[Music]
So trucks are some of the most useful vehicles on the planet. They can carry just as many
people as a car can, but they can carry more cargo than a car can, and tow more weight
than a car can. Personally, I've been a truck guy for the last 10 years. I'm driving a 2018
Toyota Tacoma. But today that might all change. I'm here at Tesla HQ in California because
Tesla has an event announcing a new truck that Elon's calling a Cyber Truck. And if
the rumors are true, it could very well blast everything else out of the water. And I'm
pretty excited. I think it's time to see what this truck is all about.
Let's get started.
[Intro]
So there are 2 unarguable truths. One, truck guys really like their trucks. And two, a
lot of people, including truck guys, still think electric cars are glorified golf carts.
So in order to win over the hearts of the millions of fossil fuel powered truck owners,
Tesla needs to come out swinging hard with this new Cyber Truck.
Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla, came out on stage and explained that trucks have looked the
same for the past 100 years. Nothing has really changed...and it's true. Just like the horse
and buggy plateaued until the gas powered vehicles came along. The gas powered vehicles
have plateaued as well for a while, which makes it a perfect time for a new era of vehicles.
Enter the Cyber Truck. Definitely something nobody has ever seen before. Elon said this
would look like an armored truck from the future, and he's definitely not wrong.
[Cheering sounds]
The old school retro vibe threw me off for a second, but the simple, minimal stainless
steel design quickly won me over. As someone who likes to build things in my garage, I'm
kind of glad it looks like it was built in someone's garage. The reflective stainless
steel panels aren't painted. I'm sure they could be at some point in the future, but
I'm all for that bare metal design. I'm sure the whole look of this truck is pretty polarizing
though. So let me know what you think of this truck aesthetic down in the comments. And
don't hold back.
Elon went on to explain that the truck is designed with an exoskeleton design instead
of a body-on-frame design like a normal truck, which is pretty interesting. Made from cold
rolled stainless steel. The metal used on the Cyber Truck is the same alloy used in
a starship rocket. There was a pretty brutal on stage durability test of the truck which
I thoroughly enjoyed. Listen to the sound that both doors make when Franz, the lead
designer, hits it with a sledgehammer. [Hammering sounds] They even went as far to say that
the sturdy cold rolled stainless steel panels could stop bullets, which is interesting.
Now normally cars would come with some kind of crumple zone in the front for pedestrian
safety. And I'm not sure if these panels provide that, but I'm sure we'll learn more down the
road. Elon is calling the glass windows a transparent metal, which I would love to learn
more about. Durability testing of the transparent metal didn't go too well because...glass is
glass, and glass breaks.
[Lead designer] Well...maybe that was a little too hard.
[Zack] I did talk to an employee after the presentation who said that they were throwing
things at the glass quite a few times before the actual event started. So this window might
have gotten itself compromised. You know how your cell phone might break after dropping
only a foot? That's because some tiny fracture or imperfection existed before your tiny drop.
[Elon] Room for improvement.
[Laughter]
[Zack] The truck has it's own automatic adaptive air suspension that can raise for off-roading
or lower for freeway stuff.
It has a 16 inch ground clearance - the highest of any production truck on the market. For
reference, my own Tacoma has a 9 ½ inch stock clearance height. I even added an after market
lift to get me to 13 inches. So 16 inches of ground clearance is pretty impressive straight
off the assembly line. Trucks are meant to be tools though, and specs are important.
And once again the Cyber Truck beats my Tacoma by almost double. It has a 14,000 pound towing
capacity, while my Tacoma has 6,800. And again, the electric Cyber Truck doubles my acceleration
with a 2.9 zero to sixty. While my Tacoma has a 6.8 second zero to sixty.
It's got the speed of a sports car and the body of a tank. Of course it's all electric
and this truck bed has charging outlets to run power tools, act as a generator, or even
charge up other electric vehicles, like the new electric 4-wheeler, or other Teslas or
electric cars. Elon hinted as well that the pneumatic air powered suspension could even
be tapped into for air tools.
There are 3 versions of this truck. I've been comparing my Tacoma to the most maxed out,
most expensive version which costs $69,000 and comes out in 2022. But there is a cheaper
version which costs $39,000 and has basically the same exact specs, range and acceleration
as my Tacoma does right now. And it comes out in 2021. The price is competitive with
current truck pricing. Keep in mind though that electric cars are cheaper to own for
the long term. Electricity is cheaper than gas or diesel, and combine that with no oil
changes, no emissions, and the cost of operations is just lower in general. Over the life of
the truck, the price just gets better and better. The maxed out 69,000 Cyber Truck has
a range of 500 miles, which is the most of any electric vehicle currently announced on
the market right now.
I did get to ride inside of this contraption. The truck is pretty minimalist which I'm a
fan of. Remember, before I bought my new 2018 Tacoma, I was driving around a 20-year old
1998 Tacoma. It got the job done. To me, the usefulness of the truck is more important
than the appearance of the truck. A truck is a tool. The Cyber Truck has a slightly
larger footprint than my Toyota Tacoma. Combine that with the 16 inches of ground clearance,
and you can definitely feel the difference.
There is a drop down platform cup holder thing between the two front seats. This can also
be raised up to turn the front row into a bench seat to fit 6 people. It also has a
large screen in the center comparable to the current Tesla Model 3. The reflective stainless
steel panels on the sides are pretty iconic. The truck really looks like nothing else on
the street right now, and no other truck in existence.
We are ushering in a new era of technology. The Model T was the first gas powered truck
100 years ago. And fossil fuel vehicles have come a long way before they plateaued. Now
this Cyber Truck is starting a new era of electric trucks and it will be fun to watch
and see where electric vehicles end up.
You can see the bed of the truck back here with the LED light bars, light bars lit inside,
and there's an LED light bar up top as well that doesn't reflect off the bonnet of the
vehicle which is super nice.
We are literally and figuratively blazing a trail to go find a new peak. I have per-ordered
this Cyber Truck. It's $100 to hold your spot in line and fully refundable so I figured
I'd get a head start before I have to officially make up my mind in 2022. That 500 miles of
electric range is appealing. Driving around, it did feel more like a prototype than a real
truck right now, and that's probably because the release date is still pretty far in the
future. And a lot can happen between now and 2022. Rivian has a truck supposedly coming
out next year in 2020. And Ford and GM have tentatively teased electric trucks as well.
Remember, the smartest thing you can do with your money, and for the environment, is to
drive the vehicle you currently own until it dies. Fix it and keep going. But if it
is time for you to get a new rig, electric just might be the future. A new age is coming
and I think it looks pretty good.
Feel free to tag me in the Twitter and Instagram memes – I think they're pretty funny. And
let me know what you think of the truck down in the comments. Thanks a ton for watching
and I'll see you around.