Is Anyone Actually Excited For The Cybertruck?

[Scooter2]

To anyone who ever asked "Will there ever be a manufacturer that dares bring to market a vehicle uglier than VW's "The Thing"?" Elon Musk says 'Here, hold my beer weed!".

Fixed it for you..

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[RoLyMa27]

Don't need new elements, but new battery chemistry is constantly changing.

30 years ago, most rechargable batteries for electronics were NiCad or NiMH. Li-ion didn't really take off until the mid 2000s and only more recently Li-Po.

I can't stand Musk and his constant over-promise - under-deliver with Tesla, but EVs are the future whether you want to believe it or not.

Rare Earth's are Rare Earth's regardless of what compound you make. They will still be mined out of the ground. Our electrical grid is woefully inadequate even if we had a modest increase of 10% more EV's. If you let the market decide and don't shove Draconian mandates down people's throats like Californistan, battery powered EV's might hold 20% market share in 50 years. Hydrogen fuel cells are the future!

 

[Sugarwolf]

I actually saw this truck headed west on Sunday 08/27 just east of Albuquerque on I-40. Definitely weird/ugly in my opinion, but I'm sure they will tickle someone's pickle..

 

[Callelk]

I think that thing is butt ugly but I respect what Elon is trying to do. A lot of folks thing the whole EV thing is a sham...like it or not, there is only so much oil in the ground and its going to wind down in the not too distant futur.

China is not going to stop wasting it on making ship loads worthless plastic crap to fill dollar stores with so we need people like Elon to push the boundaries on renewable energy.

There is a lot less Lithium in the ground than oil and it takes billions of gallons of diesel to dig it up.

Fun facts:
90 % of the potable water in the Lithium Triangle is used to mine Lithium
China has a majority stake in the Lithium Triangle
60% of the worlds Cobalt supplies used on EV batteries is mined by children breathing in toxic fumes
Eight of the 14 largest cobalt mines in the DRC are Chinese-owned
Of the 136 lithium-ion battery plants in the pipeline to 2029, 101 are based in China
China produces more than 60% of the world’s graphite

 

[JohnnyBronco]

Nah. Excited only to the point that ugly people will buy this ugly vehicle and leave more beautiful vehicles available for we beautiful people to gobble up.

Think Canoo or Aptera as better looking. Bollinger had a good thing going, all electric truck/suv with passthrough grill---until they released their 6 figure price point.

 

[Callelk]

But to the OP's point.

Nope, stupid looking, pointless and I hate to say it, I'm not "hip" enough to be caught dead in one.

 

[zuke]

Rare Earth's are Rare Earth's regardless of what compound you make. They will still be mined out of the ground. Our electrical grid is woefully inadequate even if we had a modest increase of 10% more EV's. If you let the market decide and don't shove Draconian mandates down people's throats like Californistan, battery powered EV's might hold 20% market share in 50 years. Hydrogen fuel cells are the future!

Hydrogen Fuel Cells are just another form of EV, with a different storage method for the motive power.

You still have to produce hydrogen for a hydrogen fuel cell vehicle, Primarily done with natural gas... Methane reforming .

It adds yet another step to the process of getting power into a vehicle, and added steps almost always result in a loss of efficiency.

It does add the ability to fuel up quick, a big convenience issue that BEVs suffer from.

No matter how we make the transtion to EVs, it's going to take refinement and increased efficiences in the processes.

HEVs have a good chance of helping get us there, since just like BEVs they allow us to centralize the production of energy to a location where we can collect pollutants easily, and have the added benefit of not using the electrical grid to deliver that power to the consumer.

Ultimately, they are not any more efficient than a BEV, and they are currently relying on a fossil fuel source, reguiring a lot of energy to produce.

 

[kodiakisland]

Competition is great, so glad to see it and many more to come. As far as the EV craze, I think EVs will prove to be far more harmful to the planet than the last 100 years of combustion engines have been.

 

[RoLyMa27]

Ultimately, they are not any more efficient than a BEV, and they are currently relying on a fossil fuel source, reguiring a lot of energy to produce.

A reasonable person, with a modicum of common sense understands there is no free lunch. There are tremendous amounts of resources and energy needed to produce BEV's that ultimately are tied fossil fuels. There is no silver bullet when it comes to motivating human beings around the planet. I think @kodiakisland nailed it when he said "the EV craze". According to several different sources (Google search)of the approximately 250 million vehicles on the road today in the US ~~2 million are electric. Less than ONE percent! Not very many people lining up to buy them yet it's all you can see on TV or read about on the line. A modest increase of just 10% in BEV's would require a massive increase in electrical grid capacity. Or we could all just turn off everything else while we charge our EV's. I think EV's whether battery or HFC powered, have a place in large cities. They are totally impractical for just about anyone else. I also agree with @kodiakisland, 20 years from now we'll find that the EV insanity harmed the planet more than ICE's would have.
Edit: Hell, even the head of Toyota agrees EV's are not the answer.

 

[RoLyMa27]

There is a lot less Lithium in the ground than oil and it takes billions of gallons of diesel to dig it up.

