The highly anticipated Tesla Cybertruck delivery event just took place in Austin, and CEO Elon Musk not only showed some funny videos of the Cybertruck racing a 911 and out-hauling a Ford F-350 diesel, but the company also revealed the pricing and range, with three models costing between $60,990 and $99,990. The latter cost is for the “Cyberbeast.”
Given that Musk spent yesterday dressed like the bad guy from an ’80s dystopian side-scrolling fighter game and telling the CEO of Disney he could make sweet love to his own person, the event brought us the more typical, subdued excitement of Musk mixed with his usual casual delivery. He even dropped a few jokes.
His biggest message was “the future should look like the future” and took a swipe at critics who said the truck would never be built. The company just delivered approximately a dozen of them, so he’s not wrong, there.
“It’s very rare that a product comes along that’s seemingly impossible, that people said was impossible, that experts said was impossible,” said Musk.
In a repeat of the hilarious metal ball incident from the debut (see above), designer Franz von Holzhausen threw a ball at the window, though this time it was a baseball and it was thrown rather gingerly.
Let’s go through all the details we now have of the three different models.
Tesla Cybertruck Rear-Wheel Drive
The “base” version of this truck is the rear-wheel drive model, which is pretty consistent with its other vehicles and with trucks in general. The estimated cost is $60,990 before the tax credit, but Tesla estimates another $7,500 off if you qualify, making the total cost $53,490.
Available in “2025” so, you know, not next year, the Cybertruck RWD will have a range of 250 miles and a 0-60 mph time of 6.5 seconds. That compares to about $49,995 for a base F-150 Lightning (before $1,995 destination fee or tax credit), which has a range of 240 miles and a 0-60 mph of around 4.2 seconds.
Tesla Cybertruck All-Wheel Drive
The next version of this truck is the all-wheel drive model, which, again, is pretty consistent with other Teslas and full-sized trucks. The estimated cost is $79,990 before the tax credit, but Tesla estimates another $7,500 off if you qualify, making the total cost $72,490.
Available next year, this truck will have a range of up to 340 miles and a 0-60 mph time of 4.1 seconds with a top speed of 112 mph. It’ll also have an 11,000-lb towing capacity. That compares to about $69,995 for a base F-150 Lightning (before destination), which has a range of 320 miles or 300 miles with the extended range battery and a 0-60 mph of less than four seconds.
The Rivian R1T with the standard battery, by comparison, does 0-60 mph in about 4.5 seconds, has a 270-mile range, and costs $73,300 before an $1,800 destination fee. The R1T in this form qualifies for a $3,750 federal tax credit.
Tesla Cyberbeast
The boss-level version of this truck is the all-wheel drive Cyberbeast trim The estimated cost is $99,990, which exceeds the price to qualify for the tax credit.
Available next year, this truck will have a range of up to 320 miles and a 0-60 mph time of 2.6 seconds (with the rollout subtracted) and a top speed of 130 mph. It’ll also have an 11,000-lb towing capacity.
The closest competitor to this trim is the ~$90,000 Rivian R1T Quad Motor, which does 0-60 in about three seconds thanks to its 835 horsepower powertrain.
Towing for both the Cyberbeast and the AWD outshine what the F-150 Lightning promises, which is 5,000 pounds with the standard range battery and 7,700 pounds with the extended range battery.
There’s still a lot we need to learn about this truck, but there are the basics. Tesla has delivered a few of these to some customers who, maybe, were hand-picked. It’ll be interesting to see how quickly the company can ramp up production.
Other Things We Learned
The “armor glass” on a Tesla Cybertruck can, apparently, withstand the impact of a baseball thrown at 70 mph, meaning that your average high school reliever can dent the window. I’m going to have to throw a baseball at the Leaf’s window to see what happens. Sorry, David, it’s for blogs!
Elon Musk tweeted that there would be a range-extending battery pack that can fit in about 1/3rd of the truck’s bed for cargo:
Optional pack that fits in about 1/3 of the truck bed. Still room for plenty of of cargo.
It’s meant for very long trips or towing heavy things up mountains.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 30, 2023
According to the website, this can deliver up to 470 estimated range in the AWD version (so it should add about 130 miles of range).
Tesla Investor and overall Tesla Twitter Dude Sawyer Merritt was at the event and got some interesting details, including some photos of the Cyber camper accessory:
Cyber camper accessory pic.twitter.com/yJSlKUih1y
— Sawyer Merritt (@SawyerMerritt) November 30, 2023
Merritt also tweeted that there would be self-healing colored wraps available for the Cybertruck. This gets into the DeLorean DMC-12 problem where, actually, the fact that it’s stainless steel is a big part of the appeal. That being said, colors are good and I hope we get to see some brighter colors on the truck. A bright green or a light Houston Oilers Columbia Blue would be great.
