James May Finally Drives The CyberTruck

James May
Finally Drives The CyberTruck

Two-Tone JAKEe Style CyberTruck Another CyberTruck

First JAKEe Design CyberTruck 

Wrap Designs Hits the Road

Part 3

Two-Tone

JAKEe Style CyberTruck

Another CyberTruck 

CyberTruckOwndersClub recently featured a post from Joe, who goes by Knight UP / ModelAZ, where he showed a dude who did a two tone wrap somewhat similar to my original JAKEe CyberTruck Wrap Design which is pictured below:

This wrap looks fantastic, with the 24 inch ALT Forged PL1 24x10 wheels. He also posted the following images from the owner.

I want to share a few key points about the difference between a standard two-tone CyberTruck, and my JAKEe CyberTruck design reference. The first image seen below shows how the two-tone CyberTruck is currently wrapped, which looks great, and it appears he two-toned the rectangular mirrors, by wrapping them on their upper front surfaces.

In the next image I added two JAKEe CyberTruck Wrap details, which I think are essential improvements based upon my original design. First I wrapped the Frunk lid in black, as we see below, which I think makes the CyberTruck geometry pop significantly more. In other words, by also wrapping the Frunk lid in black, it really accentuates the now completed pyramid shape and makes the bold geometry really stand out. 

Also, in the image above, I added the JAKEe Design rear faux black rear window wrap piece, which I also believe radically compliments the CyberTruck geometry, and gives it much more of an SUV vibe. I will expand upon this point after we discuss the next image, in which I added a red Fat Strip which is the exact same height as the CyberTruck front running light panel. It was challenging to get the geometry correct in enhancing this image due to the perspective offset parameters, and also the fact the blood red stripe color kinda clashes with the unusual brick color wall behind the image.

CyberTruck is a 

Model S SUV

So here is my bizarre observation about the design of the CyberTruck. I would argue, first and foremost, the Tesla vehicle named CyberTruck is much more of an SUV, than a truck per se. Granted, CyberTruck has a large 4x6 bed, so technically it's a truck, but to my way of thinking it's a Tesla Model S, reimagined as a full-blown SUV.

Let me be specific, and let's get something out of the way. Many people believe the Tesla Model X, is the SUV version of the Model S, and in looks that is true, but the Model X suffers from many design defects, like the 1000% unnecessary and stupid Falcon Wing Doors. 

Also, while the Model X, may be the ultimate soccer Mom SUV, the CyberTruck is the ultimate soccer Dad SUV, and it has way more in common with the Model S than with the Model X. For instance, both the CyberTruck and Model S are 4 door sedans, that incorporate coupe inspired design characteristics. 

I believe prior to the launch of the CyberTruck the Model S Tesla was unequivocally the best car money could objectively buy at any price. The CyberTruck has replaced it by offering way more great features and refined details, like a power-up and power-down frunk. All CyberTruck models ever made are pre-wired or equipped with the connectors that will facilitate adding a wireless charging connection point when it will soon become available from Tesla, and it is the ONLY Tesla made to date with this feature.

Also, that's one of the reasons I think now is a bad time to buy a Model S or X or Y, as I think they will soon benefit from significantly updated features the CyberTruck already posses, like bi-directional charging...Also, I believe Tesla will soon add as standard, wireless charging to all Tesla models, so unless you really need to purchase a car now, I would wait until these two inevitable features are standard.

Furthermore, the CyberTruck ditched the super goofy Model S door handles and replaced them with door openers that you push against instead of having to pull-to-open. On the Model S, you have to press on the closed door handle if it does not self-present, to get it to come out and present. I can't tell you how many times I have approached my Model S to open the door just a split second after the handle has retracting to in to the closed position, which inevitably results in a frustrating and not funny Curb Your Enthusiasm moment of tug-a-war. 

So basically, you end up playing whack-a-mole with your stupid Model S door handle, and Tesla completely resolved this issue with the CyberTruck. The only challenge is the CyberTruck is a fingerprint magnet, which is why you pretty much have to wrap it. I can't help but wonder if in the future, if Tesla will begin clear coating the Stainless Steet to make it highly fingerprint resistant, like modern Stainless Steel refrigerators. In my opinion, the highly susceptible fingerprint showing nature of the CyberTruck is a bug, and NOT a feature.

