The headline at Texas Monthly refers to the vehicle as "the most polarizing thing on wheels." And not surprisingly, the accompanying article by SC Gwynne (who once covered the auto industry for Time) is about Tesla's Cybertruck. Elon Musk's version of the pickup looks like no other pickup before it, and it also happens to be a "compendium of defects and malfunctions." (Think "dying batteries, sticky accelerators, wheel covers that gouge the tires, warping tailgates," etc.) Much of the trouble stems from Musk's decision to make the vehicle with the same stainless steel alloy his SpaceX uses on its Starship megarocket. To say that it's challenging to mold this alloy into vehicle body panels is an understatement, which helps explain why some "protruding edges are so sharp they draw blood." There is, however, a large "but" coming.
"I neglected to mention one other thing," writes Gwynne. "The Cybertruck is completely, and unambiguously, thrilling to drive." His story explains the particulars of why—the big one being its "steer-by-wire" technology in which the wheels move without a mechanical connection to the steering wheel. All of which frames the context for the issue Gwynne wrestles with—"where the Cybertruck fits into Musk's manic career." (Yes, that includes his foray into politics, which Gwynne also covers.) Is the truck, he wonders, "the latest groundbreaking, rule-bending product from a company that has been successfully defying convention for the whole of its existence? Or is it a sign that he has finally gone off the deep end?" It may be a while before we know the final answer, but the full story will likely be interesting both for Musk's critics and his fans. (More Cybertruck stories.)
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