Tesla’s highly-anticipated Cybertruck may face yet another delay, as signs of Elon Musk’s last-minute design changes and a lack of concrete details raise concerns among industry experts and customers alike.
Business Insider reports that Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla, recently sent an internal email emphasizing the need for the Cybertruck to be “designed and built to sub 10 micron accuracy.” This demand, coming at a late stage in the vehicle’s production, has raised eyebrows among manufacturing experts. “A demand like this, which would require imperfections in the Cybertruck to be imperceptible to the naked eye, is an impossible ask at the production phase,” said Sam Fiorani, vice president of global vehicle forecasting at AutoForecast Solutions.
Elon Musk’s Halloween costume (Taylor Hill /Getty)
“Getting perfection that close to micron errors has to be designed in at the beginning,” said Sam Fiorani. “It’s a much more dynamic piece of the puzzle than just telling the people putting it together, ‘You got to be good about putting it together.’”
Many customers who have pre-ordered the Cybertruck from Tesla are becoming increasingly anxious due to the lack of details provided by the company. With the official launch just weeks away, customers still don’t know key information such as the price and vehicle dimensions. In the automotive industry, it is typical to release such details well in advance of a vehicle’s launch. The fact that this information has not been provided has led to speculation and concern among both customers and industry experts alike.
Adding to the uncertainty, Tesla has yet to announce a specific date for the Cybertruck’s launch party. Although Elon Musk had previously indicated that the event would occur toward the end of the third quarter, no official date has been set. This has led to further questions about whether Tesla can meet its own timelines, especially in a market as competitive as the pickup truck segment.
The pickup truck market is fiercely competitive, with established players like Ford, General Motors, and Toyota dominating the scene. “You are going to compete with some of the best vehicle manufacturers on the planet,” said Fiorani. “Ford, General Motors, Stellantis, and Toyota are not going to easily give up any market share.”
Breitbart News reporter Alana Mastrangelo recently reported on comments by car designer Adrian Clarke, writing:
Professional car designer Adrian Clarke told Fast Company that “the Cybertruck is a low polygon joke that only exists in the fever dreams of Tesla fans that stands high on the smell of Elon Musk’s flatulences.”
“As soon as we saw [the Cybertruck], everyone I know in the industry started laughing,” Clarke said. “We just thought there is no way they’re gonna be able to get that into production.”
The car designer explained that car panels are made by stamping them with big metal hydraulic presses, and that if you have a dead flat panel, like the Cybertruck does, it will cause problems in production. “They always have an amount of curves in them because they have to be able to hold the shape when the part comes out of the press,” he said. “It’s going to vibrate and they’re going to have massive problems stamping those panels and having them keep their shape.”
Read more at Business Insider here.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship. Follow him on Twitter @LucasNolan