Tesla Cybertruck

[Kaido]

Yea, my grandson is 27 and has 60k of student debt. He is living with us to try to save some money. He has what would be considered a "professional" type job with Hennepin County, but makes only about 50k per year. Living on his own would be very tight. This is what Biden doesnt get (or is ignoring) when he brags about how great the economy is. Only makes it obvious that he is out of touch with the middle class. (end of off topic political rant.)

As to the cybertruck not only is it ugly, it just seems impractical. Hardly and ground clearance for a truck, and a very weirdly shaped bed.

It's really tough because who is in charge of changing that situation? Behind the scenes, the country is really run by corporations & individuals. One of the often-cited examples is that there are 29 vacant homes for every homeless person across America; there are 16 million vacant homes across America:

Vacant Homes vs. Homelessness In the U.S. - United Way NCA

Many overpriced homes sit vacant while populations experiencing homelessness continue to grow in the U.S. See which cities have the highest disparity here.

unitedwaynca.org

But there are a lot of very real barriers in connecting the dots. For example, if you own a second home that's currently vacant, would you want to house someone for free? There's no information on if the person living there is struggling with mental barriers & would be violent, do drugs in the home, trash the place, etc. Would the government pay for utilities, taxes, and upkeep? What happens if you want to sell the property, would squatter's rights apply? The people I know who rent out properties have enough trouble with paying tenets!

It's difficult because at the end of the day, colleges are businesses who are in it to make money. They aren't incentivized to offer a better deal to kids. The national student loan debt total stands at $1.7 trillion, with over 92% of that being Federal loans:

Student Loan Debt Statistics [2023]: Average + Total Debt

Find student loan debt statistics, including the national debt balance, average individual balance, and annual growth rates.

educationdata.org

As far as the Cybertruck goes, it's a lifestyle vehicle, i.e. just for fun. I was so shocked by the design initially that I waited a few days to put my deposit down, but I wanted a 500-mile EV & this is the ticket, haha! I HIGHLY doubt there will be a $39k model available, however!

 

[rstrohkirch]

As to the cybertruck not only is it ugly, it just seems impractical. Hardly and ground clearance for a truck, and a very weirdly shaped bed.

They are currently claiming 16" of ground clearance which AFAIK is more than any other gas truck including the offroad TRX and Raptor trims.

 

[manly]

I disagree — $50k is pretty close to the average new car buyer these days. It’s a big investment to most people but is no longer a crazy amount of money for a car that only a rich person would spend. Most people want something that isn’t a meme for their hard earned money now that money isn’t free to borrow and can earn a risk free 5.5% (vs paying that in loan interest).

Higher capacity batteries and better range are coming down the line and people won’t have to drive a joke to get it

Like them or hate them, Tesla is selling over 1.8M cars this year with the Model Y as the best-selling car worldwide. They've already crossed over from "status symbols" to mainstream cars for the upper middle class.

BEV range anxiety is generally overblown. Just get a PHEV if you need to drive 200+ miles daily. For the occasional road-tripper, what's important is the quality of the charging infrastructure (Tesla Supercharger) and speed; rather than stuffing the land barge with extra batteries you'll always be hauling around. It would definitely be awesome if there's a breakthrough in batteries (Toyota?) that cuts down on all that extra weight.

WashPo - The obsession with EV range is all wrong

 

[MrSquished]

Yea, my grandson is 27 and has 60k of student debt. He is living with us to try to save some money. He has what would be considered a "professional" type job with Hennepin County, but makes only about 50k per year. Living on his own would be very tight. This is what Biden doesnt get (or is ignoring) when he brags about how great the economy is. Only makes it obvious that he is out of touch with the middle class. (end of off topic political rant.)

As to the cybertruck not only is it ugly, it just seems impractical. Hardly and ground clearance for a truck, and a very weirdly shaped bed.

