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Light bar animation, glowing red eyes of the cyber owl and suspension at startup (video)

Theo

The Cybertruck has a light bar animation when the doors are unlocked

We’ve taken another look into the future of Tesla’s Cybertruck. Shortly before the highly anticipated delivery date on November 30th, the stainless steel beast is now available in showrooms in the US and Canada. Even now, just a few days before the big event, the Cybertruck still has surprises in store.

The Cybertruck Owl: A nod to personalization

A recent sighting of oh my god, Tesla has revealed more elements. The Cybertruck owl will appear on the infotainment system screen while Sentry Mode is activated. It’s a unique element that adds a personal touch to the Cybertruck’s already over-the-top interior experience. Everyone loves the owl, as the t-shirt has been sold out in all sizes for months.

Light bar animation and suspension at start-up

It’s hard to say which is the most iconic symbol of the Cybertruck, but in fact it’s the headlights and a straight light bar above the front bumper that symbolize this truck. The vehicle’s light bar is activated when the vehicle is unlocked, and seeing this bar turn on when the driver gets in is a real eye-catcher.

Additionally, the Cybertruck’s suspension behavior stood out. The truck raises itself to a medium suspension position once the driver gets into the vehicle and presumably touches the brake. This observation also suggests that the Cybertruck defaults to the lowest suspension setting when parked. While it’s unclear if this is a standard feature or customizable, it certainly answers questions some of the less tall potential owners had about getting into the beast.

Understanding Tesla’s suspension philosophy

There are many things that make the Cybertruck stand out from the crowd, but the suspension is undoubtedly a head-turner. Viewers of the video often confused the truck’s medium suspension setting for the highest due to the impressive height.

A few months ago MunroLive provided a deeper understanding of Tesla’s suspension strategy. Unlike competitors like Rivian, Tesla seems to favor a robust yet straightforward design, as evidenced by the presence of a stabilizer bar and a dynamic damping actuator.

Munro Lives The analysis places emphasis on high-strength materials that balance weight and durability. The unique design and layout of suspension components, engineered for both on-road comfort and off-road capability, underscore Tesla’s commitment to efficiency and performance.

The latest sightings and glimpses of the Cybertruck’s features, such as the adaptive light bar and suspension, reinforce Tesla’s reputation as an innovative carmaker. With the delivery event just around the corner, Tesla fans and potential customers can look forward to a powerful, efficient vehicle with unique, user-focused features.

Tesla recently made headlines for purchasing about $2 million worth of LiDAR sensors from Luminar, one of Tesla’s long-time suppliers. You’ve probably seen photos of Tesla’s Semi and various Tesla models, including the Model 3 and Model Y with LIDAR equipment on the roof. These cars drive around with manufacturer plates, scanning streets and highways.

However, many people confuse Tesla’s intention to purchase LiDAR devices with using them for FSD rather than testing. So let’s look at what LiDAR is and why Tesla uses it on its Fleet Validation Vehicles.

What is LiDAR?

LiDAR stands for Light detection and distance measurement – essentially laser is used to measure distance. A laser pulse is sent out and the time it takes to return is measured. This enables extremely accurate distance measurements.

Some companies working on self-driving vehicles, including Waymo and BYD, use LiDAR as part of their self-driving suites, but Tesla is one of the few frontrunners that doesn’t. Even Rimac’s “Verne” robotaxi — which uses self-driving technology from Mobileye — uses LiDAR.

Although LiDAR can produce extremely accurate and high-quality 3D environments, it also has its drawbacks. Not only is LiDAR expensive and requires large equipment attached to a vehicle, but it cannot be used in bad weather and can cause interference problems when other strong light sources are present.

Why does Tesla use LiDAR?

A LiDAR rig mounted on a Tesla Semi for testing FSD.

At Autonomy Day 2019, Elon Musk mentioned that LiDAR is not the solution for self-driving cars – it is just a crutch. Tesla has therefore not used LiDAR for any production software for self-driving cars.

Instead, Tesla uses it exactly as it is described – they use it to collect baseline data. This data is then used to feed Tesla’s fully autonomous driving system – which helps confirm the accuracy of its vision-only system. LiDAR provides very precise measurements to ensure FSD’s spatial perception is accurate – and is used by Tesla only to ensure its AI technology, which is the brains of FSD, is able to accurately interpret depth from visual data alone.

Tesla’s vision-only system is considered to be extremely precise. With Vision-only Autopark, it can even park in tighter and more compact parking spaces faster than the previous version, which was based on ultrasonic sensors.

We will likely see Tesla purchasing LiDAR systems and using them for validation in the future.

A report from Bloomberg claims that Tesla will postpone its highly anticipated 8/8 robotaxi event by two months to October 2024.

Although sources other than Bloomberg have not confirmed this report, Bloomberg has a positive track record of reporting on financial decisions. We will be sure to update the article if there is any confirmation on X from Elon Musk or any other senior Tesla official.

Tesla shares fell nearly 8.5% on the day, ending two consecutive gains over the past two weeks. They closed yesterday at $241 after reaching a high of $270 earlier in the day before the news broke.

Why the delay?

The delay of about two months was communicated internally but not yet announced publicly. Bloomberg further mentions that the design team was instructed to rework certain elements of the Cybercab, which made the delay necessary.

If Bloomberg’s report is correct, it seems like Tesla’s unveiling event will be primarily focused on showcasing the vehicle rather than demonstrating how it will work. Of course, it could still be both, but in the past Tesla has always unveiled the vehicle years ahead of production.

Rimac recently unveiled its version of a robotaxi vehicle called Verne, which, surprisingly, could almost pass as Tesla’s own robotaxi. Many design elements in Rimac’s version are elements we’ve already seen or expect in Tesla’s autonomous taxi.

A recently published Tesla patent has revealed that Tesla is building a hygiene system into its robotaxi that will be responsible for analyzing and cleaning the vehicle’s interior, but the delay itself is likely due to a physical property rather than software.

Another element we know almost nothing about is how Tesla plans to charge these robotaxis. Will they rely on the existing charging port and adapt a solution like the robot charging arm (video below) we saw almost eight years ago, or will wireless charging or a docking station finally be realized?

While the delay of Tesla’s event seems to be related to the design of the vehicle itself and not the further development of FSD, Tesla is wasting no time in getting FSD up and running for the upcoming vehicle. Model 3 vehicles have already been spotted with camera positions that resemble a robotaxi.

Is the delay accurate?

We suspect that this delay may actually be true – Elon Musk usually refutes X within a few hours of such news becoming known when it is false and has not done so yet.

Tesla has postponed several of its events in the past, and a delay of a few months seems plausible. We should soon hear from Musk himself whether this report is true.

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