Most importantly, the drive-by-wire design steering is a complete-game-changer and makes the CyberTruck really easier to drive, coupled with the standard 4-wheel steering on the CyberTruck significantly decreases it's turning radius to less than the Model S, despite being so much larger and masculine of a vehicle. Also, the CyberTruck is the first vehicle made that offers 48 Volt Architecture, which is yet another point of differentiation and innovation.

Just for the heck of it, I added the optional fat red pinstripe to the version below which also has the features my new blacked-out window ledge design characteristic. One detail or feature I figured out is that I LOVE my JAKEe CyberTruck wrap design with and without the fat red stripe. 

I was recently consulting with a brilliant wrap expert and he said the ultimate solution would be to wrap the bottom of CyberTruck in black as well as the Frunk lid and rear pyramid window shape using PPF. He recommend using clear PPF on the stainless steel pyramid shape top sides to stop it from being a fingerprint magnet. He also highly recommended adding a ceramic coating to the entire CyberTruck to keep it from aging poorly, and also to make all exterior surfaces hydrophobic so it's super-easy to wash and keep clean.

He said, "We should add the fat red stripe using vinyl wrap, which will be cheaper and if you change your mind, you could easily remove it, or add it back at little or no expense. [This is because PPF is typically sold in larger minimum quantities, whereas vinyl is typically sold in much smaller increments.] He also said by placing the red fat strip over the top edge of the black it would provide a more seamless look as it would cover the visible seam.

It's a really cool idea to be able to easily add or remove fat stripes or update the fat strip to different accent colors, and in the example below we see it with a fat blue stripe, which looks totally different than the red stripe.

Just for the hell of it I added green and pink stripes below, and they look pretty cool. This would allow the owner to update their look whenever then want for a very small amount of money, and it's an option that could also be easily removed, or updated.

You could even two-tone the fat stripe and give it something like a gulf-livery look...

Or you could do a gradient like we see below...

It's almost unlimited what you could do with cool custom graphics, to change things up, like the Cyber Gradient Mudflap Chick graphic I put on the side of the CyberTruck, if you want to really trip people out and get way too much positive and negative attention as you drive around :-0 

The CyberTruck is defiantly a very masculine man's car and is perhaps represents one of the last bastions of fun male peacockery...That being said, I don't know if I would actually have the balls to drive around with that logo on my CyberTruck, but it sure does look beautifully bizarre to me...For some reason I have always loved the Mudflap chick graphic despite the fact it's so Politically Incorrect, or as some woke trippers would say "Toxically Masculine"...

The Mudflap Chick pictured below has an inner shadow frame around her graphic to make it look more like she is etched or embedded into the CyberTruck, as apposed to the version above where she is sitting on top of the CyberTruck. I couldn't decide which I like better, so I am showcasing both...

The CyberTruck really is the ULTIMATE wrap truck/canvas, but the JAKEe Wrap geometry is second to none...The Mud Flap Chick Logo below is kind of cool as I dropped the Tesla Plaid Pattern inside her silhouette, and added an inner shadow so it looks like the Plaid Mud Flap Chick is coming out of hyperspace in the first image below, and in the second image I added a more pronounced outer stroke...

Pyramid Window Solution Discovered!!!

Pyramid Window

Perfect Solution Finally Discovered!!!

This article achieves two objectives: First and foremost, it presents my solution I finally came up with that resolves this issue of how to eliminate the rear pyramid window mismatch by successfully optically connecting it to the rear side window, and also offers a detailed history of how and why I came up with my JAKEe CyberTruck Wrap Design Reference Language in specific detail.

CyberTruck Wrap above features eye-liner bottom ledge wrapped in black on outer window sill 

Tesla invited me to the CyberTruck launch, but I couldn't attend back in 2019 due to other commitments. I did watch the CyberTruck launch event and at the end of Elon's Keynote, he announced they were going to immediately begin taking reservations for the CyberTruck, which would only require a $100 deposit. I immediately placed my order for a CyberTruck in the first minute after the Tesla CyberTruck launch event concluded.

I am a hardcore designer, and have been designing for 40 years now. I kept staring at screenshots of the CyberTruck, and as cool as it looked, something seemed off, or incomplete with its design. So I started playing around with wrapping it to complete its design and came up with a radical solution, which I immediately published in a story on RolexMagazine.com on November 24, 2019.

The first image below was the photo I kept staring at on November 19, 2019 that drove me absolutely nuts so I started playing around with modifying it in my graphics program.

The following section between the horizontal dividers seen below contains content and graphics from my original story I published on RolexMagazine.com back on November 24, 2019. 

Just in case it is not obvious, the first image below was the first version of my JAKEe CyberTruck Wrap Design Reference which I designed the evening of the Tesla event. The reason my original story was dated November 24, 2019, was it took me 5 days to complete my article on RolexMagazne.com named "Tesla CyberTruck Reveal Thoughts".

BTW: It's worth noting I was so inspired by my initial JAKEe CyberTruck Wrap Design Reference image I made it the header graphic on TeslaMagazine.org, which has remained ever since!!! I am so into the CyberTruck lately at times it strikes me that maybe I would change the name of my blog from TeslaMagazine.org to a dedicated CyberTruck Magazine...

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The following was originally published on RolexMagazine.com on November 24, 2019:

Back in Black

Just for the heck of it, I did a few more renderings that show my idea of how to make the Tesla CyberTruck look much better as we see in the three images below. I added a rectangular window extension to the back of the car that could consist of solar panels on both sides. I realize doing so would probably only ad a mile a day of range, but that is better than nothing. Also, I painted the bottom black, and added a thick red pinstripe.

It's fascinating to me because I have NEVER EVER wanted to own a truck in my life, but I LOVE the Tesla CyberTruck. In many ways, due to the brilliant design, it's more of an SUV hybrid Truck than a standard old-fashioned truck. Speaking of which, I can't help but wonder what net effect the Tesla CyberTruck in going to have on the Range Rover brand?

In the image below, it is the same as above, but I changed the pinstripe to green.

I created the set of images below that shows my enhancements to the CyberTruck with a red, blue and green pinstripes. This reminds me of a Batmobile! 

I can see how the Tesla CyberTruck will replace the Range Rover as the new urban lifestyle SUV de rigueur for the landed gentry to navigate their way around the new world—from soccer moms to serious off-road enthusiasts...

After all, it is a fact the majority of people who drive pickup trucks don't use them for their intended functionality. According to Edwards:

"75 percent of truck owners use their truck for towing one time a year or less (meaning, never). Nearly 70 percent of truck owners go off-road one time a year or less, and a full 35 percent of truck owners use their truck for hauling—putting something in the bed, its ostensible raison d'être—once a year or less."

It turns out I am not the only person who thought the Tesla CyberTruck would look better in black, as @SuperSaf made an all black Tesla and showed it to @ElonMusk, who said Tesla will offer an all black version as well as seen below. I like the all-black, but like my two-tone version seen above better.

It turns out there are many more people who have the same idea to skin the Tesla CyberTruck including DBrand, who just put up a Tesla Cybertruck Skins and Wraps Customizer page. Their idea of how wrapping the Cyber truck is different than mine, and lacks the addition of the rear window that completes the pyramid look, but I put this image together:

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Just to be clear, the section above in between the horizontal lines was taken from my original CyberTruck story I published on RolexMagazine in late November of 2019. In that story, I first published images of my JAKEe CyberTruck Wrap Idea. So how does it feel to see all these CyberTruck owners who were inspired by my original design? It feels great!!! Even if they have not idea who I am or don't care, it still feels fantastic to see my design come to life.

Top 10 Reasons I Have Not

Purchased a CyberTruck Yet

I previously mentioned that I was at the top of the list to get a CyberTruck, so why did I ultimately decide to pass and wait at least until Tesla drops the Foundations series?

For multiple reasons including:

1. I was REALLY disappointed by the lack of range 

2. I was REALLY turned of by the significantly higher purchase price. I am not saying Elon intentionally pulled a bait a switch on customers, but I do think Tesla pulled an unnecessary cash grab which completely turned me off.

3. I think the Foundation Series idea was another cash grab, as it asked customers to prepay for features that were not available at launch, including FSD, which as I write this is still not available.

4. I didn't want to pay an additional $27,500 to be the first person on my block to have a CyberTruck. $20K was for the Foundation Series, and if I purchased the AWD CyberTruck I would have lost the $7,500 Federal Tax credit option.

5. I didn't want to pay a huge premium to be a Tesla beta tester. It's a universal rule of thumb that you should never purchase a new product during the first year of its production, as it will have flaws and shortcomings that need to be ironed out.

6. There are many features missing beyond FSD, like the lack of Homelink, or the lack of the LED lightbar on the Beast model.

7. I believe it's likely Tesla will come out with a Revision 2 of the CyberTruck soon after they eliminate the Foundation Series, and it will have a larger battery which will offer longer range, at a cheaper price. In other words, I think Tesla pushed the CyberTruck out the door prematurely.

8. I was all excited for the bidirectional charging, until I realized in order to really have it make sense would require I purchase solar panels and a couple of PowerWall batteries. I reached out to Tesla for a quote and has one of their factory authorized installer give me a ridiculously high quote, whereby they basically tried to gauge me by charing me $25,000 more than another Tesla authorized competitor would. In other words, they essentially tried to steal $25,000 from me. This just completely turned me off. 

9. There are a number of missing features that need to be addressed on the CyberTruck. For instance, the CyberTruck is the first Tesla to come with a front facing camera, which is cool, and it also the first and only Tesla today to have a front camera washer, but ironically, the rear camera lacks a washer, which makes zero sense. Personally, I think Tesla should put a rear camera display in place of the goofy little rear view mirror which would make far more sense.

10. Elon Musk went on and on and on about how FSD was the greatest thing since sliced bread, and how it was a complete bargain at $15k. Less than 2 years ago, when I purchased my Model S, I paid an extra significant premium for FSD. For more than a year, it was a complete pile of junk that I never used or benefited from. Then when I submitted my information to Tesla for a trade in quote toward a CyberTruck they offered me half of what I had recently paid for my Model S, and they offered be $0 in trade in value for the FSD I had paid for, and also would not allow me to transfer the FSD to the CyberTruck. 

All these things I just delineated left such a bad taste in my mouth, it took the wind completely out of my sails. It's not that I couldn't afford to buy a CyberTruck, but I thought to myself that I loved my Model S, and it finally got decent FSD, which made it much easier to postpone purchasing a CyberTruck.

Also, I think my preference would be to own a CyberBeast, but I think paying an extra $20,000 for a third motor is completely absurd. If the Beast was an extra $5,000, or maybe $10,000 I might consider it, but at $20,000 extra I think it's a cash grab joke. Also, I remember when Tesla refreshed the Model S, the Plaid was not only $50k more than the standard Models S, but cost $150K. Today, Tesla offers an even better Plaid model for $84,490. 

As they say, 'Good things come to those who wait'. I still plan to purchase a CyberTruck in the future, assuming Tesla and Elon don't do something else to completely turn me off...That being said, I still believe the CyberTruck is by far and away the coolest car ever made and objectively the best designed.

3 Design Issues

There were three inherent challenges with my original design, I kept studying and wrestling with until I resolved them in order to consider my JAKEe CyberTruck Wrap Design Reference to be complete, but as of this writing I feel confident that have all been resolved.

The first two issues were:

Design Issue 1: Should I wrap the frunk hood in black, or leave it silver? I created the renders above and below to resolve the issue of whether or not to wrap the frunk lid. In other words, I believe it looks way better with the frunk hood wrapped in black than left in silver. Just to elaborate, I will share a specific set of images that perfectly illustrate my point:

This first image shows a pre-production CyberTruck prototype when they first showed it off with the new production style rectangular mirrors.

The image below shows what it would look like by wrapping the entire bottom of the CyberTruck below its waistline as a two-tone CyberTruck, but leaving the frunk hood in bare stainless steel. It looks ok, as it essentially splits the CyberTruck in half and gives it a two-tone look.

This next image shows what the CyberTruck looks like with the frunk hood wrapped in black, which to my way of thinking not only completes the look, but looks WAAAAAY better and more finished than without it!!! 

Why? Doing so isolates and delineates or showcases the pyramid shape of the upper half of the CyberTruck much better. Also, I really like how the pyramid ends in the front of the CyberTruck, at the top of the front running light bar, which looks geometrically cool to me. 

If you add in the fat red stripe as seen in the image below all the radical geometry fits together and is harmonized perfectly!!!!

Design Issue 2: How fat should the red pinstripe be? My original design had a much skinnier fat red stripe, as pictured several pictures above, which kind of drove me crazy, as I thought it looked cool from the side profile, but from the front corner perspective looked half-baked. I experimented with matching the height of the front running light bar and was stunned at how cool it suddenly looked as seen below. From that point forward I made this my standard width in my JAKEe CyberTruck Wrap Design Reference. 

