Even as the Tesla Cybertruck debuted nearly a year and a half ago, many believed it would not make it into production without major design changes. Today, Elon Musk announced another controversial decision that may or may not pass the test of time.
Earlier Cybertruck variants had already been remodeled to simplify production processes and downsized to pass under most conventional tunnels. Now, Musk has stated that the Cybertruck would ship without any kind of door handles at all.
The latest prototypes we saw all had slide-out handles – concealed, but not fully removed. Getting rid of them would create a number of security issues and necessitate designing an alternative door opening mechanism for the emergency case when the door becomes stuck.
The latest Model S and Model X software updates let the cars guess whether their drivers want to go forward or reverse. Perhaps the Cybertruck will receive a similar level of autonomy, along with additional cameras that would scan the area around the truck and only unlock the doors when it is safe to exit or enter. We likely won’t know until much closer to production, though.