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Comment by m348e912 | Hacker News Reader

I guess this was expected with the price cutting of many of their models over recent months. It was an indication that they weren't selling as quickly as they hoped. The wrinkle here is that the cyber truck starts delivery in November, so that could lead to a resurgence in overall sales volume. Not sure if it's wise to short Tesla just yet. (not financial advice obv)

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It'll be interesting to see how well the Cybertruck sells... it's rather niche mostly because it's fucking hideous.

I mean if you don't look at the thing, on paper it's fantastic. When you get to the looks - well, let's just say I canceled my order last year because I couldn't imagine myself driving it (in addition to the fact that it's so late).

the problem is you will draw a lot of attention to yourself, and finding parking spots

The attention issue is the opposite of a problem for a lot of people, though. Especially people who drive large trucks. So I think there's a market there.

Ot may not be such a great vehicle after all[0].

Sure engineering problems may be solved, but personally I don't give Mr. musk credit that he really cares enough if the thing looks "cool" and can be appropriately hyped.

[0] https://www.wired.com/story/a-leaked-tesla-report-shows-the-...

If anything, Elon Musk has proven that he knows how to make electric cars. And space rockets.

You may dislike or even hate the man, but he’s a highly successful engineer.

FTA: "Braking performance was one of the worst areas of the report. Tesla’s engineers were aiming for a score of 7, or “fair,” on the Society of Automotive Engineers rating scale, but the alpha version achieved only a 4, or “poor” rating. According to the report, in January 2022, the Cybertruck’s brake pedal pressure pad was still under design, and so the alpha experienced “excessive pedal travel and inconsistent stop,” and “excessive pitch during friction braking,” braking during turning issues, as well as power braking instability."

As someone who will probably see a lot of these on the road near me, it's kind of terrifying.

IMO the Cybertruck is going to end the F150's dominance if it lives up to its expectations. You'll see almost none for the first year, some in two years, and way too many in year three.

I think there’s a very very low chance. I live in Utah and have land in Wyoming. I own the hybrid (powerboost) F150 and use it for its intended purposes constantly. I am in southern Utah and northern Wyoming all the time. There is simply zero infrastructure for electric vehicles in the areas I frequent. I get 600 miles per tank and there are gas stations everywhere, zero charging stations. Plus people hate Elon and the cybertruck is the ugliest car ever made.

Montana here. If you have a petrol pickup you're considered a bit of a sissy. Diesel is what you want to demonstrate masculinity. Electric. Yeah no.

do people in the west really say petrol? east coaster here and never heard that outside of britain

I grew up in Arizona around plenty of macho truck people and never heard “petrol.” I suspect an expat.

I'm going to guess dboreham is Canadian?

I don’t think so. Been living in Seattle for almost 8 years, spent a lot of time in CA and Oregon as well. The only time I ever heard word “petrol” was in british media.

“gas” is ambiguous, especially when there are CNG vehicles on the road.

No, never.

Gassers are better for starting in sub-0F temps, thought it would get that cold in Montana but guess it's location dependent

I'm in Alberta, aka North Montana. Can confirm Diesel is big here, tho there is arguably a practical need.

There is some anecdotal story about how Chevy had a batch of diesel Colorado trucks and they sold out couple hours hour they made them available online.

I think it looks fantastic. It's the only car that doesn't look like every other car. I just don't want a ute, I want that exterior design on a Model Y layout.

Wouldn’t folks just charge at home? How many miles per day do you drive? I own an EV and I charge at home except on 300+ mile road trips

I would imagine Wyoming and Montana pickup buyers aren’t particularly representative.

600 miles per tank is enviable! I’d love to not need to fuel up so much. What’s your actual milage?

My lifetime mpg is just about 20 on the dot. It’s a 30.6 gallon tank. Keep in mind I’m driving through canyons and mountain passes and just about maxing out my payload over half the time I drive. It’s incredible.

The cybertruck was announced in a different world, there’s no longevity to the novelty of something so “weird”. The high-like feeling of “oh my god that’s so weird I need one” eventually wears off and Tesla’s half-decade delays have let the moment slip through their fingers long ago.

