Regardless of all the apparent dangers to our security and our delight, EV Central just lately flew to Los Angeles to drive the brand new Tesla Cybertruck.
I’m nonetheless making an attempt to compose myself sufficient to compose a assessment, which will likely be right here quickly, however you’ll be able to watch the preview video beneath.
Whereas hanging out with the cool and by no means bizarre or cult-like individuals from Tesla I additionally found some necessary issues concerning the Cybertruck and simply how eager the corporate is to place it on sale right here.
It describes Australia as “the proper surroundings” for the enormous car, even supposing it’s too large to slot in any of our automobile areas. Additionally they referred to us as “a giant truck market”, which made me unhappy and barely ashamed.
READ MORE:When will Australians with Tesla Cybertruck orders obtain their EVs?
Rivian R1X efficiency pick-up set to rival Tesla’s Cybdertruck
In different great information, it seems that, regardless of all stories on the contrary, together with from individuals who personal them, Cybertruck, formally, doesn’t rust.
Once we turned as much as drive the factor, we got a brief, four-hour rundown by a Tesla technician/acolyte/gross sales particular person on learn how to drive it, and the place all of the foolish Easter eggs are hidden (my favorite is that when you smash the home windows on the touchscreen graphic of the Cybertruck along with your finger you get to listen to the sound of Elon swearing and chuntering throughout the notorious failure demonstration of its bowling-ball-proof glass).
At one level, I requested him concerning the rust concern.
“There isn’t a rust,” he mentioned.
“Actually, however homeowners say they’re seeing it?”
“There isn’t a rust,” he repeated, trying me fiercely within the eyes, like a preacher, insisting that I imagine.
“So what occurs is the rust spots everybody sees, you’ll discover they’re solely on the top-facing panels, you’ll by no means see it on the edges, you solely see this on the hood, and generally the again,” he continued.
“The reason is is all of the Cybertrucks come on a practice up from Texas, from Austin, and the iron within the practice field mainly doesn’t combine with the metal. So it’s one thing referred to as oxidation, see.”
Look, I’m all in favour of blaming Texas for issues, however at this level I’ll have been taking a look at him like he was telling me he’d ridden to work on a unicorn that morning.
“It’s like iron oxidation. Mainly it hits the metal and it’ll keep on there, it’s mainly particles falling off, however it’s tremendous straightforward to take off, and we do this course of right here after they arrive.
“So, similar to when it travels and generally you may get these little dots or oxidation like that. Aside from that, the rain doesn’t do something to it.”
He additionally insisted that it was tremendous with mud – good to find out about your off-road prepared pick-up monster truck – and sea air was additionally tremendous.
“However they don’t rust,” he intoned, fiercely, once more.
“You may maintain it within the rain for so long as you need.”
What he did admit, nonetheless, was that the one factor everybody requested him about was the fingerprints, which the Cybertruck is continually lined in, as a result of chrome steel surfaces do this. He didn’t deny that this was an issue, however he identified that it’s only a matter of cleansing it each single day, generally many instances a day.
“They at all times ask about learn how to get fingerprints off. The primary factor, what I inform everybody, is it’s like cleansing a fridge, so it’s the identical actual materials as a metal fridge you will have in your kitchen. Isopropyl alcohol is the perfect, however something that cleans fingerprints off your fridge will work,” he defined.
So, how a lot would this fridge on wheels value if it truly did come to Australia? It’s tough to say, but when it was near $200,000 it wouldn’t be an enormous shock. Within the US, when you wait in line – and phrase has it there are already 2 million pre-orders – the worth is between US$81,895 and US$101,985 for a Cybertruck.
Although, at a manufacturing quantity of 200,000 to 250,000 a yr, it’s going to take a few years simply to fulfil North American demand, Tesla executives say they’re nonetheless “extraordinarily hopeful” of getting Cybertruck to a right-hand drive market like ours.
Maybe probably the most senior man with that plan occurs to be an Australian, Daniel Ho, who grew up in Melbourne, has beforehand labored at Ford, and is now Tesla’s Director, Automobile Applications and New Product Introduction. He’s labored carefully with Elon Musk for greater than 10 years, and nonetheless desires to take action. Go determine.
“There are challenges, however we’re nonetheless extraordinarily eager to make it occur,” he mentioned of Cybertruck.
An ordinary Australian parking house is 2.4m to 2.6m broad, and simply 5.4m lengthy, whereas the Cybertruck is 5.68m lengthy, 2.03m broad, and 1.8m excessive. Luckily, Daniel defined that it’s simply not as large as you suppose it’s.
“When individuals truly see it, it’s not as large as they suppose it’s going to be; clearly it’s greater than a HiLux, greater than a Ranger, greater than a Navara, however it’s smaller than a Ram, and Australia does have these,” he mentioned.
“In relation to pedestrian security, the legal guidelines listed here are very totally different to the ECE (Financial Fee for Europe), and subsequently the Australian laws, and it’s not nearly measurement and top, it’s additionally radius as effectively, there are minimal radii (rounded edges) that the Cybertruck doesn’t have, as a result of whenever you take a look at it there are such a lot of sharp angles and edges.
“So there are some challenges there, however we’d like to convey it to Australia, I might like to see it there personally, as a result of it could be a fantastic surroundings for it, and clearly it’s a giant truck market as effectively. And it could be so good for the off-road journey form of market.
“However we stay extraordinarily hopeful that we are able to make it occur.”