Cybertruck design conversations

glhs837

glhs837

Power with Control
Between Munro and the folks who make it happen. Even if you hate the thing, interesting to see how they tackled the challenges of making it.



High points are good looks at the structure, including the front and rear castings, and technical discussions about the 48 volt architecture and looks at the power electronics that enable it to charge at the same speed for both 400 and 800 volts and power your house.
 
Clem72

Clem72

Well-Known Member
I like the idea of the exposed metal (as long as it proves to be long-term rust resistant), but can't really get over the looks of the thing. If they make a smaller version (which would necessitate them fixing the pointy cabin to still have head room) for people who just need to haul trash, yard waste, and the occasional piece of furniture I might be interested.
 
glhs837

glhs837

Power with Control
Clem72 said:
I like the idea of the exposed metal (as long as it proves to be long-term rust resistant), but can't really get over the looks of the thing. If they make a smaller version (which would necessitate them fixing the pointy cabin to still have head room) for people who just need to haul trash, yard waste, and the occasional piece of furniture I might be interested.
Click to expand...

So, what would you need that smaller version to do, spec wise? I mean the headroom in the full size is pretty darn good. Back seat, 6'3" Marcus Brownlee fits, but a 6'5" guys head did touch the glass. Front seat, even 6'5" fits with good clearance. Remember, that beam you see isn't interior roof height. Since the roof is a sheet of glass, its not 4-5 inches thick like a normal roof.

So what, new Ford Ranger size? How far do you need for range? Towing capacity? Bed size? Part of the design math here was to meet or exceed regular 1/2 ton pickup capabilities. No reason they couldnt scale down, I suppose. Since the smaller rear casting might be possible with the 6,500 ton machine and not require the 9,000 ton machine.

Sales is the key, because sales equals scale, and production cost savings only really happen at scale. And that's where you run into problems. In 2022, the F-150 sold over 650,000 F-150s. The Ranger only sold 73,000. Hard to make that business case to spool up a production line for less than 100K annual sales.

www.motor1.com

15 Best Selling Trucks Of 2022

From Ford and Ram to Rivian and Hummer, these are the 15 best-selling trucks this year.
www.motor1.com www.motor1.com

The stainless should be fine, they are not using an off the shelf alloy, they made a new one that includes increased corrosion resistance. .
 
Clem72

Clem72

Well-Known Member
glhs837 said:
So, what would you need that smaller version to do, spec wise? I mean the headroom in the full size is pretty darn good. Back seat, 6'3" Marcus Brownlee fits, but a 6'5" guys head did touch the glass. Front seat, even 6'5" fits with good clearance. Remember, that beam you see isn't interior roof height. Since the roof is a sheet of glass, its not 4-5 inches thick like a normal roof.

So what, new Ford Ranger size? How far do you need for range? Towing capacity? Bed size? Part of the design math here was to meet or exceed regular 1/2 ton pickup capabilities. No reason they couldnt scale down, I suppose. Since the smaller rear casting might be possible with the 6,500 ton machine and not require the 9,000 ton machine.

Sales is the key, because sales equals scale, and production cost savings only really happen at scale. And that's where you run into problems. In 2022, the F-150 sold over 650,000 F-150s. The Ranger only sold 73,000. Hard to make that business case to spool up a production line for less than 100K annual sales.

www.motor1.com

15 Best Selling Trucks Of 2022

From Ford and Ram to Rivian and Hummer, these are the 15 best-selling trucks this year.
www.motor1.com www.motor1.com

The stainless should be fine, they are not using an off the shelf alloy, they made a new one that includes increased corrosion resistance. .
Click to expand...
I would say normal truck things, but somehow that has morphed over the years to ridiculous proportions. I don't need to seat 8 people. A bench seat for 3 is fine. I don't need 10 ton towing capacity for a 90ft mobile-home trailer, towing a utility trailer is fine. I don't need a tool chest in the bed, just 8 feet of space. And I don't need 3 feet of clearance below.

In fact I don't need a truck at all, except every once in a while. But it's easier to spray out the bed of a truck then to keep the back of an SUV clean when you do need to use it to haul some mulch.

