Tesla Master Plan: Part Deux

[EngieDiesel]

Yeah, it's going to have rear seats with no headroom that literally no construction crew will fit in on the way to lunch.

The Cybertruck is more meant for King Ranch/High Country luxury territory, and you're going to see them decorating suburban driveways instead of sitting in front of half finished office buildings. No construction company is going to spend $40k+ each on these when they can get a fleet discounted F-150 for maybe half that if they order in bulk. And that's presuming they even buy new vehicles and don't just find some year old overstock a dealer will unload at cost just to get it off the lot.

 

[EngieDiesel]

Model 3 recall incoming, as reportedly opening and closing the trunk too much damages the cable that connects to the rear view camera and may cause it to stop working.

Also, some Model S'seseses need to have a front latch replaced, lest the frunk fly open while you're driving. And obviously exposing your frunk in public isn't something anyone wants to see.

 

[CodeRedR51]

 

[TexRex]

How many work?

 

[MIE1992]

I'm still surprised that with all the money Musk has, and how powerful Tesla models can be, that Tesla still doesn't have any motorsport presence. Imagine an eTCR version of say, the Model Y or Model III, or a one-make series for the next-gen Roadster once it gets released. Or what if there was a Tesla-badged Formula E team?

 

[FT-1]

I'm still surprised that with all the money Musk has, and how powerful Tesla models can be, that Tesla still doesn't have any motorsport presence. Imagine an eTCR version of say, the Model Y or Model III, or a one-make series for the next-gen Roadster once it gets released. Or what if there was a Tesla-badged Formula E team?

I would say that Elon Musk has positioned Tesla as a company that builds computers with bespoke software on wheels rather than a conventional car company. As such, the traditional methods of brand building (like participating in motorsport) are replaced in favour of methods that draw in consumer tech enthusiasts, like conferences and... Memes, I guess?

Perhaps they have data to suggest that motorsports aren't in the interests of the target market (for the time being at least).

 

[Sprite]

I'm still surprised that with all the money Musk has, and how powerful Tesla models can be, that Tesla still doesn't have any motorsport presence. Imagine an eTCR version of say, the Model Y or Model III, or a one-make series for the next-gen Roadster once it gets released. Or what if there was a Tesla-badged Formula E team?

A Race series was attempted and they wanted to use Tesla as part of it but it ultimately failed.

A wild ride through the electric vehicle boom

Lessons from a failed Tesla racing series.

www.theverge.com

However I did see via Misha Charoudin's YT channel they are doing E-Rally events now as part of the FIA WorldRX. So hopefully at some point there will be a series which Tesla will fit and Musk may then add his $$ and support it.

 

[TexRex]

As insufferable as motorsports fans can be, do the Teslarati really need to be incorporated among them?

 

[MatskiMonk]

I'm still surprised that with all the money Musk has, and how powerful Tesla models can be, that Tesla still doesn't have any motorsport presence. Imagine an eTCR version of say, the Model Y or Model III, or a one-make series for the next-gen Roadster once it gets released. Or what if there was a Tesla-badged Formula E team?

I'd imagine there's two reason why Tesla aren't interested. Firstly E-loon doesn't seem to like rules and regulations, and there's normally lots of those involved in building a car and racing it. Which leads to the second reason. Most E series at the moment used spec technology. Pure eTCR for instance uses a spec battery pack and motors, it's not really a platform that Tesla could show it's competence off with and I can't imagine Musk would be happy seeing Tesla getting beaten if he could attribute it to having to use inferior technology.

You could also argue that they can sell more cars than they can make already, so the money's better spent on production facilities anyway.

 

[EngieDiesel]

There's also the fact that Tesla is still operating primarily on investor capital, and spending that money on ill-advised motorsports ventures hasn't exactly gone well for other automotive firms in the past.

Plus the old axiom of "win on Sunday, sell on Monday" hasn't really been a thing ever since leasing became the primary method of shifting cars, so a motorsports presence wouldn't benefit them as much as it would have in, say, the late '90s.

