'Cybertruck is born out of the idea of a different way of manufacturing a material that puts toughness on the outside,' Says Tesla Chief Designer

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“Cybertruck is really born out of the idea of ​​a different way of manufacturing a material that put the toughness on the outside,” says Tesla Chief Designer Franz von Holzhausen. Its styling is vastly different from anything on the automotive market today and is a breath of fresh air.

The futuristic origami design of the Cybertruck is revolutionary for the entire automotive industry. The Tesla pickup truck has an exoskeleton made from stainless steel alloy, the same material as the outer shell of the SpaceX Starship rocket. The Cybertruck is extremely tough—perfect for a zombie-apocalyptic future. “It is, it is literally bulletproof to a nine-millimeter handgun. That's how strong the skin is—it's ultra-hard, cold-rolled stainless steel alloy that we've developed. We’re going to be using the same alloy in the Starship rocket, and in the Cybertruck,” said Tesla CEO Elon Musk during the pickup’s unveiling in November 2019.

During a recent interview at the Petersen Automotive Museum, Tesla Chief Designer Franz von Holzhausen shared his thoughts on the Cybertruck and its design. He emphasized that this is a car in which form follows function. While pickup trucks from all car manufacturers have a very similar look and feel, which has been repeated since the development of this type of car body, Cybertruck is definitely a breath of fresh air. The idea of ​​its design was based on the desire that the car should be produced in a different way.

“Cybertruck is really born out of the idea of ​​a different way of manufacturing a material that put the toughness on the outside. So we really wanted to use stainless steel as a material so that the hardest part of the vehicle was on the outside, not the delicate paint. And it felt right for a truck that is used in like a Swiss army knife in any kind of environment, it has to be tough,” von Holzhausen said.

The production version of Cybertruck will have only minor differences from the prototype presented in 2019, the designer said. However, the development itself is truly revolutionary and the pickup truck required the development of completely new manufacturing technologies. This was the main factor that delayed its production. The team solved many complex problems that arose in the process of developing and implementing these technologies.

“There are a lot of new things in Cybertruck. When we're reinventing a product, sometimes we have to go through these processes just to prove it out. We had this idea that making an exoskeleton vehicle could work, and so we’ve been using that time to make sure that that actually is working. And the Cybertruck will look, for all intents and purposes, just like the one behind us, maybe slightly smaller, a few percentages. But in general, this is what the truck will look like,” said von Holzhausen.

© 2022, Eva Fox | Tesmanian. All rights reserved.

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