Something like a 1990 Toyota 4x4 pickup. But electric and super low maintenance. Probably needs to go at least 100 miles to in case I needed to make several around town trips in a day or one longer one to the city and back. But a real 100 miles under any conditions, so call it an advertised 200 miles.
 
Sneakers

Sneakers

Just sneakin' around....
Didn't watch the vid, so don't know if this was mentioned: the reason for the boxy shape was because the skin alloy was so tough, the presses couldn't handle making curves. Presses couldn't hold up.

Munro is also a huge backer/investor/consultant/shareholder/reservation holder of the Aptera. He had insights which led to many of the current factory software and body stamping processes. Smart man.
 
glhs837

glhs837

Power with Control
Clem72 said:
I would say normal truck things, but somehow that has morphed over the years to ridiculous proportions. I don't need to seat 8 people. A bench seat for 3 is fine. I don't need 10 ton towing capacity for a 90ft mobile-home trailer, towing a utility trailer is fine. I don't need a tool chest in the bed, just 8 feet of space. And I don't need 3 feet of clearance below.

In fact I don't need a truck at all, except every once in a while. But it's easier to spray out the bed of a truck then to keep the back of an SUV clean when you do need to use it to haul some mulch.

Something like a 1990 Toyota 4x4 pickup. But electric and super low maintenance. Probably needs to go at least 100 miles to in case I needed to make several around town trips in a day or one longer one to the city and back. But a real 100 miles under any conditions, so call it an advertised 200 miles.
Click to expand...

Not sure there's ever going be a big enough market for that specific application. Even full size two door cabs with eight foot beds sell in miniscule numbers with most of those being strippers for fleets.
 
glhs837

glhs837

Power with Control
Sneakers said:
Didn't watch the vid, so don't know if this was mentioned: the reason for the boxy shape was because the skin alloy was so tough, the presses couldn't handle making curves. Presses couldn't hold up.

Munro is also a huge backer/investor/consultant/shareholder/reservation holder of the Aptera. He had insights which led to many of the current factory software and body stamping processes. Smart man.
Click to expand...

No just tough, but thick. Like two quarters stacked thick.
 
D

DaSDGuy

Well-Known Member
Everyone might also consider the safety factors in this truck. By trying to make it bullet proof it is so tough that there are no crumple zones front or rear to absorb impacts. This means the passengers in the passenger compartment are the crumple zone. That is counter to IIHS testing standards. Just sayin'
 
Clem72

Clem72

Well-Known Member
glhs837 said:
Not sure there's ever going be a big enough market for that specific application. Even full size two door cabs with eight foot beds sell in miniscule numbers with most of those being strippers for fleets.
Click to expand...
Pretty sure I heard there has been wait lists for the Ridgeline and Ranger. The compact truck market is only small because the manufacturers don't want to make enough apparently.
 
glhs837

glhs837

Power with Control
Clem72 said:
Pretty sure I heard there has been wait lists for the Ridgeline and Ranger. The compact truck market is only small because the manufacturers don't want to make enough apparently.
Click to expand...
Who wants to be holding the bag when you've made 100K but the market only wanted 80? Fords inventory is all over the map, meaning they are having a hard time matching production to demand. They are sitting on over 3,800 Rangers nationwide. Which isn't a lot, but still doesn't speak toa huge pent up demand.

https://caredge.com/guides/ford-inventory-surplus-2023

Like the Maverick, the waiting lists are now really for uncommon specific builds that need to find a hole in the build sequence. Things like spray in bedliner gets done in batches, and if you also want another thing done in batches like say moonroof, then you are gonna wait til they get a lot of the "stock" dealership inventory builds out of the way.
 
glhs837

glhs837

Power with Control
So did he have a point beyond people aint spending, dealerships are out of control with add ons and MSRPs are just too damn high.....
Too Damn High Rent GIF
 
glhs837

glhs837

Power with Control


Munro did a walkthrough of some of the Cybertruck production line. If you geek out about manufacturing (I get occasional walkthroughs and visits for investigations of some places and love it) and the novelty of making a thing in ways that have not been done at scale before interest you, have a watch.
 
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