Below we see another render I created from an image I took at the Tesla showroom just after Tesla started showcasing a real production CyberTruck, and it looks awesome with the fatter red stripe.

Pyramid Mismatch

Issue Number 3: The third issue I resolved on Saturday, September 7, 2024, is illustrated below:

There was one design detail I just could not seem to resolve, and that had to do with the sometimes mismatched geometry of the wrapped faux rear sail window as seen in the image below from Tsportline. 

Tsportline recently began offering a solution wrap kit for people who want to add my original rear design panel as seen below. In the image below, it looks fantastic as everything lines up perfectly.

The challenge is that if you look at the CyberTruck from certain angles like the ones below, the rear pyramid wrap window looks geometrically wrong, as if it's mismatched...This has to do with the way the light bounces off the outside window ledge or window sill in certain lighting conditions...[Update: After much careful evaluation I think the rear faux panel pictured below was not applied or cut correctly. I plan to reach out to Tsportsline soon to ask them to clarify this issue].

If we take a closer look, at the image below it reveals what might causing this a mismatch, and that is the fact there is a ledge or window sill that is silver, and if you look at the CyberTruck from certain angles—in certain lighting conditions—the bottom line on the rear wrap panel does not jibe properly with the silver ledge.

In the photo above it looks good as your mind can easily resolve the detail, but in the image below the apparent optical illusion mismatch is obvious, and it makes it look defective. [Once again, as previously mentioned, I think this part was defectively applied or cut].

We see the same thing in the photo below, where the waistline window sill is silver so it clashes with the rear pyramid wrap panel.

The photo below really showcases and illustrates the issue perfectly, and shows how it should benefit significantly with my solution coming up soon:

This last image shows the optical illusion mismatch issue from the front perspective, but the more I examine this image, the more I think somebody at Tsportline made an editing error, as it's geometry is not consistent with the rest of the renders, in the sense the bottom of the pyramid wrap is cut off and wavy in its bottom.

The Solution!

I was playing around with the image below for my Part 3 story on the Two Tone CyberTruck, and my intent was to modify it to follow my original JAKEe CyberTruck wrap design, and I had a major design epiphany!!!

Obviously I wrapped the Funk hood (as seen below), but my epiphany came from attempting to add the rear pyramid window wrap panel that completes the side pyramid geometry. The challenge is if you simply add on a triangle shape it can conflict with the rest of the window shape and look off or wrong from certain angles, as I just illustrated with the Tsportline images seen above in this story.

I experimented with wrapping the entire exterior window shelf in black which I believe completely resolved the issue as it compliments and completes the look so it now looks great from all angles!!! I noticed wrapping the silver window sill in the same color black as the rear faux window pyramid also adds another level of 3-Dimensionality to my JAKEe CyberTruck Wrap Design Reference, as it seemingly appears to isolate the complete pyramid window shape section that much more—as seen below.

CyberTruck Wrap above features eye-liner bottom ledge wrapped in black on outer window sill 

I created the image below to illustrate or show the difference. In other words, the image below simply adds additional pyramid wrap shapes to the back of the CyberTruck to complete the pyramid geometry, but the challenge is that from some angles it can look off or wrong as the exterior window ledge geometry does not match perfectly in certain lighting conditions, but in my enhanced image seen above, by wrapping that entire outer window edge in black, it cohesively perfects the geometry from all angles!!!! 

So, for the first time in years, I am officially updating and making a significant improvement to my original JAKEe CyberTruck Wrap design, and when I finally get my CyberTruck I will obviously incorporate this feature as well. 

I was thinking about it, and for some reason the analogy that pops into my head for the improved design above is like eye-liner, which accents the window by pulling attention to it. It's like the picture below has mascara, but no eye-liner, but the render above adds the necessary eye-liner to complete the effect and give it a deeper and more popping 3-Directional look.

CyberTruck Wrap above lacks eye-liner bottom ledge on outer silver window sill 

Ironically, the more I stare at and study this one little, subtle detail, the more I realize how invaluable it is to completing the design reference!!!! How did I figure this out? A friend of mine has a CyberTruck, and I spent some time studying the window geometry to better understand exactly what was causing the sometimes apparent mismatch, and I realized it had to do with how the light was hitting and reflecting off the silver colored stainless steel window sill...