Cybertruck finally hits market
The long-delayed Cybertruck will be priced in the States from US$60,990. That’s the equivalent of around NZ$98,200 and more than 50 per cent on top of what Elon Musk touted in 2019.
The ute is made of stainless steel and shaped into flat planes. And, according to Tesla’s chief executive officer, it’s partly inspired by a car-turned-submarine in the 1977 James Bond film The Spy Who Loved Me.
Its new body material and unconventional styling has added complexity and costs to production, and threatens to alienate traditional pick-up buyers who focus on utility, some experts say.
However, Musk, who has priced the model’s three variants between US$60,990 and US$99,990, last week enthused that the vehicle has “more utility than a truck” and is “faster than a sports car”.
He drove a Cybertruck onto a stage to cheers from the crowd and later handed over vehicles to about a dozen customers at an event in Austin, Texas. “Finally, the future will look like the future,” he said about its design showing a video of a Cybertruck towing a Porsche 911 and beating another petrol-powered 911 in a short race.
Its highest performance variant, the “Cyberbeast” will be available next year, as will the all-wheel-drive variant that starts at an estimated US$80,000. The cheapest rear-wheel-drive version with an estimated starting price of about US$61,000 will be available in 2025.
“This is going to appeal to a wealthier clientele, and they want something that’s quirky,” says Jessica Caldwell, head of insights at automotive research firm Edmunds. “That just isn’t a large segment of the population who can afford that, especially where [US] interest rates are.”
After Musk estimated in 2019 the ute would sell for US$40,000, the vehicle drew more than one million reservation holders, who put down US$100 deposits. He did provide an updated price before November 27, reports Reuters, despite rising raw material costs for electric vehicles (EVs). New deposits are US$250, Musk said on November 30.
The Cybertruck, two years behind schedule, enters a hot pick-up truck market in the US to compete with the likes of Ford’s F-150 Lightning, Rivian Automotive’s R1T and General Motors’ Hummer EV.
The R1T has a starting price of US$73,000, while the F-150 Lightning starts at about US$50,000. The larger and more powerful Hummer EV costs more than US$96,000.
The Cybertruck, the marque’s first new model in nearly four years, is thought to be critical to its reputation for innovation. With Tesla battling softening EV demand in the States and rising competition, its ute is key for generating sales although not on the scale of its high-volume Model 3 and Y.
Musk tempered investors’ expectations about the product in November citing problems in ramping up production and warning it would take a year to 18 months to make it a significant cash-flow contributor.
The longest-range version of the Cybertruck comes in at 547km and is available with a range extender to extend that to 756km. In 2019, Musk said it would be able to travel 805km or more on a single charge, reports Reuters.
“As a truck, the Ford and Chevy are more useful and certainly easier to see out of,” says Sam Abuelsamid, principal research analyst at Guidehouse Insights.
“Given Teslas almost always fall short of [range] estimates in real-world driving by anywhere from 10-20 per cent, I wouldn’t expect the longest-range version of the Cybertruck to achieve more than 300 miles [483km] on the road. He adds the Chevrolet Silverado EV can exceed its 724km rated range.
Musk has said Tesla is likely to reach a production rate of roughly 250,000 Cybertrucks a year in 2025. He did not update that last month.
During its 2019 reveal, Tesla’s chief designer Franz von Holzhausen took a metal ball in a bid to demonstrate the truck’s unbreakable “armour glass” window only for it to shatter. Last week, he threw a baseball at Cybertruck’s window. It bounced off.
