Elon Musk´s Tesla Cybertruck - Design review

By Martin Kelen | Industrial Design | 11 Mar 2021


 When we talk about design, we rather avoid the terms "beautiful" or "ugly" 'cause them are subjective. Something could be nice for someone and the same thing could be horrible to another one

Radical Design

 

ce6f3c5ab26781e325c5a4b2d2f9914920ab670a3d7e7ac46d24b86ee0a1eefb.jpg

If you start searching on internet differents reviews, the most repetitive concept is "radical design". The shaping of its chasis is unconventional. 
There is a technical way to mention this in designing, and this is called the MAYA umbral, and MAYA comes from the initials:

Most
Advanced 
Yet
Acceptable 

Or what the people is ready to buy for replace an item, being better than the old one... but not too much. In fact, when somebody buys a thing, mostly choose it thinking what his fellows will think about him. Yeah, quite confusing

Musk surely wanted a design for his car that calls anyone who want to be different. A form like a yell in a lonely and quiet place

9311033e1c159c026bc88fb0dc3ef7469c580cc9c999524058f0354688688e74.jpg

Someone on the internet says "the Cybertruck looks every bit like a vehicle designed to shield its occupants from the outside world" and its sound logical since it is built with 10 layers of hard stainless steel, and the glasses are shockproof, despite it is wide known that the glasses get injured in the show up presentation (but I think it was on purpose, bad news calls more atention that good ones)

6c61ae6689d28afe005d41d69d254b6c84250c23415cfa9847f9e3be700b986a.jpg

 

The branch of design that better fit with this truck is "minimalism" or the attempt to make the maximun with the minimun, and its bring to the whole vehicle. Even the interior look pretty austere, following the concept of smooth, flat, desert surfaces

d6b3382e8d5ff3f1c511b5dccf5bcfad985535d7673b3961ad3d0612903dbd76.jpg

The one who choose an electric car over the fosil propulsated ones, notwithstanding the price is higher, tells a lot of his priorities, and tesla uses this behaviour on a step beyond. This vehicle is saying "So, You wanna be defferent, you feel special, you want others surrounding you to realize that. I'm your car". And this appears to get the target, because pre-orders overpass 500k buyers 

Set up

The cybertruck configuration is attractive for who want a tough, heavy, powerfull, imposing vehicle, next is the set up of the cheaper version

e8b57d400821c9c45228188178fc29c7d09d9f8153f53e25f769bb25b15a53a1.png

My opinion

To conclude I´ll leave my comments with some quick renders of my own

eb061525491e11c12680d63561916e3537a631118c5fd313f4afe4485d63c540.jpg

As it seems a bare design, I could say It is not. Many says it comes out from the blade runner film, what is easy to remind, buy all the lines were projected  to conform a fortress with a rustic armony. Headlights are integrated showing respect with the design principle

aa37ba90c906f2f301b1a9dc9a80a6c7cbecae8f5b1ee69f20866ce7c7b146e5.jpg

I think the rear was left too massive, it has less design treatment than the rest. Perhaps a rib or some more angles could help to make it less invasive. 

The rule of the straight line goberns the vehicle, and as wheels must be round for the car function basic principle, the polygonal mudguards weren´t necessary.

 

What do you think? Would you buy it?

Thanks for reading and I apreciate a lot every commentary

 

How do you rate this article?

8


Martin Kelen
Martin Kelen

Well... Human at first, Industrial Designer graduated in UBA, Argentina I think come second. Comic drawer as an abandoned hobby, lover for making stuff of any type... and a procastinator who try to self fight. Husband, Father, High hopes


Industrial Design
Industrial Design

The charming of shapes, the intelligence making the functionallity and beauty working togheter. There are not just products, there are feelings

Send a $0.01 microtip in crypto to the author, and earn yourself as you read!

20% to author / 80% to me.
We pay the tips from our rewards pool.