In a heartfelt article written by Kristen Netten on Medium, she explains why the Cybertruck is the truck for a hero. When one thinks of a hero, we may think of police or firefighters or even our own personal heroes who have impacted our lives. Elon Musk is one of mine and is a hero to millions of people around the world for all the good he has done through his companies.
The article explains how 26,000 comments from the Twitter community about the Cybertruck helped Tesla create a truck that is fit for a hero.
It all started in June of 2018 when Elon Musk asked his followers what they would like to see in a truck. Kristen’s article also shows evidence that Elon Musk engaged in a bit of market research with this tweet.
You ask your customers what they want, and they tell you. This is exactly what happened in the case of the Cybertruck. Mike Maat replied to Elon saying that they wanted a flatbed with no wheel well humps. R-Dub said that a built-in bed cover that could roll out when needed would be great, and also that it would be “next level to have solar panels built into the bed cover.” Jeff Mueller brought up air suspension and suggested a heavy-duty air compressor to run air tools. Elon loved that idea and even replied saying that it was a great idea and that it made sense to add a utility port. He also said the truck would have a Tesla pneumatics system (which is why that makes sense).
NocturnusAnime created a list of features that Elon Musk implemented into the Cybertruck (look at the photo above). That list is:
- 300–500 mile range,
- bed or camper shell lined with solar cells to help with regen,
- front trunk alongside long bed option,
- comfy/spacious crew cab for those in the back,
- toolbox compartment in the bed that doubles as an ice chest, like the Nissan Frontier Titan has.
In her Medium article, Kristen sums up other things like off-road capabilities, on-road performance, the price, and how Elon saw the request to make it reasonably priced like the Model 3. Kristen also shows that the 2018 tweet asking for truck comments and recommendations wasn’t the first time Elon mentioned the truck. He also brought it up in 2017: “I promise that we will make a pickup truck right after the Model Y” — a promise that he, despite what critics have said about Elon keeping his promises, has kept.
Not only does Elon Musk keep his promises, but he listens to his customers. This shows that he values his customers. As an artist who sells jewelry made with minerals, I often get people who have entire stories to tell about a stone, or as to why a mineral means so much to them. My job in that aspect isn’t to make them jewelry, but to listen to their story. Stories are what keep us connected. Stories are part of what make us human. They help us learn, communicate, and be better people. People who listen to their customers show that they care. This is why so many people (including myself) admire Elon Musk.
Got so many insights into diff areas just by following Tesla. Engineering, economics, investing, deep learning, statistics … also, made friends around the world! Worth remembering whenever someone’s like “why are you so obsessed with Tesla!? It’s just a car company lol”.
— Viv 🐉 (@flcnhvy) December 6, 2019
Who is the hero Kristen was talking about in her article? It was definitely Elon Musk, a guy who happens to be a billionaire but isn’t shy about using his funds to help humanity. Whether it’s dropping everything because he was asked to help save lives or helping an American city upgrade their water system while our government sits back takes its time.
Even though Elon Musk was the hero Kristen had in mind when writing her article, Elon Musk isn’t the only hero. Many members of the Tesla community are also heroes. Whether it’s a group of people raising funds to send a care package to someone in need, donating toys to the Salvation Army, or pledging to plant millions of seed and trees, this community is a network of people to admire. It’s no wonder why we are all “obsessed with Tesla,” as Viv explains well in the tweet above.
I don't like paywalls. You don't like paywalls. Who likes paywalls? Here at CleanTechnica, we implemented a limited paywall for a while, but it always felt wrong — and it was always tough to decide what we should put behind there. In theory, your most exclusive and best content goes behind a paywall. But then fewer people read it! We just don't like paywalls, and so we've decided to ditch ours. Unfortunately, the media business is still a tough, cut-throat business with tiny margins. It's a never-ending Olympic challenge to stay above water or even perhaps — gasp — grow. So ...
Sign up for daily news updates from CleanTechnica on email. Or follow us on Google News!
Have a tip for CleanTechnica, want to advertise, or want to suggest a guest for our CleanTech Talk podcast? Contact us here.
