An alien encounter

The Tesla Cybertruck looks like it has come from outer space. Aversion and confusion naturally abound. MARK TISSHAW musters the courage to make first contact

Try drawing a pick-up truck with your non-writing hand and I bet you come up with something closely resembling the Tesla Cybertruck – a true automotive alien in just how different it is to every single other vehicle on the road.

Maybe Elon Musk did such a thing himself, nobody dared challenge him and it just ended up in showrooms in raw form, so absolute is his power at Tesla. Maybe he's simply goading legislators in the US who somehow allow a sharp-edged, flat-fronted vehicle that you wouldn't want to crash into you, however or in whatever you're travelling, to be legally sold, to check their small print. Maybe he's an alien and this is just a Ford Mondeo where he comes from. The blurb says it can travel on any planet, after all. How could they know how it would handle the Saturn ring road?

Not normally one to entertain conspiracy theories, I had my doubts about whether the Cybertruck really did exist and whether you could actually drive such a thing on public roads – in the US, at least, as crash legislation in the UK and EU rightly and thankfully prevents the Cybertruck's sale here. Trust me, you would agree if you ran your finger over one of its sharp edges.

Yet it is real. When you do see your first one on the road, your jaw drops and your eyes track it for as long as possible. It's totally shocking to look at. You can never get comfortable with the way it looks on the outside. It's all abstract angles and sharp edges, and you have no point of reference or basis for comparison. It has four wheels, lights and windows, and that's about it for things you can point out that are familiar.

The cliché ‘you will either love it or hate it’ could in visual form be represented by an image of a Cybertruck. Anecdotally, more sit in the latter camp, and - full disclosure - it's where I've found myself since I first saw it. Still, it's easy to hate on things that are new, that are so different, and we must give it a chance.