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Comment by donjoe | Hacker News Reader

I think this car will seriously hurt the car insurance industry. Just imagine a car that cannot get scratches and/or mailbox dents which cost thousands of dollars in repair by simply... not colouring the car and making the surface more scratch-resistant. Awesome!

As a fellow bike-communter myself I had exactly the same thoughts regarding pedestrian safety though.

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Just imagine a car that cannot get scratches and/or mailbox dents which cost thousands of dollars in repair by simply...

Consider that the reason that the windows shattered in the demo was that the dent proof doors transmitted sufficient force to the base of the window to weaken it. I'm sure the insurance industry will price coverage appropriately.

> Consider that the reason that the windows shattered in the demo was that the dent proof doors transmitted sufficient force to the base of the window to weaken it.

I don't believe that for a second, considering the rear window shattered as well and was not hit by the sledge hammer.

Take it up with Musk.

https://www.sfgate.com/business/article/Elon-Musk-Tesla-s-Cy...

I'm aware of what he said to save face. However, if you believe the window broke because a completely different door was hit than I have a bridge to sell you.

If you hit something, the momentum has to get dispersed somewhere. If the hammer didn't suffer, the car did.

I don't often get hit by a steel ball, but I do see many jeeps with cracked windscreens because replacing them after every little flying stone is too much of a hassle.

People try very hard to avoid using their insurance for small things, everyone is terrified of their rates going up.

Cybertruck might not need comprehensive or uninsured motorist coverage but it looks like it would annihilate anything it hits. You’ll want plenty of bodily injury, collision, property damage and PIP.

Wonder if laser etching the Cybertruck will become a popular way of personalizing the vehicle.

More likely vinyl wrap. There are already companies announcing various options for this. And because Cybertruck isn't curved, the wrap is much easier to apply.

Ugh, I can envision led panels being attached to it for rolling advertising.

Someone hasn't been to vegas yet

Elon already promised black matte color as an option as lots of people prefer to have some coloring.

It would look bad-ass in that phanta black.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vantablack

Right. I was in the Air Force back in the late 80's and had a '64 Chevy pickup I painted flat black, and then stenciled in red lettering all over it. Had "Danger, Air Intake" on the front bumper, "No Step" above each wheel well, "Fuel Port" by the gas cap. Put an American Flag bumper sticker up on the rear corner of both sides of the bed.

Had "Stealth Bomber" in red on the door panels.

The DeLorean had a bare stainless body. People discovered that unpainted stainless is really hard to keep looking nice. Owners of stainless kitchen appliances know this too. There was a fairly decent aftermarket for getting your DeLorean painted.

Yep and it scratches readily and easily...

Painting a car door cost me more than a brand new door. Replacing whole parts is cheap. It's the labor costs that are expensive.

How much? A luxury car door costs $10K+

Maybe not when the autodrive feature reduces the number of accidents to a pittance of what manually driven cars cause.

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