The electric F150 and the Rivian are already delivering on the promise of a great electric truck. All the cybertruck has going for it now is novelty and with Musk’s cultural standing worsening day by day, it’s hard to imagine which ordinary people are going to ever buy the thing.

I agree with this mostly, but I do wish my car had stainless steel instead of paint.

Paint is the most fragile part of the car and it's dealing with that is a fact of life but it shouldn't need to be.

With more advanced manufacturing maybe someone can make stainless steel car that doesn't look like it's from a 1994 video game.

You're kidding right? The F150 is an actual work truck. Designed as such with parts readily available when it brakes.

Most people buying them don't buy it for work and maybe use it to move a couch once a year. So I guess shitty EV pickup from overhyped brand might sell there...

They're not uncommon to see as a fleet vehicle

hahahahahahahahahahahahaha

sure

> fucking hideous

I felt that way about Model 3 because it was just too different. I couldn't get past the lack of a grill. Now I got one sitting in the garage. It grows on you after a while.

I don’t think most people would put those on similar levels of hideousness. Model 3 just looked like a budget car, not an avant garde statement piece.

The M3 has great looks to me. I’d own one if I didn’t purchase an EV a year before they became generally available.

It will vastly outsell the X, EV F-150 and Hummer.

But there are only so many social media influencers who can afford one.

The F-150 is the top selling vehicle in the US. Not car, top vehicle. The X and Hummer aren't anywhere near the same level of sales.

The F-150 EV has orders through next year, and has a long history and branding behind it. Now Ford has some issues with Labor that are going to impact production, but I have little doubt the EV Fords will do well.

Only if they move production to China:

https://tfltruck.com/2023/10/ford-lays-off-workers-f-150-lig...

It's a flop, but the hybrid won't be.

and im not sure it can actually "truck" in the same way a F-150 or Chevy can

Not sure if it's wise to short Tesla just yet. (not financial advice obv)

yeah, I don't think I have seen a bigger wealth destroyer in my lifetime than betting against Tesla. So many fortunes and careers ruined over the past 13 or so years Tesla has been public, whether on a large scale like hedge funds or smaller like /r/WallStreetBets. Just when Tesla looks its weakest, it has a tendency of suddenly and inexplicably surging 20% or more in a month. happens so many times.

Would have been wise to have done so earlier today.

but then people get greedy and stay short for too long

That's just gambling at a worse level than poker on such a short(no pun intended) timeframe.

> The wrinkle here is that the cyber truck starts delivery in November

I have a hard time believing that there will be any meaningful quantities - there's absolutely no idea on pricing just a few weeks out from "deliveries" (but I'm willing to nearly guarantee that the promised $39K and $49K models will be nowhere in sight).

Well, maybe not such a hard time. The Tesla Semi "started delivery" last November and supposedly is in production, but no-one's been able to find out pricing information on that, either...

Tesla has the weirdest vehicle lineup of any manufacturer.

Throwing all their weight behind everyone wanting a 3 and Y was always going to be a problem.

I don’t think the refresh will help that much either, it will just kill demand in the interim.

They need more vehicles, and variety.

> They need more vehicles, and variety.

I can't imagine a worse take. That's like saying Apple's problem is that they need to have more phone varieties like Android.

Obviously you don't realize the Apple is currently selling 8 different iPhones (and even more when you consider different storage and color options). iPhone is tremendously popular because it hits all the price points and varieties that people want.

...versus the tens of thousands (maybe hundreds of thousands by your latter definition) of such combinations for Android. I mean c'mon it's not even close.

those tens of thousands are made by several different companies and run the gamut from poor people cope phones to high-end flagships.

im not one to defend apple but they have a few models that range from mid-level to fancy af

But so does Tesla. They have high end (S and X) and lower end (3 and Y). They also have plenty of options with each trim level so you can get a base model version or one fully decked out. Plus, most of Apple's "8 iPhones" are just previous years' models. Tesla famously doesn't do standard model years but I'd challenge anyone to point out a specific need or level that one can't get between Tesla's trim levels, options and used models (trucks obviously notwithstanding).

> The wrinkle here is that the cyber truck starts delivery in November

Nah, they will find way to delay it again.

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