A Cybertruck ‘blew up’ outside Trump’s hotel in Las Vegas

    • Boddhisatva@lemmy.world
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      8 days ago

      From another article

      While some early Tesla models, including the Model S, were prone to spontaneously catch fire if they suffered underbody damage, it’s unlikely the Cybertruck, which has been recalled seven times since it went on sale in November 2023, was released with a similar flaw.

      Nah, no chance a cybertruck would have the same flaw. No chance at all, am I right?

      • justOnePersistentKbinPlease@fedia.io
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        8 days ago

        It has a whole new set of flaws that result in the same outcome.

        Saw one in daylight for the first time yesterday. They’re so big they don’t fit in Costco’s ridiculously oversized parking stalls.

          • Cocodapuf@lemmy.world
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            8 days ago

            Is that bad? (Actual question) I mean the f-150 is probably the most popular truck model ever. So I wouldn’t think it’s an unfavorable comparison.

            • NotMyOldRedditName@lemmy.world
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              8 days ago

              I don’t think it’s bad that its smaller than a F150. People like to harp on it though as if it’s this massive monstrosity like OP without realizing it’s the size of the most popular truck. I see F150’s parked at Costco just fine all the time.

              Should all trucks be smaller? Sure, maybe, but I wouldn’t really hold the CT’s size against it. It’s also much shorter than other trucks at least at the front which is better for safety in general (even if you think the Cybertruck isn’t safe, being shorter is still safer). I’ve seen some trucks where their front flat grill is up to my neck. It’s kinda ridiculous.

              • Rhaedas@fedia.io
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                8 days ago

                It looked bigger, and given everything else about it the turn radius probably sucks too, so might as well be huge. I’d give credit if it was due, and was actually excited when Tesla first announced they’d do a truck…thinking of all the possibilities that everyone else thought. What we got was not that.

                • NotMyOldRedditName@lemmy.world
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                  8 days ago

                  In case you would miss an edit…

                  Re: One of the best turning radius due to 4 wheel steering

                  Turning Circle from Motor Trend

                  F150 Lightning 48.0 ft

                  Rivian 44.9 ft

                  CT 43.5 ft

                  Edit (not from MotorTrend but GMs site): Silverado EV - 42.16 ft (also has 4 wheel steering)

              • GiuseppeAndTheYeti@midwest.social
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                8 days ago

                The being made of steel and featuring sharp angles makes the whole ‘being lower is safer point’ moot. It would cut people in half if it hits them at speed.

                • NotMyOldRedditName@lemmy.world
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                  8 days ago

                  We’ll have to see what the impact damage from that actually ends up being after collisions, but with the lower front and sloped hood/windshield, there’s the possibility of a better chance of being maimed from the steel and thrown onto the windshield, than rammed into, knocked over, and then driven over by a flat high front.

                  Some people would choose maimed over the more likely dead from the tall flat fronts. But some people might not want the maiming it will possibly do either.

                  If it isn’t enough to throw you onto the windshield though, then you’ll be maimed AND run over ;)

                  Edits for clarity, but also, I’ve wondered if this lower bumper is to reduce the SS impact and try to get you onto the hood? Also for all trucks with adjustable suspensions, I think a great pedestrian feature would be to drop the front immediately upon detection of imminent pedestrian impact. I don’t know how fast they could lower it in an emergency, but any amount should help.

          • justOnePersistentKbinPlease@fedia.io
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            7 days ago

            F-150 has a turning radius of 27.3 feet, length of 232 inches, width of 80 inches. Hummer EV has a turning radius of 37 feet, length of 206 inches, width of 93.7 inches Rivian R1T has a turning radius of 22.3 feet, length of 217 inches width of 81.8

            Cybertruck has a turning radius of 43.5 feet, length of 231 inches, width of 77 inches.

            Okay, so the length “advantage” it has over the F-150 is roughly 0.4% of their length.

            It is very slightly thinner than its competition, but its turning radius is 18% larger than its nearest competitor, which is the absolutely massive Hummer EV

            In compairson to the f-150, it is 60% larger, and only has a bed capacity of 52.2 cubic feet(within the roller door) compared to the F150s 52.8 cubic feet.

            Cybertruck bed capacity made from calculating the area of the bed that fits inside the roller door and tailgate.

            • NotMyOldRedditName@lemmy.world
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              7 days ago

              I think you might be mixing up units for the turning radius between the f150/rivian and the CT

              MotorTrend has the turning circle listed as

              F150 Lightning 48.0 ft

              Rivian 44.9 ft

              CT 43.5 ft

              Meanwhile the GM site says the Silverado EV is 42.16ft

              So your 2 numbers for F150/Rivian aren’t the same measurement as the CT 43.5

              Edit: Also the size comparison wasn’t about being an advatange or not, it was the person mocking the CT size when it was smaller than the countries best selling vehicle and favorite truck.