 

[Eunos_Cosmo]

Tesla stock is worth a lot, and Musk is unquestionably the richest (known person) on earth. But I'm not sure how much actual capital Tesla has to work with. Before they start blowing money on things like racing, I'd hope that they would update their product line in a meaningful way and makes steps to stay ahead to ensure they can actually survive the coming onslaught of legacy OEMs getting into electric cars. Ford, Mercedes Benz, VAG, and Hyundai Kia seem to be throwing a lot, if not everything they have (and they have a lot more money, experience building cars and infrastructure to build cars) at becoming EV powerhouses. And Tesla has:

An aging sedan that goes fast in a market where sedans aren't really selling
A compact sedan that is pretty good in a market where sedans aren't really selling
A pretty ugly compact SUV that receives about 10% of Tesla's attention
A bigger but much dumber SUV that doesn't sell particularly well in a market dominated by SUV sales

An in the near(?) future:
A weird vanity pickup truck that might get built, sometime in the future, that will never sell in any meaningful volume (even if some people really really love it)
A generic looking sports car that even Tesla seems to have forgotten about but probably wouldn't sell in any meaningful volume best case scenario and at a comically low margin. I mean honestly, who builds an impractical low-volume supercar for anything less but huge per-unit profit? (Same argument can be made for the cybertruck, IMO)
A semi truck?

Tesla's product strategy is baffling to me. The only product that seems to get any love from the company is the now decade-old Model S and the passion project Cybertruck. There has been no evolution of the styling of the whole range (aside from the one-off Cybertruck) since the beginning. Everything just looks dated and boring. The interiors are converging into one hyper-minimalist and drab design that even Italian fascists might have thought was a little stark. I could forgive a lot about Tesla if I liked the way they look. These cars ride on a skateboard chassis....they could make them look however they wanted! As it happens, I hate how they look.

Nissan can you plz put the Idx body on the Nissan Leaf platform backwards? 230 miles of range, 215hp, 3-box shape, rwd, <4,000lbs. That's all I want. Somebody. Anybody!

 

[CodeRedR51]

I'm still surprised that with all the money Musk has, and how powerful Tesla models can be, that Tesla still doesn't have any motorsport presence. Imagine an eTCR version of say, the Model Y or Model III, or a one-make series for the next-gen Roadster once it gets released. Or what if there was a Tesla-badged Formula E team?

They're not profitable enough yet to have a motorsport venture. Despite the unrealistic claim of Elon's richest, he has very little liquid assets. Most of his wealth is in stock. Saying he doesn't like rules and regulations is horse manure.

 

[MatskiMonk]

Saying he doesn't like rules and regulations is horse manure.

The FAA, the NHTSA, the SEC, Alameda County, and the "free-planet" of Mars he's trying to establish say "Hi".

 

[CodeRedR51]

The FAA, the NHTSA, the SEC, Alameda County, and the "free-planet" of Mars he's trying to establish say "Hi".

He works very fast. His issue is with things that slow progress. And he's right, things take WAY too long to get approved anymore. Thankfully the FAA are making changes to speed their process up.

 

[CodeRedR51]

 

[05XR8]

Seems like a step that would have helped the Electric GT Series. Maybe this team will get a Plaid Track Mode edition and run it in a future rally.

This racecar driver says EVs are 'unbeatable' below 130kph. He took on petrolheads to prove it

A team of volunteers and electric vehicle enthusiasts took on the challenge of racing an EV against petrol cars in a "tarmac rally". It went pretty well.

www.abc.net.au

 

[ProjectWHaT]

Newest version of FSD (10.3) adds different driving profiles called "Chill", "Normal", and "Assertive"

Tesla’s ‘Full Self-Driving’ beta has an ‘assertive’ driving mode that ‘may perform rolling stops’

Each profile affects the way the car drives.

www.theverge.com

Interestingly, it seems like engineers at Ford had similar ideas

 

[Keef]

Speaking of being assertive, it seems as though the company wants to influence policy by sheer volume of product on the road. When it comes to dealing with government, being "assertive" is rarely an effective approach to creating change.

