DeLorean Designer Shares His Thoughts on the Cybertruck's Design

The Delorean DMC-12 next to Tesla's Cybertruck

BladeBronson

Tesla is on the brink of a significant milestone, with its Cybertruck delivery event set for November 30. This event is drawing parallels to a pivotal moment in car design history, specifically to the work of Giorgetto Giugiaro, an 85-year-old Italian legend in the automotive world. Giugiaro's influential designs include the Lotus Esprit, BMW M1, and the iconic DeLorean DMC-12, made famous by Back to the Future.

Giugiaro's Insights on Tesla's Design Choices

Giugiaro shared his perspective on Tesla's bold design choices in an email exchange with NPR. "When you step outside the norms, it's almost always seen as a provocation. It happens in all fields, from furniture to cooking, etc. Everyone wants to distinguish themselves; it's a market necessity," Giugiaro stated. His insight underscores the importance of innovation in a competitive market, a philosophy that Tesla seems to have embraced with the Cybertruck. Giugiaro further added, "The Cybertruck will surely be successful; I'm sure of it. I'm convinced it will find its admirers."

The Cybertruck's journey echoes the DeLorean's experience from the 1980s. Both vehicles faced skepticism and criticism for their unconventional designs, particularly for their angular shapes and the propensity of their stainless steel bodies to showcase smudges and fingerprints. Despite these criticisms, the DeLorean DMC-12 carved a unique niche, symbolizing automotive innovation and pop culture fame.

The 'Origami' Influence and Cybertruck's Design

Giugiaro's design philosophy, which he refers to as "origami," has significantly influenced the Cybertruck (Cybertruck dimensions). This style, characterized by sharp, straight lines and wedge shapes, was a radical departure from traditional automotive design when it first appeared in the 1970s.

This approach, reminiscent of modern architectural elements, was pioneered by Giugiaro in the 1970s and became a hallmark of his design aesthetic. The Maserati Boomerang concept car and the Volkswagen Golf Mk1 are prime examples of this style, reflecting the influence of Japanese origami in automotive design." The Cybertruck's design, with its sharp angles and distinct silhouette, echoes this philosophy.

Parallels Between Cybertruck and DeLorean

The Cybertruck, much like the DeLorean, has faced its share of critiques. Issues like misaligned stainless steel panels and questionable interior choices have been reported, mirroring the challenges the DMC-12 encountered decades ago. The DeLorean was criticized for its stainless steel body that showed every fingerprint and required constant cleaning, as well as for the quality of its construction, with reports of doors that didn't fit properly and interior components that frequently fell off.

Despite these challenges, the DeLorean DMC-12 achieved iconic status, partly due to its feature in "Back to the Future," the public's fascination with John DeLorean's personal story, and Giugiaro's reputation as one of the most influential car designers of the 20th century. This history serves as a reminder that initial public reception doesn't always indicate a design's ultimate place in history.

Giugiaro's perspective on the Cybertruck is neutral yet optimistic. "I don't want to judge the Cybertruck as beautiful or ugly. It certainly has its admirers who want a vehicle to stand out." This sentiment echoes the broader theme in automotive design and innovation: groundbreaking designs often face initial skepticism but can ultimately redefine the aesthetic norms of their era.

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Tesla Increases Price of Model S; Starts Offering Free Lifetime Supercharging

Not a Tesla App

For the first time in quite a while, Tesla has increased the price of one of its vehicle offerings. The Model S Long Range and the Model S Plaid have both received a hefty price increase. However, not all is bad - as Tesla also added a new benefit for buyers.

Price Increase

The price increase for the Model S is $5,000 - currently only in the United States. This price increase will likely impact other markets, including Canada, in the coming days.

The Model S Long Range now starts at $79,990, while the Model S Plaid now starts at $94,990. The Model S and Model X now have the same starting price. Interestingly, that’s also the same pricing point for the Cybertruck AWD and Cyberbeast Trimotor non-Foundation Series. 

The vehicle configuration does not appear to have changed, so the new pricing is simply an increase rather than the addition or removal of features. Tesla previously cut the price of the Model S and Model X by 15% in 2023, so this could simply be an adjustment to ensure that the vehicle pricing stays in line with inflation and other factors.

Free Lifetime Supercharging

For those on the fence about ordering a Model S, Tesla has brought back Free Lifetime Supercharging when you order a new Model S on or after December 13, 2024. As always, Free Lifetime Supercharging is restricted to the buyer’s Tesla account and to that specific vehicle. It cannot be transferred to another vehicle or another owner after ownership transfer. It’s worth noting, that it also doesn’t exclude the owner from receiving Supercharger idle fees or congestion fees. There is currently no end date for this promotion.

There are currently no changes to the Model X, neither a price increase nor the addition of Lifetime Superchargering. However, when Tesla makes changes to one of their premium vehicles, it usually affects the other one as well. So be on the lookout for potential changes to the Model X offering in the coming days.

We’ve seen Tesla value Lifetime Supercharging at $5,000, so this falls in line with the price increase we’re seeing. It’s possible that Tesla will begin to bring back Lifetime Supercharging as a perk for buying into their more premium Model S and Model X cars, or this could be another temporary promotion to get buyers who are on the fence to go ahead and make their purchase while this promotion lasts.

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Tesla’s Optimus Robot Learns to Walk Without Vision [VIDEO]

Optimus Falls - but catches itself!

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Tesla recently showed off a demo of Optimus, its humanoid robot, walking around in moderately challenging terrain—not on a flat surface but on dirt and slopes. These things can be difficult for a humanoid robot, especially during the training cycle.

Daily walks help clear your mind pic.twitter.com/dUsW58trS6

— Tesla Optimus (@Tesla_Optimus) December 9, 2024

A Look Behind the Curtain

Most interestingly, Milan Kovac, VP of Engineering for Optimus, clarified what it takes to get Optimus to this stage. Let’s break down what he said.

Optimus is Blind

Optimus is getting seriously good at walking now - it can keep its balance over uneven ground - even while walking blind. Tesla is currently using just the sensors, all powered by a neural net running on the embedded computer. 

Essentially, Tesla is building Optimus from the ground up, relying on as much additional data as possible while it trains vision. This is similar to how they train FSD on vehicles, using LiDAR rigs to validate the vision system’s accuracy. While Optimus doesn’t have LiDAR, it relies on all those other sensors on board, many of which will likely become simplified as vision takes over as the primary sensor.

Today, Optimus is walking blind, but it’s able to react almost instantly to changes in the terrain underneath it, even if it falls or slips. 

What’s Next?

Next up, Tesla AI will be adding vision to Optimus - helping complete the neural net. Remember, Optimus runs on the same overall AI stack as FSD - in fact, Optimus uses an FSD computer and an offshoot of the FSD stack for vision-based tasks.

Milan mentions they’re planning on adding vision to help the robot plan ahead and improve its walking gait. While the zombie shuffle is iconic and a little bit amusing, getting humanoid robots to walk like humans is actually difficult.

There’s plenty more, too - including better responsiveness to velocity and direction commands and learning to fall and stand back up. Falling while protecting yourself to minimize damage is something natural to humans - but not exactly natural to something like a robot. Training it to do so is essential in keeping the robot, the environment around it, and the people it is interacting with safe.

We’re excited to see what’s coming with Optimus next because it is already getting started in some fashion in Tesla’s factories.

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