Props to our old bud Nilay Patel at The Verge, who is obsessed with the wipers on the Cybertruck.
Here’s where it gets even more interesting: I have an unconfirmed tip in my inbox that says the wiper is actually three blades in a row and that the length of the wiper arm means the tip moves at dangerously fast speeds to traverse the huge arc it has to make on each sweep. If you can confirm any of this, let me know. The Verge is America’s No. 1 source of Cybertruck wiper news, and it’s all thanks to readers like you.
That’s curious. If you can confirm that it is indeed a Mach III razor-like three-in-one blade please tell Nilay.
“telling the CEO of Disney he could make sweet love to his own person”…
there is so much humor in restating phrases in different/better words, as evidenced regularly by Nathan Pyle’s comics, too
Thanks for the laugh, Matt
Sigh.So here we are.I’m actually not hating it so much anymore.
When they first rolled it out it was like Musk had pulled out his pecker and started masturbating on stage.It really was that embarrassing.
Now after several years the shock is giving way to merely vomitous acceptance.
Serious question guys. Can you do a story on how it’s made? Preferably showing the stamping machines at work,and the panel brushing machines if possible.
If we gotta put up with thing we may as well learn the interesting aspects of the build
Please stop showing images of this vehicle. I. Hate. It. So. Very. Much. And. Elon. Musk. As. Well. Thank you very much.
Just stop.
Please never stop using the phrase “make sweet love to his own person”.
I saw it referred to as the IncEl Camino and now it will be that in my brain forever.
that said, I’d be fun to see someone wrap it in a wood grain effect. Maybe make it look like it was built out of plywood.
Yep that would be funny.
I’m curious what could be done with semi transparent wraps.I wont say it would look good in them but the effect could be interesting
If one plays the “what else could I buy with that much money” game with the top end model, one could have a lot of fun.
It’s a Death Mobile with 45 degree beveled daggers to multiply stiffness front and rear, and they neglected the wedding cake disguise. Would not be surprised if it slices through side intrusion reinforcements in a T-bone accident.
“Think about it, you’re smart, and I’m right” Charlie Munger
He had some beauts.
I’m really curious to see how the crash tests go with these things. With the unforgiving nature of the stainless body, I wonder how much it will actually sacrifice itself, like most modern cars do, to save it’s occupants.
I knew that but somehow totally forgot.Yes that will be interesting
I will predict the base model will be either vaporware or very very few of them will be made.
This is Elon’s Hummer EV. It will be just as (un)popular.
Maybe we will get some new and innovative methods and materials out if the deal.
Definitely so when is comes to the production of body panels as well as build tolerances of components, and the allows of metals used in components. I think Elon’s goals for production tolerances are not feasible for mass production, BUT his attempts to achieve them will drive subsequent improvements in this area.
The downside is that the aftermarket companies without the same finances, processes, and equipment will be rendered obsolete, and the components made by OEMs will be irreplaceable should production cease. As 3D CNC technology advances, this may become mitigated, but that might take a decade or two before a small business can afford the same level of precision that Tesla is going to soon have at its disposal.
After the YouTubers and Tesla Stans buy it, will anyone else?
Bitcoin bros
The venn diagram of Tesla Stans and Bitcoin bros is a circle.
Concerning the three blades, I just saw Matt Watson on YouTube rummaging around the Austin Tesla event car park, until security told him to join the other attendees inside, and lifting the huge wiper on one, which looked to be a one piece curved one.
I of course hate the whole thing (my favourite car shape and size being my old 1700 lbs 356) but I think it has ONE advantage: Snow might slide off it, due to those angled flat surfaces!
We have a lot of the usual regular shaped Teslas driving around here at the moment with snow covering the lights and windows, and blowing off the roof at other commuters at speed, because the typical owners just couldn’t be bothered to care about other people and clear their car of snow before driving off like a real person.
Snow may slide off the window but it will collect on the front bumper and block the headlights that are directly above the bumper.
This will be the king of “I am an asshole” vehicle ownership for the near future.
Yes but how do you get it to make loud poppong sounds or emit thick black smoke? 😉
Throw a diesel generator in the bed.
Surely the fart generator can make smoke too.
I wonder if Tesla will offer first-party TruckNutz. Cube shaped, natch.
