Tesla Chose Unibody over Frame for CyberTruck. Why?

Question

I was chatting with a friend about Land Rover and Range Rover. And he said that the newer Land Rovers are all unibody and completely denounced them.Otoh, Tesla Cybertruck supposed to be competing with a F150 is Uni body. Why? Aren&rsquo;t trucks safer with Body on Frame?Or is there something special about Cybertruck design?

Andys · Accepted Answer

Here's how I see it: the Cybertruck is more of a "sports lifestyle" truck and less of a daily utility work-horse.
It isn't going to be feasible to tow trailers or carry bulky payloads in the tray on a regular basis. Traditional trucks are good at those things, but have terrible aerodynamics compared to a car-like construction.
Going with unibody will make it easier for Tesla to manufacture using the techniques they already have working well, as well as take care of creating the battery storage bay at the base in one swoop.

brudgers · Answer

Unibody can provide a lower floor height than body on frame. For a pickup that means bed height and with a load that means a lower center of gravity (and easier loading/unloading by hand). For an electric vehicle, there's not a lot of reason to provide a drive shaft from front to back, so the depth of the frame has even less rationale. The same is true if the vehicle is front wheel drive as is the case for Ram Promaster (Fiat Ducato) cargo vans.
And the Ram Promaster is a real truck available as 1/2, 3/4, and one ton ratings. All are rated at 5000lbs towing capacity and 11,000lbs GVW. Even available as chassis only.
There's folk wisdom and then there's automotive engineering.