              Edit: And worth noting that the CT, Silverado and Hummer all have the better turning circles because of their 4 wheel steering. The hummer is 25 inches shorter, leading to its best score. The silverado is a couple inches longer, and has a tighter circle which is a nice job.

      • Buffalox@lemmy.world
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        8 days ago

        Probably even MORE likely, since these trucks are way less safety regulated than normal cars.

      • Cocodapuf@lemmy.world
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        8 days ago

        Well, it’s certainly a different beast. Being a pickup, the chassis is higher off the ground than other teslas. The problem with other teslas was insufficient armor on the underbody, so road debris could puncture through the vehicle and damage batteries. On a pickup there’s both more room for (essentially) an armor plate and any debris would have to punch much higher up.

        All and all, these kinds of battery fires should be much less likely to occur on a truck than on a sedan.

        Edit: Upon actually watching that press conference from the sheriff and fire marshall, it seems clear to me from the language they’re using, that they’re treating this explosion as likely an intentional act. And I have to say, there’s a lot of damning evidence in that truck bed.

        • NotMyOldRedditName@lemmy.world
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          8 days ago

          The battery pack also has a substantial amount of room between the bottom and the cells. It was so much, that at first people thought that was room for the double stack battery they had originally planned, but it turned out to not be enough space, and is just there to vent gas if cells catch on fire, and more room before a puncture during offroading can reach a cell.

      • Revan343@lemmy.ca
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        8 days ago

        I mean yeah, it’s pretty unlikely, or we’d probably have seen more of these fires already.

        My money is on the owner doing/transporting something stupid. Stupider than buying a cybertruck, I mean

    • Cocodapuf@lemmy.world
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      8 days ago

      Well, that is funny.

      However the battery didn’t explode, the truck bed was full of gasoline cans and fireworks.

      And the steel body of the truck bed actually did a great job of containing the explosion, focusing it mostly upward. The sheriff points out that the windows in the all glass front of that hotel weren’t even shattered because the blast was so well contained by the truck.

            • AbidanYre@lemmy.world
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              8 days ago

              He was almost defeated by a glass of water and a slight incline the last time he was president and his brain is pretty clearly Swiss cheese.

              Good healthcare has its limits.

            • mister_flibble@lemm.ee
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              8 days ago

              Even the best health care is only as good as the patient’s willingness to listen to an expert. Unless there’s some poor intern being tasked with wrapping Donvict’s meds in cheese so he’ll swallow them, that might not matter.

            • atzanteol@sh.itjust.works
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              8 days ago

              More money does not mean better treatment per se. The standard of care is the same for rich and poor. He may be able to get more doctor opinions and have an easier time getting meds/etc. though.

                • atzanteol@sh.itjust.works
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                  8 days ago

                  “Oh, I see that you’re a rich - come with me to the executive wing of the hospital where we keep the cures”

                  No - the standard of care is not defined based on who or how much you have. You treat the same disease with the same treatment. Rich people can just afford treatments easier.

  • andyortlieb@lemmy.sdf.org
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    8 days ago

    The weirdest thing about a cybertruck bomb is that the world has become so shit that it’s not even interesting. Like, I just cannot care because every day something insane happens.

    That’s the real fucking signal IMO.

  • BadlyTimedLuck@lemmy.world
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    7 days ago

    Wait, your telling me this was on purpose? I just thought the cyberjunk was so shit, someone visiting the building just HAPPENED to blow up

    • hansolo@lemm.ee
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      7 days ago

      There are reports of a firework mortar and gas canister in the back. Looks very intentional and showy from the video. Stupid way to end one’s life, but that was part of it I think as well.

  • moopet@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    7 days ago

    It’s like the opposite of early-2000s games, where the car models had an ever-growing poly count but the fire was still an animated 2d sprite.

  • Fedizen@lemmy.world
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    7 days ago

    Says a lot that like nobody knew what to make of it until the propane tanks were found.

    Its still unclear if the driver intended for it to explode or if somebody tossed a bunch of flammables in the back and the truck lit it.

    • hansolo@lemm.ee
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      7 days ago

      Thinking this through, they probably filled the car with gas until they couldn’t breathe and then hit the firework mortar to set it all off. Also gives them a higher chance of ending it all then, as opposed to the “oops, all fire!” version, which would have been a lingering way to go.

  • tal@lemmy.today
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    8 days ago

    The glass doors right next to the vehicle look intact in the image, so I can’t imagine that the explosion was very large.

    • orclev@lemmy.world
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      8 days ago

      I don’t think it actually “exploded”, just caught fire. So you know, standard behavior for a Tesla.

      • kinkles@sh.itjust.works
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        8 days ago

        There’s a video out now. It definitely exploded, but from my amateur digital forensics it looks like it was the result of a trunk full of fireworks instead of the car itself. I could be wrong.