Why the third motor? One for each of the front wheels and one for the rear?

Think the end of the article pretty much nails it.

Tesla needed to install and remove it at a service center. Owners couldn’t remove them themselves. I think it was pretty much dead on arrival at $16,000.

But I think it could also be as simple as it’s not worth producing due to demand – both due to insufficient people reserving it and not enough Cybertruck buyers to create a market for the range extender.

Therefore, the range extender is dead for the same reason that the Cybertruck RWD now has the same battery pack as the AWD instead of a smaller pack for less money: the Cybertruck is a commercial flop, and it’s not a high-volume program enough to justify making several battery pack sizes, including a removable one.

Two in the back, one in the front.
There's also a two and four motor version.

The dual motor was originally announced at 50k

Single motor rear-wheel drive with 250 miles of range, 7,500-pound towing capacity, and 0–60 mph capabilities in under 6.5 seconds, for $39,900

Dual motor all-wheel drive with 300 miles of range, 10,000-pound towing capacity, and 0–60 mph in under 4.5 seconds for $49,900

That makes even less sense. Distributing mechanical power on non steering wheels is easy, but for steering wheels requires a more complex and expensive coupling, as well as power losses. Just... why?

I believe the three motor versions is to add extra power under load to the rear wheels. (A weight/power/range compromise between the 4 and 2 motor versions).

The motors are essentially in line with the wheels (they have gearing but it's minimal and internal to the motor housing, not attached like an automatic transmission would be, if that makes sense.)

The "three motor" design is just the single motor design up front and the dual motor design in the back.

I'm not sure if they ever actually released the single motor version though.

How do you figure dual front motors would alleviate any of what you said a front diff would need? Dual front motors will still be rigidly mounted to the chassis, requiring flexible couplings. The rear is also independent, requiring the same flexible couplings whether it's a diff or motors. CV axles all around. Non-steer wheels still have vertical travel from the suspension.

Well, they can ditch the Hydrogen part, that technology is done

Is it just me, or is musk profiting off of selling people tech before it's actually ready?

Like, we don't have the means right now to achieve what he advertises, so he lies about it and then 'alters the deal' after taking people's money.

I see he took the "Game as a Service" approach but with electric trucks.

Nice.

I'm not a car guy so I don't understand why your view seems to be so popular on the Internet (at least in the Anglosphere).

Is Toyota doing the Sony thing where they double down on a certain — perhaps less practical — format in hopes that it will make them money if/when it gets adopted as an industry standard?

What are you basing that extreme statement on? It seems to be far from a bad product, let alone “one of the worst products in recent history”.

So he learned from the video gaming industry?

Yep.

"Games as a service" are released as a "minimum viable product" to see if it can hook enough suckers to make it profitable enough for the company to finish making.

If there aren't enough saps that take the bait, development ceases and whoever put their faith in the product look like tools.

Basing it on the huge amount of recalls it has had? The fact that it is more dangerous than the Ford Pinto by a wide margin? The fact that the panels are glued on? That if you try to haul something with it you risk tearing it apart? Maybe the fact that it is more expensive than all its competitors while also having worse performance even though it was announced years before any of them?

The bar for cars is so high right now too, like you sit down in a 25k Kia and you’ll hardly miss anything coming from a luxury brand other than the badge and maybe a little bit of engine power.

The “recalls” have all apart from 1, iirc (the accelerator pedal cover), been delivered via OTA software updates. Calling them “recalls” in the first place is a bit silly since they’re not actually recalled.

Many panels in many cars are “glued” on btw. Calling it “glue” is disingenuous too, attempting to make out like it’s not a specific panel bonding adhesive that is used all over the car industry.

I’m assuming you’re talking about the JerryRigEverything video with your “risk testing it apart” comment, right? That was, for lack of a more correct term, complete horseshit. The “test” was “rigged” in a way that it made it seem like it failed when in fact it passed with flying colours, lasting like 10x the quoted force. There’s no real world situation where that failure would happen, because the test exerts pressure in a way that can’t happen in any regular situation a truck can be in.

One thing I don’t think anyone can claim is that the cyber truck has worse performance than its competitors. It’s basically a supercar in terms of performance lol.

I agree the car market is in a great place in terms of build quality and features even on low spec cars, but the Cybertruck still isn’t “one of the worst products in recent memory”, not even close.

If you want a narrative, look at all the full-price $250k Roadster pre-orders they've been holding onto for like 8 years now with zero signs of production and complete silence for the last...5 years?