SpaceX Mars/Moon rover

[DistantTemple]

An alternative "van" version, for on and off Earth, could keep the exact style and shape up to the horizontal "chine" (that runs down the sides), but above this have a full length van body, with even standing headroom, or at least "transit" height. The design could be angular like NASA's mobile HAB/rover ideas, and still be a recognisable variant, or part of the "Cyber" family.
This would be a major change, but leaving all of the body below the chine alone, where all the suspension, motors, electronics, battery mounting etc etc are would limit the manufactring, and part-count differences drastically. It would also make an amazing camper.

[gaballard]

It does look like some crossover hybrid of a Humvee and a DeLorean. Musk was boasting that the ultra-hard steel shell was somewhat bulletproof (which is more than can be said of a basic Humvee).
Maybe that would make them micrometeoroid-resistant as well.

I was thinking that the rubber tires would have to be replaced with a more metallized version to withstand the off-world environment.

Perhaps the interior cabin environment isn't so large as to require a more spherical shape to contain atmospheric pressure.
Shouldn't an off-world rover necessarily have a larger interior volume?

I was imagining that those flat angular top surfaces would be fitted with solar panels for recharging in situ.

How about a bulldozer variant for clearing and preparing surfaces as landing pads?

Wouldn't they have to seriously limit the speed on the vehicle, to avoid launching off the bumpy ground in lower gravity environments like the Moon or Mars?

The windows are (supposedly... not necessarily demonstrated) unbreakable glass... that, along with the thick steel make sense for a pressure vessel (obviously not as-is, but they're thinking along those lines).

Not to mention it's built from the same stainless steel variant as Starship... would make it easy to repair one with scraps from a permanently grounded SS, or vice versa.

I could see them using the Cybertruck "skateboard" (the battery, motor and wheels) to transfer cargo containers to/from a landing site and colony. Make them sized to the skate, lift them down with a crane, and off they go. Put a pressure vessel on top if you want a rover. Good point about having to limit the power... although I would really, really love to see one of these just go full throttle on the Moon. Could it hit orbital/escape velocity if a crater wall is used as a ramp? Now that's a thread...

[Ludus]

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.motortrend.com/news/tesla-cybertruck-electric-pickup-engineering-manufacturing/amp/

There maybe some counterintuitive stainless steel engineering going on here too. That faceted brutalist look seems to arise from a very different approach to manufacturing like steel origami.

[Rocket Science]

The Tesla Truck definitely looks like a Mars/moon rover. The Tesla armor glass is very interesting, albeit it provided an embarrassment at the reveal when the truck window broke. The demonstration of the toughness of the steel was impressive though.

My comment on YouTube on the reveal was "someone forgot to remove the protective shipping container off the truck..." YMMV...

[Eka]

Needs a bigger cab for EVA suits.

[DrakeF]

Yes and no about needing to be bigger for EVA suits. The new EVA suits that NASA was designing were capable of being mounted on the exterior of a vehicle. So technically they could make it more of a van instead of truck and still have a pressurized airlock where they can get into the suits from the interior of the Cybertruck and detach from the truck and reattach when they are coming back to the truck. It would require someone staying inside the truck to repressurize before the others get out of the EVA suits but is an option

[Nomadd]

 Did they hire the old Pontiac Aztec design team or the prop crew from a low budget, 70s, post apacolyptic sci-fi movie?

[RotoSequence]

Did they hire the old Pontiac Aztec design team or the prop crew from a low budget, 70s, post apacolyptic sci-fi movie?

I figure the vehicle is one part retro-futurism whimsy, one part love of stainless steel, and one part "hey, we can build this with almost no capital investment in manufacturing infrastructure."

[Patchouli]

Most of the stuff would have to be changed to operate in a vacuum environment.
The batteries and motor controller might be able to be adapted but you'll need a new cooling system,place the batteries in an insulated box like the Lunar rover and Mars rovers, and the electronics of the motor controller would have to be redone to use a cold plate or placed inside a pressurized container.
Once you're done little of the original vehicle would be left in an unaltered state and you would have been better off starting with a clean sheet.

[Lampyridae]

Its purpose is more to generate sales on Earth for being a Moon/Mars pickup truck. But I'm sure they've designed it to be able to take vacuum modifications. And SpaceX is constantly iterating anyway.

[Star One]

Elon tweeted this out which rather gives the game away as the future he’s designing with both the Cybertruck and Starship so I wouldn’t be surprised to see vehicles on other planets following the same design route.


https://mobile.twitter.com/i/web/status/1198088393676058625

It’s a link to this article.

https://amp.businessinsider.com/blade-runners-syd-mead-says-cybertruck-exceeds-expectations-2019-11

As an aside is the same steel that Starship is being made out of?

