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Comment by kubectl_h | Hacker News Reader

So this is a chintzy clip on pedal cover that serves to give an aesthetic illusion that the pedal is made of stainless steel?

The Cybertruck is doomed. I'll be surprised if it still being made in 3 years.

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Nearly every modern car is some sort of cover over the actual pedal. This is just an extremely poor design

On a lot of lower-cost cars the accelerator is a single piece of injection-molded plastic.

Don't most of them still have a rubber cover on top of that injection-molded plastic?

I guess that depends on the exact trim/price level we're talking about but it's certainly not uncommon: https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/ywkAAOSwDqljZQzH/s-l1600.jpg

Bullshit. 2017 RX 450h f sport, fully aluminum pedal, no cover. MSRP was also lower for it, even accounting for inflation, compared to the cybertruck.

Downvoters need to explain why they are downvoting my post pointing out that a cheaper Lexus doesn't have this issue.

Because Lexus had to justify the F-Sport package which added zero performance improvements, so they bolted on some shiny metal.

The 2017 RX (and even the latest RX) is about a decade behind in technology compared to Tesla & the German manufacturers. When you invest very little into R&D, you can afford to add shiny metal bits.

I don't think you are being downvoted for "pointing out that a cheaper Lexus doesn't have this issue." The downvote is likely for being rude about it.

https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

While I didn't spell this out, luxury sports models are just about the one exception to the rule. Lexus is a luxury brand and that is a sports model.

Most vehicles are not luxury or sports models so my statement is still accurate.

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EDIT: Looking up replacement parts, Toyota and Lexus uses a "stud" style pedal that's bolted into the accelerator at the floor. In this case a "cover" isn't really applicable.

Many vehicle use a style similar to Ford's: https://parts.ford.com/shop/en/us/engine/other-engine-parts/...

This is essentially a metal arm with a small cover attached to it.

EDIT 2: Just grabbing a bit of ancedata to support my internal data.

* GM uses a pedal with a plate in the Escalade: https://www.gmpartsdirect.com/oem-parts/gm-accelerator-pedal... I also know I've had this style on many other GM vehicles I and my family have owned.

* Hyundai use the arm with a cover: https://www.partshyundai.com/oem-parts/hyundai-sport-pedals-...

* BMW uses a floor based pedal with a cover: https://www.bimmerworld.com/BMW-Interior/BMW-Pedals/Accelera...

* Mercedes uses a similar floor based pedal with cover: https://www.bimmerworld.com/BMW-Interior/BMW-Pedals/Accelera...

* Chrysler uses an arm with a cover on many vehicles: https://store.mopar.com/oem-parts/mopar-pedal-kit-82211154ab

* Honda uses an arm with a cover on many vehicles: https://www.hondapartsnow.com/genuine/honda~pedal~set~sport~...

In fact, I think you might have the only manufacturer that actually doesn't use a cover. Likely in response to their pedal scandal as older Toyota models use an arm with a cover.

One of the great tragedies of the power of modern logistics - and technology, frankly - is that it's ever-easier to disguise low-quality items behind a veneer of shiny chrome.

Did anyone actually believe that any part of the Cybertruck was high quality?

From my POV outside of the Musk cult of personality it was painfully obvious that the thing was a dud from day one.

Well the surface oxides are the finest oxides of any vehicle, possibly behind Datsun.

Every Tesla I've sat in feels like it should cost $20,000. Like a Fiat.

For the unfortunate times where I need to use a Lyft, and it also happens to be a Tesla, I am ALWAYS shocked at how cheap the whole vehicle feels. They're also some of the roughest feeling rides I've ever had, I can feel every bump on the road.

(Additionally I always have to play the fun "how do I open this door from the outside again?" game. But maybe my driver was right and it's "really obvious." ...)

I've owned a Fiat and a Tesla. The Fiat was better put together.

The promise of the truck was as is typical more 'rugged' than 'high quality'. I never considered myself part of the target market, so my reaction was more 'bold choice, lets see if this pans out' unironically.

