Tesla Cybertruck Owners Are Getting Heckled in Public, But Here’s Why I Still Want One

Love it or hate it (I’ll keep my opinion to myself…), the Tesla Cybertruck is the most revolutionary vehicle in a generation. It’s incredibly polarizing and its production may be prematurely terminated, but it will change the automotive industry forever and for the better. Its list of “firsts” include:

•           The first production truck with cold-rolled stainless steel for body panels

•           The first production vehicle with a full 48-Volt Architecture

•           Industrial-scale cast aluminum chassis sections that replace dozens of welded parts

•           The first production truck with a steer-by-wire system

There’s a lot of honest, insightful discussion on social media posted by Cybertruck owners. Here’s a recent post on Reddit by Cyber truck owner Selcal-check-good with tons of comments:

“I've had mine for a year (next week) pretty much everything he said is true. It's amazing to drive and ride in but the bugs have been a bit annoying but I knew what I was getting into when I bought the first year of a new car that is so different. I've towed a camper with it. Taken it to dry lake beds, taken it to the dunes and climbed hills. It works great as a truck. When towing the range is pretty bad so I wouldn't want to tow across the whole country. I live about 15 miles south of San Francisco and have had 2 incidents of someone confronting me with hate. It was the same old lady and she forgot she had already yelled at me 2 weeks earlier.”

bcoss responded with: 

“We are 5,000 miles in on ours. Best vehicle I have ever owned. My wife was really certain she wanted it and I wasn’t so sure but I’m glad she pushed for it. The rear wheel steering is so good. I don’t want to drive other cars now. Basically same thing that happened when we got our first Tesla, It’s so far ahead of anything else you can’t go back.”

1volsfan89 added:

“First thing to say. You said so yourself you want it. When I got my MODEL Y I was hesitant as well. I always wanted a Tesla but was worried I would fall into charging, quality, battery all the Super negative things you hear about, and I would never hear the end of it from everyone.. (first friend/family to get one). Almost a year later and I love it. It's all me and my wife use now. The kids love it. I want to quickly get this one paid off and try to get a CT myself...”

The Benefits of Stainless Steel

We can start by discussing how the Cybertruck addresses a major scourge of the 20th Century pioneered, in part, by General Motors - planned obsolesce. As opposed to Ford that had relied on long-lived models like the Model T, GM employed tactics to encourage consumers to frequently buy newer versions. This was done, in part, by using materials that would corrode. The Cybertruck is built with cold-rolled stainless steel for body panels. They don’t need paint and they don’t rust. The use of stainless steel is a real step towards a “million-mile chassis.” The benefits of stainless steel continue - it reduces cost and environmental impact. 

Automotive paint shops are among the most expensive parts of a car factory, often costing more that half a billion dollars. They require massive infrastructure to control temperature, humidity, and air purity to ensure flawless paint application. They consume vast amounts of energy and water and use complex robotic systems. Strict regulations and the need for advanced filtration and treatment systems also add to the cost.

Environmentally, paint shops are a major concern. In addition to using vast amounts of water and energy, they release of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), hazardous waste, and carbon emissions from ovens and solvents. 

The 48-Volt Architecture

The 48-volt architecture sounds trivial and boring, but it’s a huge move forward. It was a major effort and risk on the part of Tesla and many of its suppliers. There’s a reason why no other manufacturer was able to accomplish it. Pulling it off was challenging because the automotive industry still relies heavily on 12-volt components. Few parts suppliers offer 48-volt-compatible parts so Tesla had to redesign many systems internally. The higher voltage also brought safety risks and electrical noise issues which required sophisticated engineering to overcome. Combined with supply chain gaps, these technical obstacles made the shift especially difficult.

What are the benefits of a 48V architecture? As any first-year engineering student can tell you, "I squared R" (I²R) represents the power dissipated as heat when a current (I) flows through a resistance (R). The full equation is P = I²R where P is the power in watts, I is the current in amperes, and R is the resistance in ohms. Make sense? Good. 

Switching from a 12-volt to a 48-volt electrical architecture greatly improves system performance. Higher voltage means enables the use of thinner, lighter wiring and generates less heat, cutting the need for bulky insulation and cooling systems. For example, costly 8-gauge copper wires can be replaced with thinner, less expensive 18-gauge wires. Advanced systems like steer-by-wire, brake-by-wire, and autonomous sensors benefit from higher voltage for reliable operation, making 48-volt systems a future-ready solution. With Tesla leading the way and suppliers now aligned, more automakers are likely to follow.

Cast Aluminum Chassis Sections

The Tesla Cybertruck uses massive aluminum “giga castings” to form much of the front and rear sections of the vehicle. These castings are created using high-pressure die-casting machines the size of small houses, capable of forming complex structural components make of an aluminum alloy in a single shot. By doing so, Tesla eliminates the need for dozens of smaller stamped and welded parts. This simplifies the vehicle’s structure. In the Cybertruck, the front and rear giga castings replace what was once over 170 separate components that had to be manufactured and then installed on the assembly line.

Traditionally, automakers built vehicle underbodies from many different stamped steel pieces, which were then welded, bolted, or glued together. This process required hundreds of robots, labor hours, and complex quality checks. Giga castings reduce not only weight and complexity but also dramatically lower manufacturing costs. Some estimates put the savings up to 40 percent in labor and tooling for those sections. The result is a more rigid structure, better crash performance, and a leaner, more scalable production process.

Tesla Cybertruck Is The First Production Truck with a Steer-By-Wire System

The Cybertruck ditches the old-school mechanically-linked steering column and goes fully digital with a steer-by-wire system. There’s no physical connection between the yoke and the wheels, just signals and sensors translating your inputs into real-time wheel movement. It tightens the turn when you're crawling through a parking lot and smooths it out at highway speeds. On top of that, the rear wheels turn too, giving this beast the agility of something half its size.

There are some benefits. Fewer parts, more flexibility, and total control over how the truck steers in any condition, but it’s not all upside. If the software glitches or the power cuts, you're relying on backup systems. It also loses that tactile, “road feel” some drivers crave. Still, Tesla went this route to unlock features like four-wheel steering, adaptive off-roading, and advanced autonomy. It also future-proofed the whole system on a sleek 48-volt backbone. It’s risky, ambitious, and what we expect from Tesla.

Please Drop Your Thoughts in the Comments Below

How do you feel about Tesla eliminating paint entirely in favor of bare stainless steel? Cool innovation or cost-cutting gone too far?

Would you trust a truck that has no physical connection between the steering wheel and the wheels? Why or why not?

Chris Johnston is the author of SAE’s comprehensive book on electric vehicles, "The Arrival of The Electric Car." His coverage on Torque News focuses on electric vehicles. Chris has decades of product management experience in telematics, mobile computing, and wireless communications. Chris has a B.S. in electrical engineering from Purdue University and an MBA. He lives in Seattle. When not working, Chris enjoys restoring classic wooden boats, open water swimming, cycling and flying (as a private pilot). You can connect with Chris on LinkedIn and follow his work on X at ChrisJohnstonEV.

Image sources: Tesla media kit