This is not a NASA Website. You might learn something. It's YOUR space agency. Get involved. Take it back. Make it work - for YOU.
Commercialization

Will SpaceX Send Cybertruck To Mars?

By Keith Cowing
NASA Watch
November 23, 2019
Filed under , ,

NASA Watch founder, Explorers Club Fellow, ex-NASA, Away Teams, Journalist, Space & Astrobiology, Lapsed climber.

44 responses to “Will SpaceX Send Cybertruck To Mars?”

  1. Vladislaw says:
    0
    0

    Looks a little sci fi

    https://uploads.disquscdn.c

    • Jack says:
      0
      0

      And it’s ugly.

      • ThomasLMatula says:
        0
        0

        Beauty is in the eye of the beholder…

        • Jack says:
          0
          0

          True.
          John DeLorean might like it.

          • Terry Stetler says:
            0
            0

            146,000 orders as of Saturday, about $8B worth.

          • Jack says:
            0
            0

            Out of how many millions of potential pickup owners?

          • ThomasLMatula says:
            0
            0

            Depends on your reference frame. In 2017 17.2 million vehicles were sold in the U.S. and about 2.8 million were trucks with around 850,000 F150 pickups sold.

            But if you are going to compare it to a Hummer, the total number of H2 Hummers ever produced was only 153,026 while the total production sequence of Hummer H1 was only 11,818. For reference Tesla production is around 400,000 to 500,000 a year. So based on those numbers 146,000 is good.

            One unstated question is how many might be sold to the American or foreign military. And then you have the markets in mining and timber industries.

          • Michael Spencer says:
            0
            0

            Expanding on your point a bit, Professor: anybody looking at the American market for these trucks is going to become quite glassy eyed at the depth of the market for these high-profit items.

            I wonder though if this vehicle will be accepted as a pickup truck? It deviates quite a bit. I’m more of a suburban warrior, so this truck is just fine for me; it’s the EV and coolness factor. But what about all the guys at Home Depot each morning at 7AM?

          • ThomasLMatula says:
            0
            0

            They will probably stay with their Fords and Chevy trucks, unless diesel/gasoline prices go really high, than they might switch. Given the huge oil reserves in the U.S. now available by fracking the prospect for a market driven increase in fuel prices is small, but there is always politics like the ones driving prices for California stations.

          • fcrary says:
            0
            0

            I’m not sure if that’s an electric versus gasoline issue. I’m pretty sure Tesla is getting all those orders because of the looks and the image. As a work vehicle, to the people who normally have a fair amount of cargo in the bed of their pickup, is Cybertruck a good truck? Or could you design a better electric truck for those sorts of things, if you weren’t focusing on looks and image?

          • ThomasLMatula says:
            0
            0

            You could probably sell them a more conventional one and that is what other automakers are planning on. Here is a good summary of the current projects planned for electric pickups. In the long run the Market will of course decide the winners and losers.

            https://www.caranddriver.co

            Every Electric Pickup Truck Currently on the Horizon

            Tesla’s Cybertruck isn’t the only EV with a cargo bed that’s coming soon.

            By Car and Driver

            Nov 22, 2019

          • Terry Stetler says:
            0
            0

            They don’t need to dominate the truck market, there’s plenty of demand for pickups etc. to go around.

            It’s now up to 250,000+ orders, which at the mid-model’s price of $49,990 is $12.5 billion of revenue.

            Now add the Model Y crossover, which may enter the market months early given recent parts orders, and the Tesla shorters may be heading for a massive wedgie.

          • ThomasLMatula says:
            0
            0

            And that is with a two year wait for delivery..

          • Michael Spencer says:
            0
            0

            With time we will become accustomed to the appearance.

            At least I hope so by the time they deliver mine!

    • fcrary says:
      0
      0

      Perhaps a bit retro science fiction. If it was a bit taller it would be a close match to the vehicle in _Logan’s_Run_. And that’s something from the mid 1970s.

  2. ed2291 says:
    0
    0

    I know this was said to be funny, but Elon Musk has already said the battery powered Tesla could operate on Mars. If future astronauts stayed in their space suits, a pressurized version of the Cybertruck would not be needed.

    • kcowing says:
      0
      0

      And they’d only explore a very small part of Mars. No one is going to live in a spacesuit for more than a few days.

      • fcrary says:
        0
        0

        I think I’d say eight hour is about the operational (planned) limit for EVAs. A suit someone could live in for a few days would probably be a cumbersome and high mass design.

        But I can see lots of applications for an unpressurized rover. There are plenty of jobs which might involve going a few to a few dozen kilometers from the landing site or base. Why waste EVA time walking? Even within a kilometer of the site/base, the job might involve heavy equipment, so a truck makes sense. And, presumably, the base is going to buried in regolith for radiation shielding. That means some earth moving machinery (mars moving machinery?) You could do all that with a pressurized rover, but I think an unpressurized rover for local work would be more efficient.

        • ThomasLMatula says:
          0
          0

          Don’t forget it is able to drive itself. It also comes with its own electric ATV as an option.

      • ed2291 says:
        0
        0

        Exactly! I don’t see an unpressurized truck as doing any exploring, just building and miscellaneous errands with an 8 hour time limit for the space suits.

