The $25k car is going extinct?

I have never seen the bed of a Cybertruck.

Not a dig at the vehicle; that's a different thing. Rather, I notice that this truck doesn't seem to spend much time as a, ya know, truck.

With other trucks it's less obvious because they don't have a built in bed cover. I suspect many of them also spent very little time trucking, at least here in this suburb. Perhaps it's different in more agricultural areas.

I'm in an agricultural area, have been in and around agriculture and mining for many decades, I can't see anyone buying a cybertruck for any practical reason.

I've seen the offroad performance videos, the cybertruck isn't anything to write home about wrt to either ground clearance or scrabble factor (broken road hill climbing, etc).

Other cheaper vehicles perform as well or better.

The tray area is a nightmare, three side access to tools is good, totally flat tray backs are good, side rails for tie downs are good, ability to custom fit racks for carrying stuff (long lumber, or glass and or panels, etc), etc. are all the kinds of practical choices that dictate a practical utility purchase .. none of these are things at which the cybertruck shines.

I've only ever seen one in that mocking picture of trying to fit a motorcycle in it vs. a Kei truck. I still reserve my full judgment though for if I ever get to have extended personal time with one, though I have been soured on the whole thing. The concept was cooler than the final product for sure.

I go back and forth on how much weight to give the "not being used for truck stuff" criticism. (Maybe because I own a small 2006 Ranger that, while sometimes being used for truck stuff, is mostly used for stuff any vehicle can do. I also put on a cheap bed cover for the first time last week...) I think I'm more partial to the "not ever used for truck stuff" criticism -- that makes it more similar to buying powerful PC hardware. If you aren't ever making use of it, what's the point? But if you only use it from time to time, that seems totally fine. Optionality is generally good, especially when you actually use the options, but of course there's a cost-benefit analysis people don't seem to make with modern car financing.

I'd like to see a cybertruck towing a camper in the wild, as that seems to be a thing some of my older relatives do with their big trucks.

Usually I would consider such a large truck to be wasteful, but because it's electric you aren't really burning up a ton of extra fuel.

This is such an odd statement. Just because it's electric doesn't mean there's no concept of efficiency.

Large EVs are pretty silly for exactly that efficiency reason - they may have "400" miles of range, but they do so by packing the biggest possible battery which weighs a ton, wasting even more range per kilowatt-hour beyond the worse aerodynamics.

And then because the battery is so massive, it takes way longer to charge for the same range, so now you need a higher current charger at home and maybe even need to upgrade your home electric service instead of just using a standard 15A circuit to top up a small EV every night enough for a typical day's commute.

I saw both a Rivian and a Cybertruck at an RV park just a month ago. No idea what kind of range they get towing but I was impressed someone was actually using them as real trucks. The vast majority of vehicles were three-quarter-ton or better trucks.

It's not that there is no concept of efficiency, it's that an electric car gets a free 2x reduction in emissions.

And sure you can't use a normal plug very well, whatever. Even without any amp increase, going up to 240 volts will let you charge up that commute and more.

I live in suburbs between San Jose and. San Francisco and see a few Cybertrucks in single family home driveways and apartment parking lots - it feels more like a status symbol of some kind, see a lot more of other pickup trucks, though more common in less affluent areas.

An intelligent flatbed setup (what I think the Australians call "trays") is usually way better than a regular bed (barring maybe aerodynamics). A good Bradford or Circle D flatbed (as examples) can take way, way more punishment than a regular bed, and it's real easy to bring a forklift up and load pallets on the side, add boxes or tie downs, etc. One major reason you don't see a lot of them in the states is that many insurers (if you tell them you've put an flatbed on -- even a pretty aluminum one on a mini truck) will automatically assume the truck is being used in some sort of revenue service, and charge you significantly more expensive commercial rates no matter what you tell them.

One of our favourite bits of kit is a twin axle trailer my father built back in the 1970s.

It's got slaved brakes (electrical now, once hydraulic), Hayman-Reese family anti sway bars, uprights and rings on the tow arms to hold gas bottles and spare tyres, and a flat bed.

The smart setup there is removable side and back walls to convert between flat tray and shallow box with sides, and a removable hood with three gull wing doors (so that the tray is a lockable and weather proof space (useful for camping). It's easy to change configuration between the three states.

Our prefered vehicle of choice is a four door family sedan with boot, the trailer can be added for those odd two tonne loads of manure, gravel, straw, sand, etc that get carted about.

Everything else starts getting into dedicated task vehicles - tractors, harveters, chase trucks, etc. The last thing we acquired was an ex military twelve tonne truck with shoulder high tyres on it and enough clearance for pre schoolers to walk under .. it can climb hills, waddle across gullies, and carry 5 tonne of water for fire control (the reason for purchase and fitting).