Fun facts:
90 % of the potable water in the Lithium Triangle is used to mine Lithium
China has a majority stake in the Lithium Triangle
60% of the worlds Cobalt supplies used on EV batteries is mined by children breathing in toxic fumes
Eight of the 14 largest cobalt mines in the DRC are Chinese-owned
Of the 136 lithium-ion battery plants in the pipeline to 2029, 101 are based in China
China produces more than 60% of the world’s graphite

Inconvenient truths climate alarmists will not acknowledge!

 

[Arrowbear Rider]

and it takes billions of gallons of diesel to dig it up.

No diesel here, just energy that was already being produced, at Thermal CA power plants, the Lithium is a by product with the brine (salt water) returned to the ground.

"extracting lithium from the brine will be much more green because it’s a closed-loop procedure powered by carbon-free geothermal energy that completely avoids conventional mining techniques. Berkshire Hathaway Energy, Controlled Thermal and EnergySource Minerals are testing out their own proprietary chemical separation processes, where you pass brine through a filtering stage that pulls out the lithium, while leaving the rest of the toxic chemicals in place. Ideally, the brine is never even exposed to the open air above ground."

Forbes.

I don't own an electric car, or plan to, but I agree that they have their uses in major cities, which is a large part of the population. And being a realist, as long as the population continues to explode, we're doing more damage as a whole, not just from cars, than ever before, but who wants to jump off the ride?

But I really am looking forward to the jobs and looking forward to to seeing plants built here; 40% of the world's production could come from Thermal, CA. Remember, many things we use in life needs lithium batteries, from your rechargeable solar lights in your garden to your computer and electronics, go pro, radio's & phone and etc.

The EVs are driving those battery technologies too.

We do more damage shipping junk around the globe to fill the dollar store. We need more geographical manufacturing and less shipping. Bring more jobs home.

 

[CarGuy]

It’s hideous!

 

[Callelk]

No diesel here, just energy that was already being produced, at Thermal CA power plants, the Lithium is a by product with the brine (salt water) returned to the ground.

"extracting lithium from the brine will be much more green because it’s a closed-loop procedure powered by carbon-free geothermal energy that completely avoids conventional mining techniques. Berkshire Hathaway Energy, Controlled Thermal and EnergySource Minerals are testing out their own proprietary chemical separation processes, where you pass brine through a filtering stage that pulls out the lithium, while leaving the rest of the toxic chemicals in place. Ideally, the brine is never even exposed to the open air above ground."

Forbes.

I don't own an electric car, or plan to, but I agree that they have their uses in major cities, which is a large part of the population. And being a realist, as long as the population continues to explode, we're doing more damage as a whole, not just from cars, than ever before, but who wants to jump off the ride?

But I really am looking forward to the jobs and looking forward to to seeing plants built here; 40% of the world's production could come from Thermal, CA. Remember, many things we use in life needs lithium batteries, from your rechargeable solar lights in your garden to your computer and electronics, go pro, radio's & phone and etc.

The EVs are driving those battery technologies too.

We do more damage shipping junk around the globe to fill the dollar store. We need more geographical manufacturing and less shipping. Bring more jobs home.

That’s all “touchy-feely- good and all but you forgot to add this tidbit….

“EnergySource estimates it needs to raise $350 million to build a commercial-scale extraction facility.” LA Times

Or

“U.S. steps away from flagship lithium project with Buffett's Berkshire” from Reuters (which called it “'NASTY, HOT SOUP'”).

Or these headlines

“China buys half of the lithium mines on the market” Financial Times

“Western Australia hosts five of the world’s biggest lithium mines, whose combined reserves exceed 475.24 million tonnes (Mt). Mining Technology ranks the top ten biggest lithium mines in the world, based on proven and probable reserves.”

#1 Sonora Mining project, open pit mine, Ganfeng Lithium Group

#2 Thacker Pass Lithium Project, open pit mine, Ganfeng Lithium Group

#3 Wodgina Lithium Project, open pit mine, China has 50% interest

#4 Pilgangoora Lithium-Tantalum Project, open pit mine, “ China's CATL buys into beaten down Australian lithium miner Pilbara” Reuters


Well, you can see where this is going……

Don't get me wrong, I love lithium batteries for say, my drones or EDC lights, but I believe we have a long way to go before EV is viable.

You may want to check out the EV graveyards spread-out across China....https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2023-china-ev-graveyards/

 

[Karl_in_Chicago]

Probably not for me. I want to see the specs and cost. For the haters, Tesla will sell millions of these things.

Maybe. Given that Tesla's *total* sales volume of all vehicles *combined* is ~3M going back to 2008 that would mean this single vehicle would be stunningly successful. Time will certainly tell.

 

[TripleB]

Maybe. Given that Tesla's *total* sales volume of all vehicles *combined* is ~3M going back to 2008 that would mean this single vehicle would be stunningly successful. Time will certainly tell.

1.8-2mil in 2023. 40-50% growth. They will definitely sell more than 1 million cybertrucks.

10k 2023
90k 2024
180k 2025
250k 2026
So on

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