I was headed out of church last weekend when I felt a tug on my sleeve… Long time friends from our Denver days, Naeda and Will! We haven’t seen them for very many years, and we had a nice chat.
They were spending the weekend with our friends George and Carol, and wanted to spend a little time with Steve while they were in town… so we had them all over for dinner Sunday evening. What fun! Will had accomplished a lot that morning… he and his son ran a half-marathon! And he could still stand and walk and smile! Awesome!
A tale of two trucks, separated by a few feet and 95 years!
We had our Tesla’s windshield cracked by a rock on the highway a few weeks ago. When Tesla service gave me a loaner, they asked if I wanted a “Y” just like mine, or something else. I figured when else would I drive a Cyberdumpster? I’ve read about how sophisticated the Cybertruck is, even though it’s ugly. So when they said they’d have to keep our car overnight, I at least had some extended time to play with an odd looking computerized vehicle. So you are getting a few notes about “my” Tesla Cybertruck.
Here’s a side by side view in my garage. A bit different in overall size, and aerodynamically a big difference as well. The bed in the Cybertruck is significantly larger, and has a powered tonneau cover that rolls away like a roll top desk. When the cover is open, it feels like a (more) normal pickup truck.
The windshield on Willie Mac, my 1931 Model A Ford, is perfectly vertical. (unless I open it at the bottom and tilt it forward for ventilation.) The windshield on the Cybertruck is almost horizontal! Inside, it feels like the leading edge of the glass extends three feet in front of the steering wheel. And one HUGE wiper does the whole window! Speaking of steering wheel, they call it a squircle… not a square or a circle, but a hybrid between them. It is a “steer by wire” system, and very responsive. At low speeds, the rear wheels steer opposite of the fronts, making the truck steer very quickly.
I have to mention some comparisons between the Cybertruck and the Suburban here. They are within half an inch in each dimension. The wheelbase of the Tesla is almost a foot and half longer than the Suburban, yet the turning circle is just about the same, thanks to the 4 wheel steering. A typical Suburban is rated to tow 8,500 pounds, and the typical Cybertruck is rated at 7,500. But if you’re really crazy, the highest end Cybertruck, the Cyberbeast, can tow 11,000 pounds. Just in case you’re wondering…
The truck they gave me was pretty dirty outside, both glass and stainless steel body. So I have pictures of my time in a dirty Tesla.
With the tonneau covering the bed, you can’t see out the back window, so they have a video rear view mirror on the screen.
The screen is very similar to our Tesla (except the rear view camera always up.) You can see other cars around you drawn on the screen.
Or you can have a whole screen back view, with side views…
Or front and side views…
The Rainbow Road is one way to see the vehicle is in self-driving mode.
Here’s the view when parked.
The basic control screen shows some things you can change, like ride hight. From 8 inches ground clearance to 12.4 inches.
On the road:
Like the Model A, you do attract a certain amount of interest when you drive. I had some neighbors come over and I offered to take them for a ride. Jeff and Phil and Phil’s son (sorry I don’t remember your name!) came with us for a ride around the neighborhood. Phil took a few pix from the back seat – one with his son playing chess on the back screen as we drove.
I demonstrated the Full Self Driving, and Jeff said he had no idea how well that worked. Just like most folks today – nobody believes it till they drive one.
Here’s a very short video of our little drive: