In a world where innovation is king, Tesla has been at the forefront of revolutionizing the automotive industry. With a vision that stretches far beyond the conventional, Tesla’s latest unveiling took the automotive world by storm – the Cybertruck. The futuristic, angular beast of a vehicle promised to defy norms and redefine what it means to drive an electric car.
After some delays and just over 4 years after the initial unveiling, Tesla’s Cybertruck Delivery Event was finally scheduled for November 30th, 2023. Over the last several weeks leading up the delivery event, more and more “Release Candidate” Cybertruck’s had been spotted on the streets and highways, even off-roading trails. On various social media platforms, news began to circulate that Cybertruck’s were on their way to showrooms. On November 23rd, I saw a post on X that the Cybertruck was expected to be on display at their Bellevue Square Mall showroom in Bellevue, WA the following day which happened to be Black Friday. We headed down to see if it was in fact on display, and we weren’t disappointed!
What Do People Think of the Tesla Cybertruck?
People seem to remain divided on two opposite sides of the spectrum when it comes to the Cybertruck. People either love it’s bold design or absolutely hate it. There seems to be no middle ground.
What Are People Saying About the Cybertruck?
Being a Black Friday at a shopping mall, there were already large numbers of people shopping, but also checking out the Tesla Showroom, and with a large crowd constantly around the Cybertruck. I heard several comments from people such as:
It looks like a tank!
That’s absolutely insane looking!
All in all the comments I heard from people seeing it for the first time were overwhelmingly positive. I do have some friends who haven’t seen it in person who feel quite differently. One who is an engineer said:
Sorry, worst truck design ever.
Cybertruck: Building the World’s Toughest Truck
With the Cybertruck, Tesla set out to break the norm. They certainly did just that. One of their goals was to build the toughest truck available. The cold rolled 30x stainless steel body panels certainly help to achieve just that. I snapped this sign Tesla had at the showroom in front of the Cybertruck.
Production Cybertruck Versus Previous Prototypes
The production Cybertruck has certainly gone through some changes. Most notably it appears there will no longer be a sail pillar storage area. This was a feature that was not officially mentioned during the unveil, but there was a slide during the presentation showcasing it. Mirrors were also added later in various prototype builds. I was not looking forward to this at all, I thought the original looked much cleaner. They have however made changes and the production mirrors (in my opinion) don’t look as bad as some of the earlier prototypes.
While the tonneau cover was closed at the showroom, recent photos and videos of the release candidate Cybertruck’s reveal the truck bed will likely be lined and no longer off the t-bolt mount rails along the floor.
More Photos of the Cybertruck
Here’s a couple more pictures I took of the Cybertruck. Here’s a closeup of the wheel and tire.
This is a shot of the rear marker light and an interesting angle at the bottom of the bed sides. I assume the near 45 degree cut was to eliminate the sharpness of the corner edge.
Conclusion
The Cybertruck was barricaded off while we were at the showroom, so we weren’t able to get beyond the barrier or look inside the vehicle. One person tried touching the stainless steel body and was told by a Tesla employee not too. It remains to be see how the stainless steel holds up against finger prints and overall weathering. The Cybertruck is certainly different and I do find the stainless steel panel durability to be quite appealing. It won’t be too much longer before the official delivery event when we should learn more specifics including range, options, and pricing. It’s already rumored the price will be much higher than what was announced in 2019. Expect more articles on the Cybertruck to come soon.