Oddbean new post about login | logout Exactly. It’s not really a truck. It’s a cross dressing car that functions passably as a suburban dad truck. And it functions passably as a sports car. And a taxi. But all the whiz bang wow features can’t make up for the fact that aluminum fails by shearing rather than bending…steel is for trucks. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a cybertruck hater. I’m a realist. The weird looks were only cool when they were going to do that whole thick steel exoskeleton thing…but as they went with decorative thin steel panels placed over aluminum unibodies, it doesn’t have to look like a freaky triangle for strength purposes. The looks are more or less for show, and that really bothers me when I think about what it looks like when I get out of my cyberbeast. But it’s fun to drive.
The aluminum should be fine as long as you’re not towing and it should be able to do anything the competition does outside that. Honestly though, Tesla should probably reduce the tow rating. As has been demonstrated as possible, someone’s going to have a heavy trailer rip the back of the frame off and cause a serious accident. As the trucks age and get stress fractures it will be more likely to happen. Then Tesla will be forced to reduce the toe rating on top of paying massive fines. Just lower it to 2000lb now.