Biden can't beat down the inherent nature of Consumer Capitalism, and he is still called a communist by the lying horrific GQP and their ignorant base.

Whenever Democrats do try to help the middle class by taxing the rich more, making healthcare more accessible and affordable, driving up wages, or anything reallyh, they get shot down by the corporate whore GQP, who does everything to squeeze the middle and lower classes dry so they can only cater to the rich. Not like the Dems don't look out for the wealthy at all, but the disparity is insane.

 

[ondma]

Biden can't beat down the inherent nature of Consumer Capitalism, and he is still called a communist by the lying horrific GQP and their ignorant base.

Whenever Democrats do try to help the middle class by taxing the rich more, making healthcare more accessible and affordable, driving up wages, or anything reallyh, they get shot down by the corporate whore GQP, who does everything to squeeze the middle and lower classes dry so they can only cater to the rich. Not like the Dems don't look out for the wealthy at all, but the disparity is insane.

And the Dems dont squeeze the Middle Class to pay for their social programs?? My philosophy (only partially being sarcastic) is if you are in the middle class the republicans want to take your money to give to the rich, and the dems want to take it to give to the "less fortunate". The middle class is pretty much screwed either way.

 

[MrSquished]

And the Dems dont squeeze the Middle Class to pay for their social programs?? My philosophy (only partially being sarcastic) is if you are in the middle class the republicans want to take your money to give to the rich, and the dems want to take it to give to the "less fortunate". The middle class is pretty much screwed either way.

Maybe it just goes in one ear and out the other because you have a pre conceived notion you must keep intact, when the Democrats try to raise taxes on the wealthy and corporations and it's always a battle and the Republicans fight it with everything, and lower the taxes on the wealthy as soon as they can, like Trump did. Also healthcare options like Medicare as a public option for example would only help the middle class. Many other issues of Democrats push would benefit the middle class, like student loan forgiveness. The $10,000 forgiveness when well through the middle class salaries and stopped when you started getting to the wealthier. Of course that was shot down by Republicans and this corrupt supreme court.

Please try to learn the facts.

 

[ondma]

Maybe it just goes in one ear and out the other because you have a pre conceived notion you must keep intact, when the Democrats try to raise taxes on the wealthy and corporations and it's always a battle and the Republicans fight it with everything, and lower the taxes on the wealthy as soon as they can, like Trump did. Also healthcare options like Medicare as a public option for example would only help the middle class. Many other issues of Democrats push would benefit the middle class, like student loan forgiveness. The $10,000 forgiveness when well through the middle class salaries and stopped when you started getting to the wealthier. Of course that was shot down by Republicans and this corrupt supreme court.

Please try to learn the facts.

Yea, well I "learn the facts" every time I file my Minnesota state income tax. Actually, I would agree, the federal government is relatively more reasonable on taxation than certain states like Minnesota.

 

[MrSquished]

Yea, well I "learn the facts" every time I file my Minnesota state income tax. Actually, I would agree, the federal government is more relatively more reasonable on taxation than certain states like Minnesota.

Well you didn't have your facts right in your post which I quoted. If you support the middle class, there is only one party that does so financially and socio-economically, and that is the Dems.

 

[[DHT]Osiris]

Yea, well I "learn the facts" every time I file my Minnesota state income tax. Actually, I would agree, the federal government is relatively more reasonable on taxation than certain states like Minnesota.

The plural of anecdote is not data.

 

[manly]

Well you didn't have your facts right in your post which I quoted. If you support the middle class, there is only one party that does so financially and socio-economically, and that is the Dems.

His #BothSides argument is that Democratic social policy is just as bad as trickle-up Reaganomics. Furthermore, he ranted that Joe Biden didn't raise interest rates quickly enough and that it's old Joe's fault that housing costs are too high. With voters like that, no wonder Trump won the Rust Belt in 2016 and came fairly close in his nearby state of Minnesota.

