Back-and-forth between Cybertruck (tri-motor) and R1T (quad-motor)

[Callsign_Vega]

I'm always a fan of products I like, the more fan boys a product has, the more people find it superior to the rest. Having a lot of fan boys is something every manufacturer strives for.

The Motortrend article you cite is filled with factual errors and odd assumptions, and is designed to throw shade on the Cybertruck, it's what the industry calls a "hit piece". Maybe you are not aware that Motortrend is funded by almost every automaker except for Tesla. Primarily through advertising, but also in numerous other ways.

The reality of the way the Cybertruck's exterior stainless panels are bolted to the other portions of the structural chassis, and the natural stiffness of the hardened panels, they cannot help but be structural load bearing members of the chassis. The Motortrend journalist is simply wrong. I will trust the frank discussions of the engineers that actually designed and tested the chassis of the Cybertruck before any automotive journalist with nothing to back up his mischaracterizations.

Oh ok, so with your logic any unibody with hung panels that are bolted "add stiffness".

The fact is the CT could be a rolling chassis with zero stainless panels hung and it would drive fine.

 

[HaulingAss]

Oh ok, so with your logic any unibody with hung panels that are bolted "add stiffness".

The fact is the CT could be a rolling chassis with zero stainless panels hung and it would drive fine.

I'm sure you could drive it, but the chassis would not be as stiff and responsive, and it wouldn't have a 2500 payload capacity.

Technically, even the thin, soft, mild steel panels of a traditional uni-body vehicle add a little stiffness, but not anywhere near the amount that the super stiff, super strong cold-rolled steel that is a full 1.4-1.8 mm thick adds. That's why it is fastend with numerous M8 bolts, each one capable of thousands of pounds of clamping force and laser welded to stamped stainless steel backing panels. Anyone who understands this kind of constuction knows that it's structural in a very meaningful way.

You need to question your sources, because there are a lot of them trying to paint Musk and Tesla in a bad light and one method of many that they use to do this is to claim that he's lying or exaggerating when he calls it an "exoskeleton". Of course there is no vehicular definition of what constitutes an exoskeleton, so they are free to make up their own definition. These type of people want to make people think the Cybertruck is nothing new, that it's rather ordinary, or that it's even worse than the way it's been done for over a century. But no one who knows automotive technology actually believes that, it's simply a narrative to fool the ignorant and preserve sales of ancient, cheap, out-dated technology. Tesla has leveraged the software engineering tools available in a modern world to build a lighter structure that is stronger and more rigid, and that has better and safer driving dynamics than any legacy truck. Anyone who says safety and driving dynamics don't matter is an apologist for crappy, outdated technology.

 

[HaulingAss]

No adhesives. The SS quarter panels are bolted on. They use an inner SS shell that’s laser welded to the thicker outer skin.

Thank you! Those photos are proof that the Cybertruck SS panels are highly structural (to anyone who understands what they are looking at). Enough with all the disinformation and FUD being spread by people who should know better.

 

[Outdoors]

You need to question your sources, because there are a lot of them trying to paint Musk and Tesla in a bad light and one method of many that they use to do this is to claim that he's lying or exaggerating when he calls it an "exoskeleton".

The painting is back, especially as others step away from EV's. The Hertz hitjob, Pause on emission standards. Elon will double down, and flip someone else's apple cart shortly.

 

[Boo23]

The disconnect definitely pulls me in. I run my Tundra without sway bars on and off pavement and it's fun to drive.

No sway bars on a Rivian.

 

[Cyber Man]

No sway bars on a Rivian.

Really? I remember someone in this forum saying Rivian has electronically detachable sway bars. I didn’t fact check.

 

[Boo23]

Really? I remember someone in this forum saying Rivian has electronically detachable sway bars. I didn’t fact check.

They don’t have physical sway bars, they have an infinitely variable hydraulic system that can pressurize each wheel individually so they can run with no pressure, same effect as detached sway bar. It’s a brilliant if expensive system, Mclaren use the same system on their higher end cars.

 

[Cyber Man]

They don’t have physical sway bars, they have an infinitely variable hydraulic system that can pressurize each wheel individually so they can run with no pressure, same effect as detached sway bar. It’s a brilliant if expensive system, Mclaren use the same system on their higher end cars.

Got it! Thanks for the clarification. I hope CT gets the same tech in the next iteration. It'll make off-roading a lot better.

 

[Boo23]

It would, it’s a great idea with no real downside apart from cost.