Australians are going to want the apocalypse-proof Tesla Cybertruck

[mongeese]

"Here in straya, we drive utes."

The Tesla Cybertruck was received with mixed feelings to say the least, but not surprisingly Aussies have viewed it with unique disgust. The Cybertruck’s ‘super-utility’ marketing targets the true Australian digger, the bloke that goes bush-bashing for days to get into the perfect fishing spot. Or his mate, who’ll drive a thousand k’s to rescue the first bloke after he gets bogged, in exchange for a few six-packs -- that is one benefit of an electric car: you can keep your beer cool in a fridge.

That means that the Cybertruck has to be just as reliable and capable as Aussie classics like a Toyota Hilux, and we all know it won’t be. Because it’s electric, it won’t be able to do the same distances as a diesel vehicle, and for Australia’s rural population, it’ll be impossible to get repaired. The gigantic sloped windscreen is also &%!$ when it’s sunny, which is the permanent state of affairs in the north. There’s also nowhere to mount a bullbar, so it could take quite a bit of roo damage, too (any decent drive in the outback has a high chance of involving a collision with a kangaroo.)

Even what looks like nothing to an American driver could have an impact in Australia. In northern regions, people often fish sitting on the rooves or trays of their utes to avoid the crocodiles, but the angled roof and recessed door handles would make it very difficult to escape into a Cybertruck if a croc gets aggressive.

But with all that in mind, I’ve still spent the past month wishing I had a Cybertruck. If you haven’t followed the news lately, Australia has gone to $*#^. I live in the capital city Canberra, where the air has been hazardous almost continuously for a month due to smoke from nearby bushfires. (Don't worry, I'm fine.)

The whole city has run out of air purifiers, but Tesla vehicles are equipped with hospital-grade HEPA air filters that are even better than what can be purchased commercially.

This is the air quality index for Canberra's North (pink), City (grey) and South (blue) over the course of January. About 50-100 is what you'd expect on an alright day, and over 200 is hazardous.

A little under a fortnight ago, Canberra also got hit with a severe hailstorm. Just walking down the street, you can see dozens of cars that have been written off due to absolutely annihilated windscreens and rooves.

Short of a tank, the Cybertruck is just about the only vehicle that could survive such a downpour. It has a borderline bulletproof cold-rolled stainless-steel frame. Its impact-resistant glass has struggled in demos, but will hopefully be pretty tough by release.

Via Twitter.

The bushfires have also poured so much heat into the environment, that they’ve contributed to creating thunderstorms that have flooded much of Australia’s south. Cybertruck is a great flood vehicle. With 16” of ground clearance the interior will stay dry if it can keep its momentum up regardless of the depth it has to wade through (this is due to the way water pressure works).

Because it's electric it doesn’t require air intakes, and it doesn’t have an engine to flood, so the water won’t affect its systems. (No you bloody galah, the electric bit isn’t exposed and won’t electrocute you.)

Perhaps most importantly, if a Cybertruck is powered with renewable energy, running it contributes significantly less to global warming than running a non-electric vehicle.

Many scientists believe there is a link between climate change and the severity of the fires. Your personal opinion may vary, but I recently heard a firefighter say that there are no climate change deniers at the end of the hose. To my fellow Aussies: stay safe and be careful, even if it means buying a pickup truck down the track.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/83820-australians-going-want-apocalypse-proof-tesla-cybertruck.html

 

[Uncle Al]

It all sounds nice but when you see the distances many of them drive I doubt too many will be willing to shell out that kind of money for something with such limited range ....

 

[QuantumPhysics]

I'm a shareholder of Tesla's since 2012 when I first was invited to drive the P85.

But I've gotta say: I hate the Cybertruck.

All this time I expected a truck design based on the Model X and we get this madness instead.

I know our shares will go to $1000 - at which point my trade is auto*selling - but it's the Model 3 and Model Y that will get us there.

 

[Aus spot]

Fellow canberran here. I'd love the car. It's got style, not in the pretty way, but style that will last.

 

[VitalyT]

Australian Carmageddon

 

[riggster]

I live in Oklahoma in the middle of the USA. I hit a deer last year, which destroyed my all-electric Chevrolet spark. This truck looks like a real moose killer to me, so I pre-ordered one as soon as they came out. You will need to do some testing, but I hypothesize that hitting a kangaroo with a cybertruck at high rates of speed will result in catapulting it over the top of your truck with not much damage to the vehicle or its occupants.

 

[captaincranky]

How do you carve a statue of and elephant? You take a huge block of stone and chisel away everything that doesn't look like an elephant.

How do you create the Tesla "Cybertruck"? You take the biggest turd you can find and carve away everything that doesn't look like it.

 

[mongeese]

I live in Oklahoma in the middle of the USA. I hit a deer last year, which destroyed my all-electric Chevrolet spark. This truck looks like a real moose killer to me, so I pre-ordered one as soon as they came out. You will need to do some testing, but I hypothesize that hitting a kangaroo with a cybertruck at high rates of speed will result in catapulting it over the top of your truck with not much damage to the vehicle or its occupants.

"Do some testing" I get what you mean though, there'll be no shortage of information. But I still reckon it'll need a bar. One of the advantages of a bar is that it can bend inwards on collision without affecting the car, so you only need to replace the bar and not the $20,000+ vehicle front end. The Cybertruck will probably have a front crumplezone, but it could still be expensive to fix.

 

[captaincranky]

@mongeese These are one of the best ideas of all time for dealing with large, pesky, and in the way mammals

Doubtless though, you'd draw the ire of every known animal rights group, were you to affix one to the front of your Cybertruck...

 

[koblongata]

Tesla should build a Gigafactory down there specifically for Cyber series, it's already gonna take 4 years to fulfill all cybertruck orders at the moment, and because Cybertruck is so cheap to make, even with expensive labor/import costs there, it could still make sense. And I believe Aussies would help, they just love Tesla.

 

[Mister_K]

Techspot, are you getting censored by your own shitty filter?

"The gigantic sloped windscreen is also &%!$ when it’s sunny"

 

[Mr Majestyk]

The biggest threats we face daily on the roads are morons in Toyota's, Corolla's and Camry's are the king of incompetence down under.

 

[TeslaOwner]

I'm a shareholder of Tesla's since 2012 when I first was invited to drive the P85.

But I've gotta say: I hate the Cybertruck.

All this time I expected a truck design based on the Model X and we get this madness instead.

I know our shares will go to $1000 - at which point my trade is auto*selling - but it's the Model 3 and Model Y that will get us there.

keep your eyes on the prize!

 

[TeslaOwner]

I’ve owned and operated a ModelX commercially for nearly 3 years. You won’t need “Bush Mechanics” to understand and be able to service the Cybertruck. They don’t need servicing, they rarely break down. When you do something stupid and it does go into limp mode, you just call the 24hr service centre, they remotely diagnose the issue. 4 out of the 5 “failures” were rectified remotely and within minutes. No expensive service centre visit and time off the road.

You can’t mount a ‘roo bar. The whole front end has proximity sensors to make it drive autonomously.

It will need a more extensive charging network. Tesla has already launched supercharger sites that are free from the grid and run off solar farms.

SPACEX is laying out a Tesla network of satellites. I wonder why? Connectivity is a key for Teslas to operate, problem solved.

I’ve operated high mileage vehicles all my life. I’m convinced after 237,000kms in less than 3 yrs that Tesla has the engineering response for any issue. It’s the toughest, cheapest car I’ve owned.
#limousineline
#tesla

 

[mongeese]

Techspot, are you getting censored by your own shitty filter?

"The gigantic sloped windscreen is also &%!$ when it’s sunny"

Hahahaha that's gold. No, we don't have a filter. We normally keep articles polite and formal, but this article was written in Australian polite.

 

[Darth Shiv]

It all sounds nice but when you see the distances many of them drive I doubt too many will be willing to shell out that kind of money for something with such limited range ....

I drive long distances and live in Canberra. I'd easily handle 500km range which the Tesla 3's can do and the charge time you can get a good chunk back while you stop for food or overnight or whatever. There aren't a lot of people doing 600+km regularly.

The price is the issue - we have luxury car tax above $60k AUD before onroad costs iirc. Electric vehicles really should be excluded from the tax but our Federal parties are both owned by the resources sector. Our Federal Government just announced $2b AUD for new GAS gen ffs. So so so corrupt.

That gas btw is to replace coal gen that is out of life. It's about 10 years too late and should really be a combination of cheaper renewables and battery storage for load shifting but as I said, corruption.

 

[dob_1]

I wonder how much space it would take up to carry solar panels so that it could be recharged in the Outback! And how long would it take to charge it on a sunny day?

Probably need the whole truck filled with the solar panels just to ensure you could get from one charging station to the next!

 

[captaincranky]

I wonder how much space it would take up to carry solar panels so that it could be recharged in the Outback! And how long would it take to charge it on a sunny day?

You know you proponents of all electric vehicles for every task tend to get a little bit tedious.

So then, you would have to drag the solar panels out of the truck, plug them all together, then hang out while while the truck charges. Keep in mind, you're quite unlikely to get the same charging rate as you would from on one of Tesla's "Supercharger" stations.

Probably need the whole truck filled with the solar panels just to ensure you could get from one charging station to the next!

And then some.

OTOH, you could fill a gas or diesel truck's bed with 5 gallon jerry cans, and most likely drive across the entire continent, nonstop. (Save for the few minutes it
would take to shove a funnel in the fill pipes, and dump the gas or kero into the tank.

