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Tesla Cybertruck’s ‘simple’ design goes way deeper than you think
Elon Musk’s Cybertruck is Tesla’s boldest vehicle yet. With its sharp edges and its unapologetically futuristic look, the Cybertruck appears to be a vehicle that is designed to shock and polarize. Yet, behind its almost brutalist exterior lies a clever theme that gives the Cybertruck the potential to be Tesla’s most disruptive vehicle to date, mainly due to its production efficiencies that are tied to its very exoskeleton.
When Tesla unveiled the Cybertruck on Thursday night, a good number of netizens and those who were in attendance at the event were shocked. The massive vehicle was clad in cold, hard, unpainted stainless steel, and its sharp triangular design makes it look extremely different from every other pickup truck on the market. Elon Musk has been saying that the Cybertruck will be polarizing, and it definitely was.
Unlike Tesla’s other vehicles like the Model S, X, and Model 3, the Cybertruck uses an exoskeleton that is made from a new variant of 3000 series stainless steel that’s cold-worked several times. The material is tough and is not unlike the steel used in SpaceX’s gigantic Starship. With this system in place, Tesla is able to skip the traditional stamping process for the vehicle’s body panels. Instead, the Cybertruck’s frame will be laser cut and folded, much like an origami that’s made of steel.
And just like actual Japanese origami, the Cybertruck’s stainless steel body is actually folded into shape instead of being cut up into several pieces and stamped multiple times by massive machines, according to an exclusive look into the vehicle by MotorTrend. Considering that the stamping process is very capital intensive (stamping machines are among the largest and most expensive components of a car factory), Tesla’s origami-style design for the Cybertruck becomes a very cost-effective way to produce a massive, durable, futuristic vehicle at relatively low cost.
Elon Musk recently elaborated on this in a recent tweet, stating that the Cybertruck’s 3mm-thick stainless steel exoskeleton is not very friendly to stamping machines. “Reason Cybertruck is so planar is that you can’t stamp ultra-hard 30X steel, because it breaks the stamping press,” Musk wrote.
Using stainless steel also allows Tesla to skip out on the painting of the vehicle, allowing the company to not use a paint shop in the vehicle’s production process. This results in further savings, while also avoiding the paint headaches that Tesla had to deal with when it ramped its previous vehicles, particularly the Model 3.
The absence of the stamping press and the paint shop in the Cybertruck’s production has another advantage, in the way that the vehicle’s production line could probably be done in a relatively small area. Without giant stamping presses and an expansive paint shop, after all, Tesla could produce the Cybertruck in an assembly line that is designed for speed.
The EV community was shocked by the starting price of the Cybertruck just as much as it was shocked by the vehicle’s design. Starting at $39,990, the base Cybertruck is very competitively priced and is chock full of tech that its competitors simply cannot hold a candle to. Couple this with a design that is optimized for efficiency, and the vehicle could very well be a disruptor on its own right in the highly-competitive pickup truck segment.
Tesla has officially shown that it is eyeing two new states for Robotaxi operation in the U.S., as it hopes to add the new areas to its ever-growing list of places where the suite is either active or in the testing phase.
Tesla first launched its Robotaxi suite in Austin, Texas, in late June. It expanded the suite to the San Francisco Bay Area just a month later. Since then, it has not launched any public rides in any other states, but it has gained several approvals for early testing.
In preparation for operation in new states, Tesla routinely lists job postings on its Careers website, which helps align potential employees with opportunities ahead of regulatory approvals. This is a strategy that allows Tesla to start operations immediately upon licensing for testing.
Tesla started hiring Vehicle Operators for Autopilot in Arizona and Nevada months before the company gained any sort of approvals from state governments for Robotaxi. However, those approvals eventually came in the form of testing licenses, which allow the company to perform validation ahead of its public launch.
Tesla begins validating Robotaxi in a new area, hinting at expansion
Now, Tesla has posted job listings for Vehicle Operators for Autopilot in two new states: Colorado and Illinois. The Colorado job listing is located in Aurora, a suburb of Denver. Tesla is looking for Robotaxi operators in Chicago as well.
These postings hint toward Tesla’s continuing efforts to expand Robotaxi to new places. Earlier this year, CEO Elon Musk said the company would like to have Robotaxi available to at least half of the U.S. population.
It has expanded significantly since its initial launch in late June, but it is still a far way off from where Tesla would like it to be by year’s end.
So far, Tesla has job listings for Autopilot Vehicle Operators in Arizona, California, Texas, Florida, Colorado, Nevada, and Illinois.
