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Cybertruck experience

We landed in San Francisco (two hours late) and my wife's cousins were there to welcome us to the US.  My wife had actually grown up with her cousin in Norfolk, but when she was 15 her parents relocated to the US West Coast for work, her father was an aircraft engineer.

They got delivery of their cybertruck just 10 days ago, and considering they actually live in Mill Valley (the other side of the Golden Gate Bridge), we were grateful that they picked us up.  We were not really frazzled, British Airway's first class is really nice (even if it lasted 11 hours).  The flight as far as I could tell was glass-smooth the entire trip.

My first impression of the cybertruck is that it's a BIG, and there's tons of room in the back seat, far more than in the other Telsa I have ridden (Y and S).  Cabine is quiet, but there is some road noise, due to their tire selection (which they now regret).  

I found out four things I didn't know about the Cybertruck (1) It is the first car ever with drive-by wire, there is no steering column, (2) the electrical system is 48 volts, (3) wiring harnesses have been replaced by ethernet hub system.  All three of these changes have led to massive cuts in weight and complexity in vehicle assembly (they did the factory tour).  The last thing I didn't know and it's a biggy, is it cost $105,000.  This is not cheap.  On the other hand, I was told that a high-quality pick-up truck with similar acceleration would cost nearly the same...I have no frame of reference we use Hilux on the farm and they cost about ￡35,000.  So about $45,000.

After we got to their house he let me drive it for 10 minutes.  It drives like the old mini in the city, it is ridiculously nimble it turns on a sixpence, to the point that you don't realize you are driving a big truck.

Note:  I was asked why the Hilux truck, the answer is that it's cheap and dependable work truck, perfect for most applications on the farm.  The truck has excellent towing capacity and is fuel efficient. 

Note2:  Sleep has been elusive, so some time was spent on the web...According to Tesla the use of 48 volts and the ethernet communication system reduced electrical component complexity by 80%, and the weight of the electrical system by 75%.  In all, again according to the interweb, total weight saving is nearly 75 kg.   


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