  3. Jack says:
    0
    0

    Hopefully they get some better glass for it before they send it to Mars. https://uploads.disquscdn.c

  4. TheBrett says:
    0
    0

    Too angular for a pressurized Mars vehicle.

  5. fcrary says:
    0
    0

    Where to start? Wheels and rocks (it doesn’t look like it’s an off-road sort of truck…)? Ground clearance? Moving parts in a very dusty environment? Lubricants in a near vacuum? Oh, and as a piece of trivial, on Mars vehicles will roll in a tight turn at about 60% the speed they would on Earth (although the center of mass does look pretty low.)

    An electric vehicle is obviously the right choice on Mars (or the Moon), and Tesla certainly knows about the motors and batteries. But those are about all their Cybertruck would have in common with a Mars rover.

    • Zed_WEASEL says:
      0
      0

      Tires seems to be a variant of the ones used on real armored personnel carriers. Air suspension allows for 16 inches of clearance with a flat vehicle bottom. Think of the Cybertruck as a bigger Hummer with several times more instant response power.

      Any vehicles on Mars will go at best at about 15 kph over most non-improved and paved terrain. Unless you introduces something similar to a main battle tank with tracks.

      However was shocked by the low price point for all the Cybertruck variants in the presentation. Wonder if Tesla build the truck like a real armored fighting vehicle. Used a giant press to form major body components and just weld the components together with a robot.

      • Michael Spencer says:
        0
        0

        I’ve been shocked by the HIGH price of other Tesla vehicles. My wife drives a Model S- it’s a very very simple device without much that drives the cost of traditional vehicles, like engines and transmissions.

        • Zed_WEASEL says:
          0
          0

          Most of the cost of any Tesla is the battery pack with active thermal management.

          • Michael Spencer says:
            0
            0

            OK, point taken as I’m in an arena that is unfamiliar.

            But what about this, from the “Seems Like Department:” Seems like electronics and batteries would be much less costly, and certainly less complex, than a modern fuel-injected V8 coupled to an 8-speed automatic gearbox?”

            But seems like I’m again diving into an unknown arena.

          • Zed_WEASEL says:
            0
            0

            The individual 2170 Li-ion battery cell might cost about $10 each.

            But there are 2976 cells in a standard range model 3 with a 50 kWh battery pack and 4416 cells in a model 3 long range with a 75 kWh battery pack. You need lots of battery cells plus the thermal management system packed into a pallet size package.

            The older 18650 battery cells used in the model S and model X are less efficient so you need 7104 cells for the 85 kWh battery pack for those vehicles.

          • Michael Spencer says:
            0
            0

            I’m so laughing as I read your reply, having been once again stuck by the Seems Like Fallacy! (which seems like it oughta be a thing: SLF!).

            That $10 figure: I’m wondering, in the friendliest possible way, about the provenance of that number? I mean in the sense that you have some information, or googled, or? I’m asking because, you guessed it, seems like those cells would be much less expensive.

          • Zed_WEASEL says:
            0
            0

            The prices is about $12 to $15 retail for each cell on eBay and Amazon currently.

            Figure that Tesla will get the cells cheaper than $10. There are cheaper Li-ion 21700 cells available but they have much lower energy capacity.

            Even Li-ion AA battery cells are pricey.

            Also, interesting factoid that the older 18650 cells are about half the price of the newer 21700 cells currently on eBay and Amazon.

          • Terry Stetler says:
            0
            0

            Auto analysts report that Tesla’s on the verge of $100/kWh battery packs, so adjust your cost models.

      • Terry Stetler says:
        0
        0

        Musk said using a press on the 30X Starship alloy wrecked the tools & the press, so they’re scoring the back side and folding the panels in a break; automotive origami.

    • Terry Stetler says:
      0
      0

      Clearance: 16″/.406m (Moon Buggy: 14″/.356m)
      Approach angle: 35°
      Departure angle: 28°
      Full skid plate
      Payload: 3,500 lbs (1,587 kg)
      Tow: up to 14,000 lb (6,350 kg)

    • ThomasLMatula says:
      0
      0

      A Mars version could also be lighter as you wouldn’t need to use steel to protect against rioting Martians with sledgehammers.?

      • Zed_WEASEL says:
        0
        0

        Think the low price point for the Cybertruck is due to use of cold rolled 301 stainless steel panels.

        IIRC you need more than twice the thickness in aluminium to equal the stainless steel. Since you don’t have a conventional truck frame, the Cybertruck have a sort of unibody frame in steel. So you need more aluminium in volume as alternative to steel.

        The steel body on Mars will have less wear and tear since it is tougher than aluminum. Not against rioting Martians, but regolith kick up by vehicles.

  6. Robert van de Walle says:
    0
    0

    The interior sure looks like the seats are borrowed from Crew Dragon.

  7. Shaw_Bob says:
    0
    0

    And the Moon, too. Though I bet he sends a rather sportier red Tesla too, just for the LOLs. And why not?

  8. DJE51 says:
    0
    0

    Yes, of course SpaceX will send Cybertruck to Mars. There are all kinds of questions of course, such as, pressurized edition? But, for sure, it will be on mars probably before it is in my parking area, and I really want it there!