Tesla Cyber Hubris

Several years ago, there was an episode of BBC’s Top Gear where Jeremy Clarkson attempted to make a Mercedes S Class into a version of Mary Arden’s cottage, on wheels. At one point, beyond the usual malarkey, the designer posed with making Clarkson’s dreams a reality exclaimed ‘this isn’t “Design”, it is set design’. I had a similar feeling watching Elon Musk unveil the Tesla Cybertruck.

Musk told those arrayed at the unveiling that he was sick of the tired, century-old, appearance of pickup trucks. He showed an image of several pickups, debadged, to underline their generic, boringness.

The reveal of the Cybertruck was accompanied by some astonished reactions. The internet went into meme overdrive, comparing the truck to the under-rendered polygonfest cars from video games of the late ‘90s. An executive of Ford USA posted a gif on Twitter mocking Tesla’s attempt to move into the pickup space.

Tesla defenders were quick to defend the design. Eventually, followers of the company were revelling in the delusion that the Cybertruck was amazing design. Michael Fisher, a respected tech’ YouTuber claimed ‘A bold push into the future carries an implied permission for a commensurately aggressive design’, despite pulling some quite hilarious expressions at the unveiling. Just check out the comments on this tweet by tech’ YouTuber Marques Brownlee for similiarly odd…