The end result is that the exoskeleton idea didn't work and got reworked/delayed. The vehicle ended up being more conventional and more structurally related to the other cars in the range. In other words it has all the downsides of a stainless steel exterior for no reason.
Early Cybertruck clay prototypes were styled after Chevy's El Camino. Elon Musk deemed a Chevy Silverado-style design for the first electric pickup of Tesla too orthodox and wanted something like the Camino.