[CJ]

I've never been a Tesla fan (electric cars aren't my thing) but, the Cybertruck amazed me. I love the look of the design, a lot, and the 16 inch ground clearance a massive allure to someone like me who offroads a lot. The CG looks to be lower than on an SUV, another big plus for offroading. If it wasn't for the no-dashboard center mount screen and it being a "connected" car, I'd have probably bought one. (I do think that they deserve massive credit for doing something unusual and different). The biggest plus factor for me: the 16 inch ground clearance (assuming it can take the punishment of going on jeep trails, etc) with all wheel drive.

It's that offroading capability (assumed at this point) that makes me think the Cybertruck could be the basis for a lunar or martian rover. That's what's needed on the moon or on mars; an offroad electric vehicle. The suspension would have to be changed a lot to be good in the lower G, and I know there would need to be adaptions for battery temp issues, vacuum tolerance, etc, and the streamlined body could be changed to something more useful (seeing as how air drag is not a problem), maybe make a van out of it - a pressurized van, with a suit port (EVA suit stays outside).

For a near-the-base runabout though, I think it masses a lot more than something at least as as suitable; an open, light electric vehicle similar to the Apollo lunar rovers.

[hamerad]

I suspect they never tried that test on the actual truck, just drop tests and throws at a separate truck door. The stainless steel body would hold the glass rigidly in place not letting any energy dissipate with movement.
 
The same stainless steel alloy used for Starship.

Apparantly they did test it before though.

https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1198090787520598016?

Franz throws steel ball at Cybertruck window right before launch. Guess we have some improvements to make before production haha.

[RoboGoofers]

From a practical standpoint, the boring company pods make more sense as people movers on Mars. Make them out of stainless with an airlock. Plenty of room to suit up, no need for a driver's seat ("Where we're going we won't need drivers"). It just needs a higher ground clearance for Mars.

Consider also that Tesla trains its autopilot on data from the car fleet, so the value of the CT comes from offroading data for autopilot. The maintenance logs for the trucks will also be invaluable for making a robust Mars Rover.

[oiorionsbelt]

It sounds as though the cyber truck is not based off the same "skateboard" chassis as Teslas other vehicles are. The stainless body paneling is the structural "backbone/chassis"

[testguy]

At least for me, I see similarities to the F-117 design.  I wonder what included angles the sheet metal forms?  Just joking!

[lamontagne]

Although I prefer the Semi truck base as a platform, there is a lot to be said for a smaller truck that could haul a base camp on a trailer.  The base camp could include a large solar cell array, and could supply a number of trucks and small ATVs for intensive exploration. 
The truck could also pull a drill rig for water exploration.
The large semi based vehicles would come later for resource extraction and heavier work.
This is particularly true for Mars, much more difficult on the Moon, due to the long, cold night.

[Twark_Main]

...
I was imagining that those flat angular top surfaces would be fitted with solar panels for recharging in situ.
...

Seems Elon is on the same page. https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1197889310550216704

...
As an aside is the same steel that Starship is being made out of?

Yes it's the same steel. During the Cybertruck unveiling Elon said, quoting exactly, "it's ultra-hard, cold-rolled stainless steel alloy that we've developed. We're going to be using the same alloy in the Starship rocket and in the Cybertruck."

[raketa]

Bit off-topic, but I could see the military interested in the tri-motor variant for terrestrial applications. Pricing and range are very impressive (also very very fast).

Some of those features may make it attractive for space applications as well.

I don’t know much about EV/battery technology. Only that cold weather is a challenge. Can someone more knowledge speak to whether one of these could be delivered to the moon on a Starship and used as an unpressurized rover as-is? Would electronics require rad hardening to survive?

As far as competitors, I recall some recent press releases about JAXA and Toyota working on a rover.

Battery actually has no trouble with cold when not used.
When they start to be charged or discharged they have to be warm up to temperature around 24C. Tesla make this technology better with every new car.

[Twark_Main]

Bit off-topic, but I could see the military interested in the tri-motor variant for terrestrial applications. Pricing and range are very impressive (also very very fast).

Some of those features may make it attractive for space applications as well.

I don’t know much about EV/battery technology. Only that cold weather is a challenge. Can someone more knowledge speak to whether one of these could be delivered to the moon on a Starship and used as an unpressurized rover as-is? Would electronics require rad hardening to survive?

As far as competitors, I recall some recent press releases about JAXA and Toyota working on a rover.

Battery actually has no trouble with cold when not used.
When they start to be charged or discharged they have to be warm up to temperature around 24C. Tesla make this technology better with every new car.

This is not accurate. Tesla batteries are actually far better than that.

Tesla lithium-ion batteries are capable of discharging even when below freezing (yes the cold reduces range, but the car doesn't stop working). But lithium-ion batteries should not be charged below that temperature, or else it will damage the cell. At low temperatures the Tesla software will first limit regenerative braking power, and then it will disable regenerative braking altogether (the dreaded  "dashed line").

Tesla diagnostic screens from different cars show different temperature numbers, but the "heat to" temperature is between -10C and 8C, and the "cool to" temperature is roughly 50C (though it will begin passive cooling with the radiator at 30-40C).