In Nov. 2019, Elon Musk and his tech company announced their most hyped product of all time, the Cybertruck. The electric truck’s announcement coincided with the date and location of “Blade Runner (1982),” and was seemingly inspired by similar media with its unorthodox, angular design.
Following its announcement, Cybertruck broke the internet. Millions of people were discussing its appearance, and while some said it looked ugly, others admired its shape and would compare it to vehicles from retro video games like the warthog from “Halo.” Thread after thread, the Cybertruck seemed to be all the rage, and then pre-orders were opened to the public.
For only $100, you could secure your spot in line to get Tesla’s Cybertruck. In the first five days of the presale, Tesla sold 250,000 preorders for the truck. With the staggering number of people itching to purchase one, it would seem like Tesla would be working overtime to reach the final product. This is where consumers would be mistaken. Originally, Musk stated that the Cybertruck would be ready for production within two years; he then pushed that from 2021 to 2022 and then once more to late 2023. This means if you spent $100 hoping to have the ability to purchase the full vehicle, you had to wait double the amount of time originally quoted for them to start building it. Sadly, the vehicle is still being tested and has not been released to the general public.
With the new year having recently begun, Musk’s Cybertruck has finally left the production line and has started to undergo more testing. This has unveiled more bad news for Musk and his team working on the truck.
One of these big issues comes directly from the design of the Cybertruck. Its large, flat panels are very hard to produce and keep straight. In an internal email, Musk discussed how his team needed to work with more precision due to the nature of its design, even stating that “If LEGO and soda cans, which are very low cost, can do this, so can we.” The tone shows their frustrations with its design, making it known that they are struggling to assemble the vehicle in the way it was originally envisioned. An example of this is a photo of one of the more recent Cybertruck models from July 2023, in which some people noticed that the passenger doors were misaligned.
Alongside the body issues, it is becoming even more apparent that the Cybertruck has serious issues, especially as they begin to deliver the first few models to their clients. One consumer received theirs with large panel gaps, leaving the truck looking as if it was ready to fall apart. Another discussed on social media how his truck suffered software problems while offroading and had to be pulled out of the snow by a Ford SuperDuty Truck, the same truck that the Tesla EV previously beat out in a sled pull.
As time goes on, it seems like only more issues with Tesla’s Cybertruck are being pointed out. Since early on in the vehicle’s life cycle, people have been pointing out issues with the EV at failed demonstrations, like the one where the bullet-resistant glass shatters, and now they are pointing them out as the truck soon becomes “ready” for the market. It is obvious that Musk and his team need even more time to get the truck ready, which shows how the entire project has been a blatant failure as a whole. Their failure can only be attributed to Musk himself; with his arrogance, he has failed to see time after time how the vehicle needs a redesign or the features that need more tweaking. Over the past few years, the Cybertruck went from one of the most hyped up vehicles to one of the most forgettable.
