state fees for emissions and our payments are lower too. the napkin math adds up to about 5k a year we save (mostly in gas). Nothing to sneeze at. For wifey a full EV is the perfect use case (her commute is all highway miles where a hybrid would be running the gas engine anyway and not save us gas).

I was dead set on no EV at first. After living with one for a couple of months now, I'm largely all-in. Range is still a concern, and I'm waiting to see how hard summer in AZ is on the batteries. But other than that, it's a perfect driver for her.

They aren't for everyone. If you happen to live where they're well supported and your use case lines up, I think they're am option worth exploring. But they need to expand their capability and their infrastructure more to be a real option for everyone who needs a car or truck today.

 

[Brooks_]

about 5k a year we save (mostly in gas).

As more EV's hit the road, I'm interested to see what states do to combat the loss of gas tax.

 

[The Moonshiner]

the tradeoff is battery mfg is nasty.

This
Panasonic is building a plant in Kansas.
It's been a huge mess for a while now.

 

[casportpony]

That's OK. It isn't really a truck anyway. More like a lifted station wagon