Why I love (and hate) the Tesla Cybertruck: Design Analysis

I do a design analysis on the Tesla Cybertruck -- one of the most talked-about vehicles in recent memory. The video outlines why we have such strong reactions to the cybertruck, what's successful (and unsuccessful) about the design, and what this might mean for the future of design.

John Mauriello has been working professionally as an industrial designer since 2010. He is an Adjunct Professor of industrial design at California College of the Arts.

[thedownwardmachine]

I come to you from the future. The Cybertruck was released this week in much the same form as presented. This was a really thoughtful analysis, not the typical “I hate it” blather but an argument based on informed principles. There are two million reservations with a waiting list years long. Everyone has a strong opinion about it.

Though you mentioned we should be moving away from dystopia, well, I have some bad news….

[brezovprut]

4:06 - totally agree !! If you forget "Tesla" name, and consider it as student project, majority would give negative feedback.
Just because it stands out from the boring competition today, doesnt mean that quality featured it.

[prashantsharma]

Just discovered your channel. And I want to say that your videos are so educating and most importantly entertaining.

[albuslee]

The angular points makes it feel like "unstoppable force" . Actually this was explained by Christopher Nolan in the Behind the Scenes video of "Batman Begins". The Tumbler.
He explained his approach to the final desgin beginning with the story, how he wanted to make the car look the way it is, and the design of the car was part of the story.
Nolan wanted the Tumbler look like it could do the things in the story, even when it wasn't in action. The unnatural shape, which doesn't "Fit" the environment, which defies to submit to it's environment, the stationary feel it gives out, instead of the typical "feel in motion" most other cars try to deliver, seems like intentional storytelling by design.

Besides, Tesla's design approach also seems to be from the funtion side rather than the looks. As it was explained in the presentation, the unique material choice set clear limits to the design, like the DeLorean's iconic design had it's own reasons based on manufacturing limitations.
With all that limitations, in attempt of technological innovations in manufacturing, trying to embracing the limits rather than trying to covering up and hiding it, seems like a better approach. (Maybe MAYA principle has more stomach than designers thought, looking the reaction)

In a way, it is in a natural form, just not the typical one in this age, but more closer to the WW I erea vehicle's which was shaped around manufacturing efficiency, rather than aerodynamics.
It's sort of retro styled if you think about that, like the Starship's 1950's Buck Rogers style Design, which Elon's fond of. It's full circle, in a way.

[RichartRuddie]

Love having such intelligent and diligent friends in the design world. I liked how you were able to breakdown the good and the bad. One thing that I didn't pick up on until you pointed it out was the triangle point on the roof line. One thing we all must give Kudos to Tesla though is that such an obscure design that differs from anything on the road currently has garnered it a lot of press. I hope it delivers as strongly as the other Teslas on the market do.,

[jamesbell]

The car was designed to be different but extremely cheap and simple to produce for military and civilian standard but in its own league with its superior running gear. I think they have nailed it and would not he surprised if the military don't invest heavily into this vehicle or a variant of it

[dylanwood]

Also a designer and a lot of what is stated here as design fact is highly subjective and actually a discussion of styling rather than design. Even the idea that this truck is aggressive or dystopian is a subjective view point. I would suggest that the 'dystopian' or' sci-fi' looks are a by product of some fundamental design decisions around building an affordable and extremely durable vehicle rather than intentional styling. Most vehicles are styling exercises, the Cybertruck has actually been designed.

[marc.levinson]

Awesome, thanks for the thoughtful take on the beast.

[Juxtaposed_IRL]

I wonder what it would look like if the angles, especially the one at top, were rounded a bit. It may give it a better look, or too bulky instead of sleek. I appreciate the effort to put forth the idea of new, or improved concepts to inspire others to do the same however.

[Jasonfallen]

I just watched the episode and thought I should write in. I admit up front I am obsessed with the vehicle. Yet I also scoffed, literally, at it as it drove up on stage at the unveiling.
First thing I have to say is that I -never- looked at all those 'points' and drastic angles as though my eye is drawn to it. In fact your mentioning that made me go "what's he talking about?"
I thought it was simplistic too until I heard about the specifics of why the design is as it is. And in the meantime I've seen strong praise for these exact reasons.
The simple angles and lack of curves is due to the kind of steel being used. It can't be shaped by any normal means. It can only be bent/folded (and it needs lasers to help). The strength of the steel and its use as an exoskeleton makes the phrase form follows function seem trite in any other situation.
The angles **create** strength as it is the strongest shape against forceful deformation. Curves would make it less strong! So would rounding off the top corner(?).
The whole purpose of the exoskeleton is to provide the strength needed to obviate the frame and ladder scheme to which all previous pickup designs have stuck. And then there's the ingenious way the exoskeleton works with the new Tesla creation of monster cast aluminum parts that have micron level precision(!) built in. The issue with uneven panel gaps will be gone when the casts are used.
All of these specific things make the Cybertruck much lighter than it would be otherwise and it is much easier/quicker to assemble meaning it can be sold for less and cost less to operate.
Not to mention it removes the issue of rust from road salt and paint scratches. It's almost almost impossible to dent.
These are incredibly important aspects to consider if one is buying a work truck that's meant to last a decade or so. Same if you mean to take it off-road.
The headlights are slim to help prevent them from being broken by branches. (That's also why the armor glass for the windows.)
So here's the thing... there's no way you considered any of these things before you made the episode or you wouldn't have graded it as harshly or called it a simple, beginner design.
There's so much else that went in to the design of the CT that pure designers have no clue about (not to be rude). Especially when it comes to building long range electric vehicles for massive profit margins and as little initial investment in production equipment as possible.
I think the one thing that can appeal to your instincts is the machine that builds the machine, the GigaTexas or GigaBerlin factories. It's much more straightforward to understand how all the new things they're doing there are incredible yet obvious improvements on literally all predecessors. New things that have been sorely needed for a couple decades.
I'd love to hear if you've had any reconsiderations after hearing from others on the subject. Especially knowing there's been 1.5mil reservations placed. I do wonder if your opinion that it could sell better if its design were toned down has shifted for any of the voluminous reasons mentioned.

