Tesla Cybertruck was announced as vapourware in 2019 and got limited production only in 2023. It was also delayed. Wonder whether it would have been also considered "bait and switch setup" according to your stance.
Just as in the case of the "Hyperloop": in theory, it is perfectly possible, but anyone who got as far to build a few meters of it (or something resembling it) quickly realized the practicality problems, and what would happen if you scaled those problems to a few hundred kilometers...
On the other hand, autonomous driving is not a solved problem, not even in theory. One could argue that it would require some sort of a generic AI, which we don't have, and nobody knows if we will in the future. So selling anything based on that is simply fraud, in my opinion.
[1] https://electrek.co/2024/10/08/why-rivian-rivn-cutting-ev-pr... [2] https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/rcl/2024/RCLRPT-24V718-2751.PDF [3] https://www.forbes.com/sites/brookecrothers/2024/09/22/cyber... [4] https://press.spglobal.com/2024-07-24-S-P-Global-Mobility-Ju...
Tesla sold more Cybertrucks than almost all other EV trucks combined
https://www.theverge.com/2024/9/18/24247985/tesla-cybertruck...
The Cybertruck was the best-selling $100,000+ vehicle in July
https://qz.com/tesla-cybertruck-is-selling-better-than-any-o...
"The Cybertruck was the best-selling $100,000+ vehicle in July" - there you go
Even if it is profitable, it still needs to be weighed against the opportunity costs of using those resources to pursue a different strategy. Would the same resources in terms of designer, engineers, hours, and capital outlay on factory production lines have been more profitable if they were applied to a different vehicle?
It's very possible. The Cybertruck is always going to be a limited demand vehicle. It may do well versus other EV pickups in the US market, but Tesla is a global company and the Cybertruck is not a global vehicle.
We were also promised micron panel gaps. the panel gaps on the cybertruck are both visible and visibly uneven.
It's really weird to see anyone even imply that the Cybertruck has vindicated Tesla.
Seriously? Is there proof of this?
The body panels are pretty thick, and they're made of an austenitic nitrogen steel -- a modified form of 316LN -- which should perform nearly as well as any "armor grade" steel alloy. (Against steel fragments, it likely performs poorly, but against lead handgun rounds it is likely even superior to the average high-hardness armor steel.) Just on the face of it, I'd expect the Cybertruck's body to stop any threat up to .44 Magnum.
e.g., https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQ5EyKMqGGI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hOteg0J5teg
Do you have links to those videos where it fails?
Besides, 9mm and .22lr are very different things. .22lr is one of the very weakest ballistic threats. 9mm has much more mass, usually more velocity, and a much higher (~3x higher) average KE load.
I do know the difference between the calibers though, having shot a few different weapons in different calibers (as a hobby & in the military)
People sit in a Cybertruck. With their head visible through the glass. Non bullet-proof glass.
"""In 2019, Musk claimed that the Cybertruck would be available in late 2021, starting at $39,900. The date was later pushed to 2022, and eventually it was pushed to late 2023, with a starting price of $60,990.""" - according to the Wikipedia page.
I'd definitely count that as bait and switch from the price change alone.
I can't imagine why would a company want to sell a product at a profit.
[1] https://www.in2013dollars.com/us/inflation/2019?amount=1
Should the price have remained the same? Or was 2022 not the highest year for USD inflation in 40 years (see: your own source.)
Is a company only allowed to increase their prices at a rate pegged to monetary inflation?
You say they have the right to brake promises, which is true.
So we agree they made a promise, broke it and raised the price beyond inflation, likely due to screwing up the production cost targets. All of that after they took reservations.
So we agree but you don't like that we're judging them badly for it?
If they want to avoid a reputation for dishonesty, yes.
The cybertruck was promissed as a cheaper way to make cars, its more expensive tha n the others that suffered the same inflationary forces. Save that its a new product, if they trusted that scale was going to cheap it down more than they current methods they would take a loss at the start to make a larger profit later.
Tesla Model Y:
$39,000 in 2019, the same year the Cybertruck was announced - https://www.reuters.com/article/technology/tesla-unveils-mod...
$31,490 today - https://www.tesla.com/compare
So, a price cut then. From the same company, on the same time horizon.
--
Even on longer timelines, inflation isn't a get-out-of-jail-free card.
Tesla Model S:
$57,400 in 2009 - https://ir.tesla.com/press-release/tesla-motors-sets-new-pri...
$68,490 today - https://www.tesla.com/compare
Thats a 19.32% price increase in one of Tesla's other cars over 15 years, compared to a 52.857% price increase of the Cybetruck in the 5 years between it being announced and today.
Today that price is $79k. ($99k if you want the first-edition Foundation series which has been the only one delivered to customers so far).
CPI inflation calculation puts $49k in 2019 as $60k today. So inflation means the price should have gone up ~$10k, but it has actually gone up ~$30k.
Also in 2019, $69k was supposed to get you 500 miles of range. The highest range configuration of the truck they shipped is 340 miles, with potentially up to 470 miles if you fill half the bed with an additional $16k battery pack that is only installable/removable by a Tesla Service Center. Nobody has seen this pack demonstrated yet or how it will handle things like Supercharging. Having half the bed taken up to achieve the max range was definitely not part of the 2019 sales pitch.
This isn't just a bait and switch, it's a new bait and switch to redirect from the existing one.
If Tesla wants to make a new announcement about autonomous vehicles now, 8 years after originally announcing that they were already shipping them, it should be that they are actually operating autonomous vehicles in the wild somewhere.
Not showing off a new car design that isn't needed for such a demonstration and that is coming 2-3 years from now.