Try to keep in mind there are, "different horses for different courses", instead of indulging your all electric obsession.

As far a electric vehicles for 3rd world countries goes, keep in mind we can't even stop them from killing and eating chimpanzees, let alone spend $60,000 for a Tesla.

And then there's the issue of "classic cars" in Cuba.

Classic Cars and the Cubans That Keep Them Running

If you’re a classic car buff, Cuba is just about the greatest place on the planet.

www.anywhere.com

 

[Karlos95]

I’ve owned and operated a ModelX commercially for nearly 3 years. You won’t need “Bush Mechanics” to understand and be able to service the Cybertruck. They don’t need servicing, they rarely break down. When you do something stupid and it does go into limp mode, you just call the 24hr service centre, they remotely diagnose the issue. 4 out of the 5 “failures” were rectified remotely and within minutes. No expensive service centre visit and time off the road.

You can’t mount a ‘roo bar. The whole front end has proximity sensors to make it drive autonomously.

It will need a more extensive charging network. Tesla has already launched supercharger sites that are free from the grid and run off solar farms.

SPACEX is laying out a Tesla network of satellites. I wonder why? Connectivity is a key for Teslas to operate, problem solved.

I’ve operated high mileage vehicles all my life. I’m convinced after 237,000kms in less than 3 yrs that Tesla has the engineering response for any issue. It’s the toughest, cheapest car I’ve owned.
#limousineline
#tesla

I guess people can't give up their old ways and don't want to admit that TESLA is king of cars.

HOWEVER, if we are talking Aussie utes, first thing is how good is their seals for water? Some model S's had a water leaking issue did they not? Also one major aspect they forgot to mention is, a majority of ute owners aren't out back but are actually suburban tradies, and on the weekends they'll take their ute onto the beach, how will it fair up on the sand?

 

[Ravey]

Bloody galah?!?!?!?! You mean that's an actual word outside of Neighbours? lol

I really dislike the look of this truck... it doesn't even have a Flux Capacitor so no travelling through time either...

 

[cliffordcooley]

I'm wondering if Australia is sensing premonitions of an apocalypse.

 

[Aus spot]

I'm wondering if Australia is sensing premonitions of an apocalypse.

Na.. its not like our greatest trading partner is trying to expand it's empire, is sending over super viruses and is in open trade warfare with our greatest military partner.

 

[TeslaOwner]

Tesla should build a Gigafactory down there specifically for Cyber series, it's already gonna take 4 years to fulfill all cybertruck orders at the moment, and because Cybertruck is so cheap to make, even with expensive labor/import costs there, it could still make sense. And I believe Aussies would help, they just love Tesla.

I think the greatest opportunity that Ozstralia has with this new technology is if a Gigafactory was built somewhere close to Lithium /Cobalt mining site.

Australia was the biggest exporter of Lithium. We still don’t have the smarts to add value and get a bigger piece of the action of our mineral resources.

I predict a Gigafactory or huge battery production plant will be built in Indonesia making 10X profits off Australian Lithium, Cobalt & Aluminian

 

[Capaill]

I wonder how much space it would take up to carry solar panels so that it could be recharged in the Outback! And how long would it take to charge it on a sunny day?

Probably need the whole truck filled with the solar panels just to ensure you could get from one charging station to the next!

I'm glad somebody mentioned solar panels. They seem like the obvious solution to driving across the outback in an electric vehicle. Except that most of the country is currently on fire. Which means lots of smoke. Which means no sunlight.
Once Australia has burned down all their trees, then the solar panels will become useful.
Speaking of which, I wonder how Tesla's giant solar farm is doing over at the Gannawarra solar power plant near Melbourne.

 

[Karlos95]

I'm glad somebody mentioned solar panels. They seem like the obvious solution to driving across the outback in an electric vehicle. Except that most of the country is currently on fire. Which means lots of smoke. Which means no sunlight.
Once Australia has burned down all their trees, then the solar panels will become useful.
Speaking of which, I wonder how Tesla's giant solar farm is doing over at the Gannawarra solar power plant near Melbourne.

I thought it was S.A. that was in?

Speaking of solar panels. They could certainly put them in windows and panels, however, it wouldn't be enough to keep it going infinitely and I much prefer Tesla to any other vehicle. But they could create a folding panel in the back so you could stop for say 15mins and get like 50 or so Ks out of it. That wouldn't be too bad if you were desperate, certainly not good enough if you were going on a trip around the outback.

Although, I don't know why they don't do the solar panels anyway on windows and panels for even city, how often would you just drive to work and your car be sitting in the sun for 6 - 12 hours doing nothing? It could be charging then so you you may not even need to charge when you get home. FREE TRANSPORT.