Page 15 - Inflation is Through the Roof - Whats Biden Admin's First Priority? Stockholders, of course!

Page 15 - Seeking answers? Join the AnandTech community: where nearly half-a-million members share solutions and discuss the latest tech.

forums.anandtech.com

He also likes to play hard and fast with the numbers to support his argument, except his figures are exaggerated or misunderstood. Kinda hate to take this thread way OT, but this is at least the third thread he's tried to hijack. The consistent part of his message is that poor people don't deserve government assistance programs.

 

[MrSquished]

His #BothSides argument is that Democratic social policy is just as bad as trickle-up Reaganomics. Furthermore, he ranted that Joe Biden didn't raise interest rates quickly enough and that it's old Joe's fault that housing costs are too high. With voters like that, no wonder Trump won the Rust Belt in 2016 and came fairly close in his nearby state of Minnesota.

Page 15 - Inflation is Through the Roof - Whats Biden Admin's First Priority? Stockholders, of course!

Page 15 - Seeking answers? Join the AnandTech community: where nearly half-a-million members share solutions and discuss the latest tech.

forums.anandtech.com

He also likes to play hard and fast with the numbers to support his argument, except his figures are exaggerated or misunderstood. Kinda hate to take this thread way OT, but this is at least the third thread he's tried to hijack. The consistent part of his message is that poor people don't deserve government assistance programs.

Just another right-leaning lying motherfucker. Who woulda thunk it.

 

[allisolm]

MrSquished, manly, ondma and anyone else discussing politics here - just stop. This is not the place for it and you all know it. Take it to P&N. ​

Administrator allisolm

 

[Brovane]

Looks like the first production ready Cybertruck has rolled off the production in Giga-Texas. We might see the first deliveries in Q3 this year.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1680121747910148099

 

[Greenman]

It looks more like a Cyber El Camino to me.

 

[Kaido]

Looks like the first production ready Cybertruck has rolled off the production in Giga-Texas. We might see the first deliveries in Q3 this year.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1680121747910148099

Whoohoo!

 

[Kaido]

It looks more like a Cyber El Camino to me.

I can't wait for my pre-order to ship in 2029!

 

[[DHT]Osiris]

It looks more like a Cyber El Camino to me.

I take no issue with that. The El Camino was awesome and if we had more of that we'd need less trucks.

 

[Kaido]

I take no issue with that. The El Camino was awesome and if we had more of that we'd need less trucks.

This isn't the same one, but I flew through Chicago a number of year ago & they had a 90's Camaro El Camino conversion on display at the airport. It actually looked GREAT in person! I totally would have bought a production model!

 

[Greenman]

I take no issue with that. The El Camino was awesome and if we had more of that we'd need less trucks.

The El Camino was awesome. But it's better that they killed it rather than evolving it. Picture a four door El Camino with a little three foot box behind the cab.

 

[Greenman]

This isn't the same one, but I flew through Chicago a number of year ago & they had a 90's Camaro El Camino conversion on display at the airport. It actually looked GREAT in person! I totally would have bought a production model!

View attachment 83075

View attachment 83077

View attachment 83076

There used to be an outfit in San Francisco that converted Cadillac's into El Camino's. They turned out some good looking rides.

 

[[DHT]Osiris]

The El Camino was awesome. But it's better that they killed it rather than evolving it. Picture a four door El Camino with a little three foot box behind the cab.

Like a flex with the back pillar chopped off? Could work, not enough space to be useful though. I would have loved to see a ford flex/ 2 door camino conversion though

 

[NutBucket]

You mean a Baja?

 

[bbhaag]

The El Camino was awesome. But it's better that they killed it rather than evolving it. Picture a four door El Camino with a little three foot box behind the cab.

I own one. It's called a Ford Maverick.

 

[Greenman]

I'm talking old school 21' long Caddy's.

 

[IronWing]

^ Cadillac Caribou. For the extended cab (sort of), the Cadillac Mirage.