Probably has particularly bright headlights to burn the retinas of anyone not positioned above it.
Like all other Teslas already do?
Can’t wait to see one of these with a Carolina squat modification.
Lately it seems like the current king is the Bronco, it seems like I cannot encounter one that isn’t being a dick. I do see a lot of Broncos being traded in for this though.
I haven’t noticed that here in the burbs of Denver, and they are prevalent.
Lololol
As I’ve stated elsewhere on the internets I’m wondering about the repair-ability of this truck and not just the exterior panels, but the cast aluminum substructure. Perhaps an easily written off “truck”. Will Copart have rows of them I wonder.
Unibody cars already have entirely unrepairable substructures, nobody straightens unibody cars any more. All cars are easily written off in high speed collisions.
Take a look at the thing.
I’m not thinking high speed here.
Not sure why you don’t think it’ll go fast, it has like 700hp.
High-strength steel is another contributor to lack of repairability..
The fact that Elon is associated with Tesla is reason enough to stay away from the Cyber Truck, or any of Tesla’s offerings.
This is really the #1 reason I wouldn’t consider this thing. I think it’s neat looking, and pretty innovative. But I’ll keep dumping dino juice into my Raptor until the electric future engulfs me. I can’t get a Rivian now either, because my douche of a CEO drives one of those.
You’ll lock yourself out of a lot of interesting stuff if you worry too much about who else is driving one. I’ve never been a fan of the whole Tesla vibe, but I rode in a Model 3 recently, and can see the appeal. Electric acceleration is FUN.
Yeah, but Porsche’s antisemitic roots died out a few generations ago, not a few days ago like Tesla’s.
Nice, it tows about as much as the Dodge EV truck, which has a dealer network, a normal pickup bed and is available with a range extender.
And tows less than the Ramcharger with half(-ish) of the range.
I love the idea of the Ramcharger, but it is going to ungodly expensive carting around two whole power trains. The reliability of the PHEV Pacifica which it borrows from isn’t great, either. I guess I’ll stick with a straight gas truck for the foreseeable future..
The only thing it’s borrowing from the Pacifica is the Pentastar. There’s no transmission and it’s a completely different battery pack which will be slightly more than half the size of the full on EV truck.
So the question becomes, how much more or less expensive is a Pentastar/generator/92kWh battery pack versus a full size 168kWh battery? If we use a quick Google for cost per kWh of a battery pack of $128 per kWh (from a Bloomber article that was published about a week ago, so who knows how accurate it actually is). 168 kWh at $128 is $21,504 and 92 kWh would be $11,776. Google says ~$6,000 from a dealer for a complete Pacifica PHEV engine at retail (so significantly less than that for Stellantis themselves) and then whatever the generator costs. It’s possible, if not reasonably plausible, that they could price it at cheaper than the comparable full electric truck.
It’s worth noting in the comparison of the RWD CT to the Base Lightning that the Lightning comes standard with AWD. That’s a not-insignificant bonus in addition to the lower price of Lightning.
Are they selling belt buckles and trucker’s caps yet? Seriously, I’m eager to see that wiper in action.
You mean these? https://shop.tesla.com/product/cyberbear-trucker-hat?sku=1943349-00-A
That’s actually kind of cool.
I’m amused they made a truck and couldn’t even find room for a spare tire. That takes effort, so well done Elmo.
Every jeep ever, Broncos, Honda CRVs, Land Cruisers and Rav4s just entered that chat.
My f150 has the spare in a not-great place that compromises ground clearance so lots of people take them off.
I thought it went into a compartment in the bed? Which is impractical if true, because you’d need to remove all your cargo to get to it…
Howard Hughes also delivered a Spruce Goose.
Right! He swore it would fly and it did, once. Promise fulfilled.
“Tesla has delivered a few of these to some customers who, maybe, were hand-picked.”
“Delivered”, sure, not “sold”. This is a very public handover to some key Tesla people to keep Lord Elon satisfied and the press humming. This thing doesn’t even have its EPA rating yet, which even the yet-to-be-released Cruise Origin and Canoo LDV already have, and is doubly curious since the EPA sites were updated about two weeks ago. Wouldn’t you think Tesla’s most hotly anticipated new product in about five years would already have completed this work?
My bet is these will only be seen on MFG plates for about the next few months.
It also doesn’t have crash results on the NHTSA database. These are all prototypes.
How long before the RWD version gets discontinued in the name of “production efficiencies” and reservation holders are offered the choice of either upgrading to one of the AWD options or cancelling their order?
My money is on next week.
Turdboy says these are hard to build after all.