Elon Musk Apparently Wants The Cybertruck As Precise As ‘LEGO And Soda Cans’

The Tesla Cybertruck is sort of in production and a leaked email purportedly from Elon Musk shows how important it is that the edgy, bright metallic vehicle look perfect. The email gives some nice insight into Musk’s leadership strategy. Tesla, though, won’t be alone in the electric car revolution. Volvo previewed an electric MPV, which is a vehicle we’re sorely lacking. The EV revolution won’t be easy, however, as a new report from J.D. Power shows that tech adoption in EVs is going a little rougher than expected. Plus, VW figures out chips.

LEGOs, Soda Cans, And Tesla’s Cybertruck

Inside all of us are two Elons. There’s the Triumphant Elon who manages to clearly see the problem and look past the obstacles that seem to restrict other people and also manages to achieve a seemingly impossible solution. Then there’s the Misguided Elon who sees a solution so clearly that he’s blind to all the problems and obstacles he creates.

The Model S/Y and Supercharger network are all stunning examples of the Triumphant Elon who took on every major OEM, government regulators, dealership lobbyists, and reluctant consumers to deliver world-changing EVs. It was, and is, difficult to make electric cars, but it would be more difficult to imagine this happening without Musk’s steadfast commitment and admirable reluctance to settle. The same can be said for SpaceX which, unless you’re a homeowner or a marine bird in South Texas, has fundamentally altered the trajectory of space flight for all of humanity.

Then there’s the Misguided Elon of Twitter (thus far), of the Boring Company, and of the Model X Falcon Wing Doors. These are solutions to real problems, but I’m not sure any one of these has actually been successful. Twitter was a train wreck, but it’s leaning towards full-blown nuclear meltdown. The Boring Company is faltering in most places and, where it is in existence, is mostly a silly sideshow. While the Model X’s Falcon Wing Doors are neat, they were riddled with problems and Musk admitted himself that it was “hubris” for trying to do too much at once with the model.

I think the biggest challenge of writing about Elon Musk is that the same hubris that was necessary to take on NASA and Volkswagen can also clearly backfire, but it’s not always easy to know when he’s seeing the future. If you’re curious, go listen to the “Land of the Giants” podcast that our own Patrick George helped make for Vox and you can be your own judge of Musk’s motivations.

Where does the Cybertruck fit into all of this? Which Elon is at the helm? I think Musk is totally correct that people want electric trucks, and I respect the boldness of the product. One can imagine a way more conventional vehicle that looks more like a Model Y Ute. The Cybertruck is a big swing and I have trouble faulting anyone for a big swing.

Still, the vehicle has not been without its challenges. There’s an internal email, leaked to Cyber Truck Owners Club and picked up by Electrek that gets into one of the biggest challenges:

Due to the nature of Cybertruck, which is made of bright metal with mostly straight edges, any dimensional variation shows up like a sore thumb.​
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All parts for this vehicle, whether internal or from suppliers, need to be designed and built to sub 10 micron accuracy.​
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That means all part dimensions need to be to the third decimal place in millimeters and tolerances need be specified in single digit microns. If LEGO and soda cans, which are very low cost, can do this, so can we.​
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Precision predicates perfectionism.​
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Elon​

I can’t verify the email, but the fact that Electrek picked it up makes me think it’s likely real. Plus “precision predicates perfectionism” is an extremely weird and extremely Musk way to talk. While Tesla has ramped up production across the globe with impressive speed, I’ve personally seen numerous Tesla vehicles with sub-par build quality. This has improved a lot in the subsequent years, though I’ve got friends with a new Model Y who just had to take their vehicle in to fix an issue.

The Cybertruck, with its bright metal edges, cannot hide its own defects. If two panels are not perfectly aligned there are no complex curves to mask the issue. Musk, correctly, points out that soda cans and LEGO bricks are perfect. The difference is that soda cans and Lego bricks are small and produced in the hundreds of billions. Trying to apply that kind of detail to something that’s initially been hand made is quite the reach.

Still, people have made more money betting with Musk than against him, so it’s a different kind of hubris to assume he’ll allow himself to fail.

EV Owners Have More Problems With Tech Than Non-EV Owners

Here’s an interesting state from a soon-to-be-released J.D. Power study on new technology, via Automotive News:

Battery-electric vehicle owners reported 4.2 more problems per 100 vehicles than owners of internal combustion vehicles that — besides powertrain — contain the same technology, according to J.D. Power’s 2023 U.S. Tech Experience Index Study.

Huh. More from the article:

Interior gesture control proved problematic. EV owners reported 18.4 more problems per 100 vehicles, said Kathleen Rizk, senior director of user experience benchmarking and technology at J.D. Power. The function lets drivers use hand gestures to control vehicle features. For example, drivers can increase radio volume by turning their fingers clockwise or lower it by turning them counterclockwise.

Advanced technologies are more difficult for consumers to use, no matter the vehicle type, Rizk told Automotive News. EV owners, many of whom are first-timers, already grapple with a different ownership experience as they learn to charge and consider battery range.

This appears to be a perception issue as much as an actual technology issue, at least at first glance. EV owners seem to have expectations for how a vehicle should operate and also, likely, are bigger users of the technology that’s already there.

The Volvo EM90 Is Volvo’s First EV MPV

The MPV is a vehicle that doesn’t get much love in the United States. Offering a mix of minivan flexibility with a more compact size, America never really caught on to the Kia Rondo or Mazda5. You could argue the new Kia Carnival is an MPV, as Kia calls it, but it’s a little more minivan-ish than the Rondo was.

Don’t tell that to Volvo, which is jumping right into the MPV space with the EM90. Here’s what the company is saying:

The Volvo EM90 is our first ever fully electric premium MPV, and is designed for you to make the most of the time spent in the car, like a Scandinavian living room on the move. The new EM90 doesn’t just allow you to travel from A to B – it creates room for your life.

The Volvo EM90 will make its global debut on 12 November 2023. Pre-orders will start for customers in China on the same date.

MPVs are more popular in China and Europe (if you’re in Europe get yourself a Dacia Jogger). It’s not clear yet if the EM90 is going to come to the United States, but I sure hope it does. MPVs are good.

VW Makes A Direct Deal To Fend Off Chip Issues

I’ve already covered how the chip shortage dramatically impacted new car sales, so I’m pleased to see a major automaker like Volkswagen planning for the future. Instead of buying chips through suppliers, the company is skipping the middle man and going straight to chipmakers.

Per Reuters:

The German carmaker, which previously relied on its component suppliers to purchase chips, began striking direct deals with chipmakers last October to ensure its supply was secure, according to Karsten Schnake, head of a Volkswagen-wide taskforce for component supply founded in 2022.

“Global market capacity is not sufficient. We must get active,” said Dirk Grosse-Loheide, purchasing chief for Volkswagen’s passenger car brand.

This seems smart.

The Big Question

Which Elon is making the Cybertruck? How many will there be on the road by the end of 2024?