Tesla’s advertising strategy has taken a drastic turn as the company’s upcoming Shareholder Meeting will feature perhaps the most crucial vote in its history: the approval of CEO Elon Musk’s new pay package.
For years, the issue of Tesla’s advertising and marketing strategy has been a major point of conversation for investors in fans. It seems to be split right down the middle, with half wanting Tesla to set aside some money for advertising. The other half, just the opposite.
Tesla has been transparent that the money it would spend on advertising, marketing, and public relations is better set aside for the development of future products.
However, it has recently adopted a different tone in advertising, pushing some commercials on social media platforms like X and Instagram.
For the first time, an ad was seen on streaming services like Paramount+, but it wasn’t promoting Tesla’s products directly. Instead, it was more of a message for shareholders to vote on Musk’s pay package, something Tesla feels is a necessity:
Well this is a first. Tesla is running paid ads on Paramount+ encouraging people to vote their $TSLA shares ahead of the annual shareholder meeting on November 6th.
“Tesla is on the precipice of its next wave of transformations growth, and we need your support; We urge you to… pic.twitter.com/FTo5eFQJRZ
— Sawyer Merritt (@SawyerMerritt) October 14, 2025
“The future of Tesla is in your hands,” the ad reads at the end. It seems as if Tesla is taking whatever steps it needs to accomplish the task of getting Musk a new pay package and retaining him as its CEO.
On September 5, Tesla officially outlined its plans for a CEO Performance Award for Musk. It would require him to lift Tesla’s market capitalization to about $8.5 trillion, up from the $1.36 trillion it sits at today.
Elon Musk’s new pay plan ties trillionaire status to Tesla’s $8.5 trillion valuation
It is obvious that Tesla is really hoping to get the pay package passed and is willing to shift some of its budget to encourage shareholders to vote.
However, there are some interesting perspectives on the move, and it’s sort of strange to see Tesla not advertising its vehicles or products, but only its pay package that would get its CEO paid.
Some of those who saw the ad are questioning the strategy:
Definitely a sign of desperation for $TSLA. They wouldn’t need to beg for votes if the BOD just did their job and held Elon accountable for his actions in the past. His blatant disregard for Tesla’s brand and the actions he takes in the public eye are exactly why I voted NO.
— squawksquare (@squawksquare) October 14, 2025
Doesn’t this taste wrong to anyone else?
No ads for the business? Only for the CEOs pay package?
— Schrodinger’s Wealth (@BosCybertruck) October 14, 2025
Tesla is validating Robotaxi in a new area, and as the company has continued to gain some additional permissions to begin testing in new states, it seems its Full Self-Driving-based ride-hailing project is moving toward a larger footprint.
Two Robotaxi units with LiDAR validation equipment were spotted in Gilbert, Arizona, recently, showing that Tesla is aiming to launch its ride-hailing service in the state soon:
TESLA ROBOTAXI SPOTTED VALIDATING IN GILBERT, AZ! :0 pic.twitter.com/kqtQEBwl8Y
— Greggertruck (@greggertruck) October 11, 2025
Another unit was spotted in Tempe, Arizona:
Spotted this one and another one behind it in Tempe, AZ. I also saw a pair driving from Mesa to Tempe. Looks like they’re validating the entire east valley. I haven’t seen any in the west valley yet. pic.twitter.com/gFWTHhmBLT
— TechCat (@elviswjr) October 12, 2025
These types of validation vehicles have been spotted in several areas ahead of their launch as a public ride-hailing service for passengers. Tesla first launched Robotaxi in Austin, Texas, back in late June, and since then, it has expanded to the Bay Area of California.
However, Tesla has continued to attempt to expand Robotaxi to other areas as well, including Nevada and Arizona. It has also been working toward approvals in other states based on job postings, as Tesla is hiring for Autopilot Vehicle Operators in New York and Florida, as well.
The expansion of the Robotaxi ride-hailing service has been an effort that Tesla has been spending a lot of time on over the past few months. CEO Elon Musk said the expansion aims to bring Robotaxi to at least half of the U.S. population by the end of the year, but there is still plenty of work to be done.
Tesla Robotaxi heads to a new major Texas city for the first time
Tesla did make its Robotaxi app public in recent months, allowing more members of the public to experience the suite for themselves, as long as they could get to Austin or the Bay Area.
In the coming months, it seems more apparent that Tesla will take a broader focus on expanding Robotaxi, especially with the fact that these validation vehicles are being spotted throughout different parts of the United States.
Tesla eyes two new states for Robotaxi
Tesla launched an ad for Elon Musk’s pay package on Paramount+
Tesla Robotaxi testing in Arizona is ramping up quickly
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