Featured Tesla Truck

I thought Tesla still cant meet demand on its cars? will these be different?

 

For those that appreciate innovations here is my list:

Power+ 0-60 2.9 sec!, Towing+, off road, range, stainless steel, sheet folding, egg strength, no paint or scratch, light bar -hard to break, no separate bumper , flat - front of stainless (impact safest shape) , less radar footprint, no curves - even the glass, max visibility, closed undercarriage , power storage/charger, air compressor.

Multiple production design savings with the sheet metal, no paint, no curves in metal or glass.

I think keep away from this thing in an accident you don't have a chance you will be cut crushed or thrown in the air. It may not collapse and help absorb any of the impact.

 

There isn't actually much need for long range detection, is there? I mean Barney Fife isn't going to be writing a citation from three counties away, is he?



The only interactions with radar a truck is likely to have is with speed enforcement, stopless tolling, the cruise control in the car behind it and property access control hardware. That's all very short range stuff, most any lump of metal will give enough of a return.

 

I wouldn't be surprised if one day there is a law, obliging vehicles to report the driver to the police whenever he/she grossly violated the highway code. Or, still better: lock the doors, disable manual controls, autopilot to the automated courthouse, eject the driver into the delinquent intake chute, then proceed to the nearest robot-run impound lot.

 

V2V will narc out a lot of antisocial driving... someday.

 

i think the tesla truck is uglier to hummer drivers. it doesn't really matter how i feel about it, i'm not in the market

 

Has anyone found info about side view mirrors?

I understand that even if they swing some exemption to do video mirrors on a passenger vehicle, they hit the same roadblock all over again as soon as the vehicle gets commercial plates- specific requirements for mirrors.

 

We may already be on the cusp of a momentous paradigm shift. Alternative methods of propulsion, the self-driving tech, new manufacturing, marketing and retailing approaches, and possibly entirely new aesthetics may soon converge into a proper automotive revolution, not unlike transitioning from horseless steam carrriages to unibody ICEmobiles - only a lot faster.

 

OK......

SO.

I don’t have a Tesla, but I do have a pickup truck and I’ve probably logged about as many miles in a HMMWV as anybody else on the forum.....

1. Can the Cyber truck haul a 4x8 sheet of plywood - flat?
I still haven’t heard. If so, the utility of this ah......”vehicle” is going to be in line with the average $40,000 gasser pickup EXCEPT for the rather ah.......”polarizing” appearance and the fact that you still have to overcome all of the other headwinds of rolling a BEV in flyover country.

2. IF the largest GHG producer in the world is the US military, then wheeled vehicles account for a very small....VERY SMALL percentage of the military’s carbon throughput.
Gas turbine engines are probably 90-percent of the source of GHGs.
The USN is probably the world’s second largest Air Force, behind our own USAF, and most of the ships that are non nucular use pretty much the same power plants as passenger jets, as do many of the vehicles that the track toads use.
The iconic HMMWV WAS the military’s “Jeep” for three decades.
They’re replacing them with the JLTV - something that is a little less efficient and more expensive than the Hummer, and not quite as ugly as the Cyber truck.

3. The Cybertruck is going to be about as stealthy as Trump’s twitter account.
You don’t get to “stealth” with trapezoidal stainless steel, and most military gear on wheels or treads are detected either visually or thermally....not with radar.
You CAN take advantage of a BEV’s lower thermal signature but you’d have to WORK of the appearance....a LOT for it to blend in with the environment!!!
HOWEVER (comma!) I’m thinking that in semi-expedetionary conditions RANGE and RECHARGE times and methods are going to assert themselves as the main challenges to overcome.

 

Could anyone help me out with some info about PU Truck capabilities.
I have heard of trucks with 120V outlets so you can charge/use tools at remote job sites. Do any have 240V outlets?
Do any have a decent air compressor to run pneumatic tools?

My thoughts is this will be a relatively low production product designed for those that want the capabilities and value that more than the looks.

The size of that market will depend upon how good those capabilities really are.

 

This is what a proper electric pickup truck looks like. Everything designed for payload, hauling men and materials and doing work, nothing designed for the off chance that Russian radars will be looking for you:

HOME - BOLLINGER MOTORS

 

okay, but it could be a little curvier

has anyone ever had a fold down bed side fender? all the new trucks are taller than i am.

 

Pre orders already are at 146,000. Many may choose not to buy, but a sizeble number will. It will be much lower production than the f150, but if it performs as I expect it will sell 50,000+/year. That's not low production.

I can understand how the cold rolled stainless steel dictated the shape, but it doesn't make sense to me that they could not easily added another material and still had a monocoque structure that looked better. Then again they may be really going for a no paint process and adding materials might not look good unpainted.

It has a 6.5' bed, so no, you will have to put plywood sheets at an angle, it will carry them easily though. It would be good if they offered a long bed as an option, but the way this thing is designed its not as easy as a traditional truck to do this in a cost effective way. The f150 truck bed comes in 5.5', 6.5', and 8' lengths. The size of the bed in this truck is probably long enough for most traditional pick up users, but I don't think that is the target.

 

I think you highlighted one of the inherent weakness of the electric vehicle. In a combat situation you can not yell 'time out' I have to recharge. That is a weakness that an enemy would exploit.

Also when fleeing a natural disaster such as wildfires, earthquakes, tornadoes etc you can not call a 'safe place' or 'time out' i need to recharge. You can not call a power company to say hey you guys need to turn power back on for 3 to 4 hours so I can recharge and get out of here.

An emergency service vehicle can not tell a critical emergency patient to hold on I am going to need a 3 hour recharge so you will need to just tough it out for awhile.

I drive a Plug In Hybrid and have all electric lawn and garden tools. I hope I don't sound like a naysayer. I am a proponent of electric power. I also try to be practical when considering its applications.

 

@John321 In a disaster situation, getting gasoline could be a 3+ hour ordeal too. Energy source may not be as much of a penalty as you're thinking. Preparatory steps can be taken for either energy system.

 

And what tactical situation requires more than an hour's ride?

 

Leave the tailgate down and let the 8' plywood extend out the 6.5' bed.

Bob Wilson

 

IRS?

Bob Wilson

 

How many 1/2 ton pick ups get commercial plates? The ones I recall seeing were all larger class trucks.

I like Bollinger's design, but I think they have an exemption from some safety standards based on their projected production numbers.

No modern one one I know of, but that Bollinger has a front tailgate and fold down bed front, so it can carry boards and pipes its length within.