[matt]

I love the cyber truck since the day it was unveiled. I love how it’s so different than all the other vehicles out now days.

[nostrx]

While I agree with many comments here that the design is more about function than looks, I would argue that it’s manufacturability was at least as important as function in design meetings. Tesla, as a young car company, has had problems scaling production. All of their current cars are similar. They probably wanted a truck that was as easy as possible to produce since it had to be different from their cars and they would be entering new territory anyway. So, with the cyber truck there is no stamping or painting in production. I’m sure this was a motivating factor for this design. And yes, it has some awesome functionality too!

[JustMe-nedw]

“Round wheels aren’t going anywhere any time soon” How very understated of you to point out. 🤣

[jeffwilliams]

This is the very first vehicle to my knowledge that was intentionally developed “purpose first”. That being said, exceeding the capabilities of both a light/medium duty truck and a 911 sports car meant that it had to be extremely rigid and light weight. They chose the strongest material they could find - cold rolled stainless steel. This material is so hard that it cannot be stamped like regular heated steel. It has to be scored and folded, hence the aesthetic. Will not rust, dent, or scratch, doesn’t flex under stress, impressive payload, impressive towing, 110 and 220 electrical connections, air compressor, seats six, air suspension, great ground clearance etc. The engineering requirements (durability, strength, light weight, rigidity) and materials choice dictated the design.


Function over form at its purest.

[louw]

Wow, you should have way more views/likes/subscribers! Just discovered your videos they are great man, thank you so much they are really valuable. Keep them coming!

[RockSleeper]

When I saw the first image of the Cybertruck, my heart sank, and my immediate reaction was that of disappointment. I literally said aloud that it was ugly and they fucked it up. However, after watching the presentation and seeing it from more angles, it grew on me. My initial reaction was that it looked like a 5yo made it, and even after it growing on me I still feel the design aesthetically lacks finesse, refinement and enough skill in understanding how aesthetics make people feel. There is a part of me that loves it for being different on purpose, but I think overall the design succeeds when you add everything into the equation. The wanted to draw attention, to be different, to be an homage to the futurism we saw in movies growing up. It was directly and intent fully inspired by prior designs that did the exact same thing; created a feeling of otherworldliness. All the little imperfections and off-kilter proportions, all the things that we can nit-pick and point out as failures or as being unrefined serve a purpose. The angles and shapes that spark confusion and tension are not mistakes, or unrefinement, they are purposely used to create a feeling of uncertainty. The type of uncertainty that you would feel being thrusted into an alien or future world, where what you see doesn't make sense because it's not familiar. This is all on purpose to invoke that feeling of discovery, to put your mind in a state of curiosity, to spark the creative and imaginative parts of your mind. When confronted with such odd and unfamiliar visuals, we all go through stages of different emotions from disgust to admiration. This design is a complete success at doing exactly was it was intended to do. It is technically art as well as it is the most emotionally inspired and representative automobile to enter production that I can think of. They were inspired by fictional worlds, and created a product and marketing campaign that partially serves no purpose at all to it's function. If this truck looked just like any other design student/hobbyist's concept of a space-age vehicle (think the electric hummer or halo warthog) there would be no inspiration of awe, it would just feel like an expected step in the evolution of the design language for trucks. Trucks have already being getting little angular details with more complex and bold surface transitions and none of them look or feel any different than prior generations. They just follow very standard bulky and geometric shapes and it's honestly boring and ugly. The Cybtertruck makes you wonder, and inspires the same awe that you had as a kid watching a new sci-movie and just loving the scenery and how different and advanced it looked. It definitely could have been done differently, and there are definitely things about it I can complain about, but when every thing is considered surrounding this project, I think it works very well.

[matthewdowling]

Great critique of the vehicle's aesthetics. The look, to me, moves beyond acceptable to exceptional when considering the manufacturing cost reductions and weight/rigidity benefits of eliminating a structural frame in favor of an exoskeleton. I find it refreshing that a large auto manufacturer had the courage to move in a new direction by placing function before form, and 'mostly' pulling it off. I'd be curious as to your thoughts on Tesla's current design language. I'm feeling that they're due for a refresh/update as their cars all share the same general characteristics and are becoming rather common. Do you think a change is in order?
Thanks for the posted video! Great work.

[gpd]

well said. almost a weapon making sure those sharp corners wouldnt let any pedestrian slide away easily if in an accident . respect the bravery here but like you said it doesnt reflect the future. i found it interesting Tesla didnt think so.

[raffiminasian]

Great analysis and spot on in all respects.

[sarahlynn]

THe truck that releases next year, every year!