 

[Eunos_Cosmo]

"Rolling stops" are definitely a ticketable offense. And passing lane hogs are just awful. Ugh.

 

[Eunos_Cosmo]

Cybertruck might get a smaller variant, according to insider rumors.

If this goes like how I think it might go, they will rename the original Cybertruck to something like "Cybertruck Prime" and name the smaller one just "Cybertruck" and it will have a considerably more "constructible" and "practical" design. Then they'll announce that the "normal" Cybertruck (the smaller one) is sooo good that the original one doesn't need to be built after all.

 

[CodeRedR51]

A midsize Cybertruck would be amazing.

 

[CodeRedR51]

A midsize Cybertruck would be amazing.

Ask a ye shall receive.

 

[TheCracker]

Mid-sized Cybertruck?

• Reduce regular CT to 90%.
• Save as.
• Print.

The Tesla way.

 

[MatskiMonk]

Is that not just the 'production-ized' normal CyberTruck?

 

[Keef]

A midsize Cybertruck would be amazing.

A midsize Cybertruck would mean literally nobody can fit in the rear seat.

I still think this is the dumbest idea ever and it will be a mass-market flop. The Rivian will outsell it long-term.

 

[CodeRedR51]

A midsize Cybertruck would mean literally nobody can fit in the rear seat.

I still think this is the dumbest idea ever and it will be a mass-market flop. The Rivian will outsell it long-term.

Its not for the mass market though. And I expect it to sell like crazy on the looks alone. Some might call it ugly, but it'll get attention everywhere it goes and that is plenty of advertising.

 

[c172fccc]

Still curious how it'll do in crash tests.

 

[EngieDiesel]

A midsize Cybertruck would mean literally nobody can fit in the rear seat.

So, no different than all those "2+2" coupes where the rear seat only exists to keep insurance costs down, and I guess as a very nicely upholstered parcel shelf.

I still think this is the dumbest idea ever and it will be a mass-market flop. The Rivian will outsell it long-term.

As a loss leading marketing tool for Tesla as a brand it'll be a success though, and I'm sure that's exactly why it exists. All the free publicity it inevitably generates from every clickbait news outlet on the Internet will more than make up for low sales figures.

 

[Eunos_Cosmo]

I'm not sure I buy that Tesla is designing the Cybertruck to be a loss leader. For one, it's a new ground-up vehicle, and one with a lot of additional complexity and non-standard construction...meaning it must have an enormous amount of money invested in it. Now if they were planning to sell them for exotic car prices to justify the anticipated limited sales, then I could see a business case for that. But to anticipate low volume and still sell them for ordinary pickup truck prices? That's just a bad idea. Also, I'm not sure how much additional marketing benefit the truck can provide by going into production. The concept truck and unveiling was huge, undoubtedly, but by the time it goes on sale, how much extra boost can it give? I think Musk thinks that they will sell at proper volume. I don't really agree with this, but I don't think it's intended to be a loss.

 

[Eunos_Cosmo]

So there is a full walkaround video of the "mid-size" Cybertruck -



That looks much, much further along in development than any "full-size" Cybertruck we have seen, or at least as far as I've seen. The wiper, the mirrors, the bumpers, the wheels, the bed, the panel development. It looks like it's approaching a production vehicle. This is what I think is happening - this is the Cybertruck and the original, bigger one that you can drive an ATV into the back of and whatever else, is dead. So as I said before, Tesla will announce (probably by summer) a mid-size Cybertruck to co-exist with the full-size Cybertruck and then will come up with some ruse (pre-order numbers, specification overlap, whatever) to sunset the full-size truck. In reality, the original one probably had some fundamental incompatibility with production (safety, size, etc) and it would be damaging to the Tesla brand and Elon Musk personally to ever admit something like that.