Tesla Ought to Accomplice With Shiftpod for CyberTent 2.0

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It’s removed from a secret that I’m not the Cybertruck’s largest fan. I don’t hate the truck or suppose individuals who love them needs to be shamed or something like that, however on the identical time, it’s simply not the truck for me. Once I do ultimately get an electrical truck, I’ll possible go for a used F-150 Lightning or Silverado EV (relying on how my funds and automobile depreciation go within the subsequent few years).

Whereas I don’t personally like the best way the truck appears to be like (and my performance considerations don’t actually have an effect on the business like they used to), I do personal one thing else that has a really related shiny, low-poly design:

The pictured tent known as a Shiftpod. It’s offered in three sizes, with this one being the medium. There’s additionally a small tent that’s laid out as a sq., and an enormous XL mannequin wherein you might park a small truck. It was initially designed to behave as a shelter for folks attending Burning Man and different festivals, and was designed to mirror away the new desert solar. It’s additionally insulated, has provisions for working an air conditioner or heater (one thing I do), and could be arrange to make use of convection to ventilate the shelter if you happen to don’t need to run an AC.

Extra importantly, although, it units up FAST.

There’s no must spherical up the tent poles, push them by channels, and wrestle with setup if it’s raining or windy. You merely climb in, push on the roof and partitions, and pop them into place. Should you’re anticipating wind or tremendous scorching climate, you may also stake it down or add the “blast defend” tarp excessive to mirror extra photo voltaic vitality away. However, on many tenting journeys, I don’t must do both of these issues.

Whereas the partitions are pretty skinny, the insulation remains to be fairly good. In truth, typically it’s too good at trapping physique warmth inside. There have been occasions when it was somewhat chilly exterior and I used to be working the air conditioner a bit to chill issues off earlier than needing to modify to warmth pump within the pre-dawn hours. In 80+ diploma climate, the within is fairly insupportable until you have got a fan to attract in recent air and push physique warmth out.

I personally use an EcoFlow Wave 2 AC and warmth pump powered by both 1200 watts of photo voltaic panels or my EV’s battery, however there are different choices. Many individuals run a twin hose AC unit on a generator at Burning Man, whereas different folks construct a small evaporative (aka “swamp”) cooler that requires rather a lot much less electrical energy. It’s additionally useful to droop shade cloths or tarps above the tent to offer some room for air circulation, with the most cost effective/simplest way to do that being pool noodles underneath the blast defend.

When tenting time is over, it’s fairly simple to take the shelter again down and put it away. You merely push the partitions and roof again in, let the air out, fold it up, and put it again within the bag. The bag even has tiedowns inside to assist compress the shelter down inside to make it simple to zip it up. Like every tent, you do should be careful for moisture and let it dry out later if it’s important to put it away moist.

Tesla Wants To Accomplice With Shiftpod To Make A Higher CyberTent

It appears fairly apparent that the Shiftpod and Cybertruck are an aesthetic match. The silvery colour, the low-poly form, the angles — all of them simply go so properly collectively. The Shiftpod wouldn’t look misplaced in any respect in a campsite subsequent to the truck. Individuals who aren’t conversant in Shiftpods would most likely suppose it’s a Tesla tent made to match the truck!

However Tesla has an issue on its fingers that might profit from a tighter integration: setup time.

As you may see, the CyberTent is rather a lot like a standard tent. It has poles, tie downs, and such, however is somewhat higher than common with its inflatable help construction. One other upside is that it additionally has a platform so that you could nonetheless preserve issues like a camp kitchen beneath. All in all, it’s not a foul product in any respect, however it falls wanting the convenience of setup that the majority rooftop tent homeowners take pleasure in as of late. Worse, it’s simply not an excellent match for the Cybertruck’s appears to be like. It’s large and spherical, canvas, and appears much more like a nineteenth century coated wagon than a twenty first century cyberpunk Tesla truck.

It wouldn’t be that onerous to make a CyberTent 2.0 that really appears to be like “cyber.” If Tesla was to work with Shiftpod, it might be simple to make one thing that each matches the Cybertruck and units up manner sooner. The roof of the tent may pop up similar to a Shiftpod roof, and the edges may come out equally. This could solely go away the necessity to connect the roof and sides to the truck to maintain it from being blown away.

This could have a number of purposeful benefits over the present CyberTent design. First off, you’d push out some partitions, strap it down, and be good to go. It will even have higher insulation than a canvas or nylon tent facet, making for higher use of HVAC sources that is perhaps directed into the tent (one thing Tesla ought to take into account). The prevailing platform (a wonderful design) needs to be saved, and can be proper at residence underneath a distinct tent prime.

One other good thing that might come from a partnership with Shiftpod is a much better awning. The corporate already makes a “connector” between tents that may act as a “vestibule” if there’s not a tent on the opposite finish. A taller model may simply create a sheltered porch for a CyberTent that’s extra inflexible, sooner to arrange, and requires no staking when hooked up to the again of the truck and tent. It would even be attainable to make use of it as a tunnel to plain Shiftpods to make room for extra household on the campsite.

Should you work at Tesla and skim this, make sure you attain out to Shiftpod!

Photos by Jennifer Sensiba.