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U.S. Army confirms Tesla Cybertruck can't be imported in Europe

electrek.co

81–90 of 95 posts

Re: U.S. Army confirms Tesla Cybertruck can't be imported in Europe

#81
post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One very likely drunk US soldier driving a huge American SUV and speeding through a red light in Bucharest killed a famous Romanian musician. The US blocked any attempts of a Romanian investigation and the American investigation found no wrong doing (the musicians much smaller taxi looked like an accordion, I passed on that street after the accident). https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teo_Peter

Speculation, hearsay and edge case. Classic.

Anyone living near an US base has similar stories to tell

Re: U.S. Army confirms Tesla Cybertruck can't be imported in Europe

#82
post #22

It absolutely can be imported and registered.

Afaik there are some ways to get approval for individual vehicles to be imported in the EU, even if non compliant with EU rules, for specific purposes and with a case-by-case basis, which grants such vehicles an exemption.

This requires a per-vehicle (not per model) specific flow which may take long and cost a lot, and you may be fined if you use the vehicle outside its stated purpose.

I can remember some collectors importing cybertruck indeed, I don’t know the limitations for its use.

Re: U.S. Army confirms Tesla Cybertruck can't be imported in Europe

#83
post #61

EU and US testing criteria are very different - in the US, motor vehicles leaving the roadway and impacting stationary objects is the top source of traffic fatalities. In the EU, it's pedestrian impacts (which makes sense corresponding to the urban vs rural environments in each). The EU has very stringent testing for pedestrian safety: https://www.euroncap.com/en/car-safety/the-ratings-explained... . One of the tests…

wonder if importers can qualify the truck for europe? They used to do this for lamborghini countach in the US by adding ridiculous bumpers: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/42/Lamborgh...

It's not _just_ the absurd pointiness; it's also far too heavy. Vehicles over 3.5 tonnes (AIUI the Cybertruck would qualify; while its empty weight is 3.2 tonnes, what matters is the laden weight, and you'd have a hard time arguing that it could only take 300kg contents) in Europe require a speed limiter. The imposed limits vary by country, but would make it pretty impractical as a car. Typically 80km/h on motorways, 50km/h in urban areas.

They also need to beep when they reverse and so forth.

Re: U.S. Army confirms Tesla Cybertruck can't be imported in Europe

#84
post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One very likely drunk US soldier driving a huge American SUV and speeding through a red light in Bucharest killed a famous Romanian musician. The US blocked any attempts of a Romanian investigation and the American investigation found no wrong doing (the musicians much smaller taxi looked like an accordion, I passed on that street after the accident). https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teo_Peter

Speculation, hearsay and edge case. Classic.

> When questioned by State Department security officials, VanGoethem told them he and Wentworth had spent the evening bar-hopping, followed by an early morning pizza at a third Bucharest establishment called Everest.

> VanGoethem also called Wentworth on his cell phone immediately following the collision and asked her to match his lie when she spoke to investigators.

https://www.stripes.com/news/vangoethem-cleared-of-major-cha...

Also, regarding hearsay... I just said that I saw myself the car wreckage the next day. And actually I also saw the metal panel fence next to the road. The Dacia was totaled, smashed like a plastic toy, and the fence next to it was also destroyed due to the Dacia (a much smaller and lighter car) being catapulted onto the fence. It's been a while since I saw it, but that road was dangerous and the direction the SUV was coming from was famous for allowing high speeds. Maybe the taxi driver ran the red light, but that's extremely unlikely as a taxi driver would have been familiar with the risky road and the possibility of getting hit by a car doing 80kmph or more.

Re: U.S. Army confirms Tesla Cybertruck can't be imported in Europe

#85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't care so much about the edges. I'm more worried about the height of these newer trucks and SUVs, which create massive front blindspots. The below report focuses on kids, but I'm an adult and some of these trucks seem taller than me. https://www.wthr.com/article/news/investigations/13-investig...

> I'm more worried about the height of these newer trucks and SUVs, which create massive front blindspots. There's a bit of meme that an M1 Abrams tank has better forward visibility than many SUVs/pickups: * https://old.reddit.com/r/fuckcars/comments/140dgn8/many_popu...

So we need to arm children, so SUV drivers also consider good visibility a feature for their safety, just like the M1 designers did.

Re: U.S. Army confirms Tesla Cybertruck can't be imported in Europe

#86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unless things have changed, these are typically shipped on commercial vessels with the DOD covering the cost.

Yes, that's likely much cheaper than loading up an aircraft carrier with a bunch of Mustangs and Silverados. They're still likely bound to some sort of lowest bidder for contracts. It's also likely to be more economical than having the person find their own transport and reimbursing them.

There are some pictures of aircraft carriers loaded with civilian crew cars, but that's when the carriers home port changes, so it does the trip anyways.

Re: U.S. Army confirms Tesla Cybertruck can't be imported in Europe

#87
post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't care so much about the edges. I'm more worried about the height of these newer trucks and SUVs, which create massive front blindspots. The below report focuses on kids, but I'm an adult and some of these trucks seem taller than me. https://www.wthr.com/article/news/investigations/13-investig...

[flagged]

All these things exist in smaller cars.

Re: U.S. Army confirms Tesla Cybertruck can't be imported in Europe

#88
post #87
post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

All these things exist in smaller cars.

Smaller cars don't give them the feeling of power they lack in their life. Yearning for feeling bigger, more powerful, and scarier correlates quite well with some folks driving big trucks, it's a purchase to fill a void.

Re: U.S. Army confirms Tesla Cybertruck can't be imported in Europe

#89
post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

https://usa.streetsblog.org/2020/10/10/exactly-how-far-u-s-s...

You're right, I misrepresented the idea. Part of the thing is that US roads are just so much more dangerous in every way. Here's the actual data: US pedestrian fatalities 2 per 100k. US driver fatalities ~7 per 100k. European pedestrian fatalities: 0.5 per 100k. European driver fatalities: ~2 per 100k. So it's somewhat understandable that regulators may disproportionately favor crash protection for drivers.

It's especially concerning when you see that US drivers tend to drive huge tanks. Whereas in Europe we have a lot of tiny compact cars. And yet they still die in the US in larger numbers :O

Re: U.S. Army confirms Tesla Cybertruck can't be imported in Europe

#90

I am more surprised we are paying for soldiers to ship their vehicles around the world.

It's a pretty robust logistics system. The tour lengths are 2-3 years. If your job demanded that you relocate to another continent for 3 years I think we'd all expect some relocation assistance.

True but providing a local vehicle pool might be a lot more sensible. That way vehicles are more innocuous and also meet the local requirements better. Think of the UK for example where they drive on the left. I've driven my Dutch car there and while it was possible with some stickers on the headlamps, it was a real PITA when trying to enter a parking garage because the ticket machine is on the other side.
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