This is the truck Howard Roark would build. Function over form for good reason and to hell with the critics. I for one absolutely love it.
This is absolutely form over function, they just picked a form which is controversial.
PS - I actually like the Cybertruck. But I'm self aware to know it is due to all the impractical toys that will ultimately be a maintenance hazard. It is cool but impractical.
I saw in another article that this is their first prototype, built very quickly, so I wouldn't read too much into details like tie-downs. For the rest, I guess how useful it is depends on the customer; e.g. I saw a contractor comment that the built-in battery power and air compressor would be pretty convenient for job sites. (Of course other electric trucks would at least have the batteries, but it remains to be seen whether they'll match this on price.)
I think a lot of buyers will be people who would normally buy a large, 2-row SUV, or truck owners who keep a cap on their bed.
So one little mishap with a heavy object in the vicinity of the bed rails and the truck's structural integrity may be compromised. All the pros listed to the design seem valid but this seems like a very high stakes bet on exactly the functions this truck does and doesn't need to perform.
However, this truck is dope as hell and I'd drive it. It makes you look like a retro-80s action star. I think I would have to grow out my mustache if I drove it, and I don't mean that ironically.
1. It looks the roof over the passenger compartment peaks over the heads of the people in the front seats, and then lowers towards the back. (See photo 42 of the first gallery in the article, or photo 22 of the second gallery, or photo 10 of the third gallery, or the second photo in the Ars article [1] gallery).
This could get annoying for tall people in the back seats. For a family car, where the back seat will usually be kids, less headroom there is fine. A pickup is work vehicle and so should assume adults in back and so should have adult headroom back there.
2. The walls on the side of the cargo bed are not flat. That angled line from that end to the peak of the roof does look great...but it also means that existing truck campers [2] or camper shells [3] won't fit.
My understanding is that while bed sizes aren't quite standardized, what one manufacturer calls a short bed, standard bed, and long bed will and what another manufacturer calls short, standard, and long will be close enough to each other that a lot of accessories like campers and shells can be designed to work with both.
It looks like the Tesla will need new accessories, which only work with Tesla.
[1] https://arstechnica.com/cars/2019/11/tesla-wants-to-reinvent...
4-door full-size pickups are the modern giant family sedan. Just look at one with a cap on the bed, and it just looks like a giant 1950s sedan, (edit) only taller
[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=105&v=-oW-BVxoQF...