The price tag implied a high quality, but I think consumers have become aware that high price tags aren't indicative of quality.

At this stage of EV development, the high price (hopefully) implies a lot of high-quality batteries.

Wrapped in a rusty foil coffin with this level of engineering

Yeah, the mental state of someone who bought one had a high quality.

Software is likely vastly better than with any other auto company

I don't agree with all their UX/UI decisions, but I will grant you that Tesla has better -aesthetics- than most of the auto manufacturers.

That doesn't correlate to inherent software quality, though.

Really? Because as was recently brought to popular attention, the software requires the car doors to stay closed to update itself, which in my view is some real Windows 95-level engineering. Not impressed.

Well that’s not true- I frequently access the Tesla while it’s doing an update.

Well, greater quantity (both static and flow rate), but greater quality is less clear.

The only car I've had software that worked at all in, and I've owned a Tesla, was a Citroen. And that was because it had no software worth mentioning other than a BT receiver.

Cars in the US are highly scrutinized by reviewers and enthusiasts, and they're highly regulated.

It's been basically impossible to disguise poor quality in cars here for a long time, so the failure of shiny chrome is the least of the Cybertruck's problems.

> Cars in the US are highly scrutinized by reviewers and enthusiasts, and they're highly regulated.

lol, very good

Maybe in very recent cars but man the lack of government standards allows the absolute worst cars to be driven on the road because a lot of manufacturers (mainly American and Korean) have had on and off decades of pretty bad low quality cars. Cars that would fail inspection in Japan or Germany are perfectly fine here and as a result the overall fleet is on the crappier side.

I don't think most states in the us even have vehicle inspections. Certainly not all do.

It’s doomed because of the material choice of their pedals? Come on now, don’t be dramatic

The cars are terribly manufactured, there are many videos of them falling completely, sometimes right off the lot.

They don't meet their reported towing spec, they haul about as much as a cargo bike, they can't off-road.

The only reason to own one is to participate in the culture war. That sort of thing tends to cycle quickly.

Yeah this. Total shit. I had a Model S P100D and the doors didn't even shut or line up properly. If you can't get the basics right then there's going to be a lot of problems hiding away that you can't see and serious procedural and process problems.

On mine I had unintended braking randomly in the middle of the motorway. I think that's less fucked than unintended acceleration at least. Maybe not for the guy behind me.

I now don't own a car. It was the most money I've lost in one go and the worst vehicle I've ever driven.

Was this back when they had radar? Unintended braking is/was a common issue for all manufacturers - my Prius would randomly slam on the brakes whenever I went underneath a bridge.

Yes it was. Probably signal aliasing. I drove a dumbcar after (shitty bottom end Citroen) which exhibited no problems! :)

If the pedal, one of the 4 primary ways of controlling the 3 ton vehicle, is this egregiously faulty, then where else has Telsa skimped on vital QA in the design?

The culture that leads to cheap glue holding on a piece that can jam the pedal down likely cut corners in 100 other places.

That's not at all what was said. It's fair to assume that this is one additioanal issue we've seen with the Cybertruck, and when you add all those things up, you realize the Cybertruck is doomed.

Why do you think this person meant that this single deficiency is the reason it's doomed? Have you thought that way in the past about things?

No it's doomed because it's a classic Elon Musk product: it was rushed into production, build quality is low and the aesthetics, which are unrefined and overwhelming, are used to mask an overall shoddy product that overpromised and underdelivered. The pedals are just one example of it. The body panel gaps and poor off-road performance are others.

Most companies wish they could release products as "doomed" as Elon's.

I can honestly say I don't think I've paid much attention to what the pedals in any car I've driven look like.

Someone interested in a $100k+ car potentially likes cars enough to be interested. A lot of people are A-B'ers. A lot arent.

> Someone interested in a $100k+ car potentially likes cars enough to be interested

Potentially, but I think the big factor for most people who buy $100k cars is wealth and status-seeking, not interest in conponent details.

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