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.
Elon has seemed to confuse the word “impossible”, with the word “dumb”. My dude, John Deloren pulled off a stainless steel body in between making friends with Tito and getting entrapped by the FBI. Now, that is some cool dude shit. Nothing on this truck is really all that revolutionary. Discount Deloren is out here with six miles of The Great Wall built claiming The Mandate of Heaven. Anyways, damn shame olde Henry Kissinger missed out on his Cybertruck Cyberbeast. Would have been the perfect transport to a very warm destination.
If they actually make it with the “exoskeleton” monocoque then it’s extremely revolutionary, but it seems that that’s not the case.
Off topic, but Rolling Stone gave Kissinger a beautiful send off: https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/henry-kissinger-war-criminal-dead-1234804748/
Something something great wall motors
They are claiming 17″ of “clearance”. How are they measuring that? With 34.5″ tires (285LT/65R20) (and factoring compression of the tire under load), you end up with less than 17″ to the center of the wheel, let alone axles or steering knuckles or anything. Are they measuring from the highest point of clearance under the body?
From the top of the roof.
I assume the bottom is flat, so it’s probably correct.
The real issue with this (and pretty much anything with an air suspension “off road mode”) is that it fully extends the suspension and you lose all down travel. They look like they’re waddling around off road.
Even with a flat bottom, 17” of clearance doesn’t even make it below the axles, though. That’s what I’m wondering about. Unless the axles are less than .5” thick and angled wildly high upward with no CV boot.
“clearance” isn’t measured on unsprung parts, basically. If you manage to hit a CV axle or boot you have far, far bigger issues going on. The kind of exception to this is the pumpkin on a solid rear axle which may be listed under a running clearance.
Did anyone else notice that the windows don’t roll all the way down? In the delivery segment, when the windows roll down, it appears that the peak of the window remains about 2″ above the sill… you know, just jabbing you in the arm. I also wonder how many lattes and take out bags are going to clip that.
11,000lb towing? Yeah, for how far? I remember reading the Lightning mileage with a trailer and it was.. um, abysmal.
About as far as The Boring Company has managed to tunnel.
And 10,300 torques. I know electric motors have all the torques at zero rpm, but this just strikes me as absurd. Like, tearing the driveline out from under the truck absurd
This is because for some reason we have started quoting torque at the wheels. Which is generally roughly a 10x multiplication over actual motor torque.
What’s hilarious is that almost any current ICE vehicle with low range has more wheel torque. Diesel rubicon is something like 40k torques if you use this metric. (not even accounting for any multiplication from the torque converter).
I knew there were shenanigans, just couldn’t remember what they were
Just like GM did with the Hummer, this number is grossly misleading; it’s the maximum torque available *at the wheels* after factoring gear reductions and
The equivalent figure for my lowly gasser F350 is:
430 lb-ft rating at the crank * 3.97:1 1st gear * 4.30:1 rear axle ratio * 2.64:1 low range ratio = 19,400 “lb-ft”
It’s malpractice to allow this in advertising IMO.
Well, hell: my crappy wrx has 2,166 torques in first gear then!
*warm glow*
thanks man
Malpractice is putting it too nicely. It’s bullshit is what it is.
Yeah. The curb weight of my car is only 900 lbs*
*measured at the rear left wheel
*with my mom outside the car
Probably 100-120 miles
I believe that’s about what that Lightning got, right around 100 miles. Which depending where you live and which direction you’re going might just barely get you out of town before you’re stopped to charge again. Sounds like a blast of a vacation.
100 miles is about what people with big campers and kids do for a weekend getaway around me. Out of work at 5 and cracking a brew around the campfire while the kids are throwing pinecones at each other by 8. Get a 50 amp site and it’ll be all charged up by the end of the weekend. Or a 30 amp site and get dinner in town to let it charge on L2 for a few hours. Not a big deal.
Pretty sure there is nearly 0 overlap between people shopping for a cybertruck and people who tow for a vacation.
What makes you think that? Rivian dudes and all other pickup customers totally do that. Actually camper towing ability is one of the biggest reasons why people buy pickups.
Because the target demographic is “rich coast inhabiting douchebag” and they all already own $300k Sprinters.
I fail to see how that’s different from a Rivian.
Remember plenty of the rich coast inhabiting douchebags have $300k restored airstream trailers instead of sprinters.
It is not different than a Rivian. Or perhaps even a Tacoma with TRD in the name. Or a Raptor. Perhaps a TRX. These are trucks people buy because they think they are cool, not because they can tow.
Just like how there is (sadly) very little overlap between the people who go off-road and the people who buy Raptors.
The Tacomas already have multi thousand dollar camping setups attached to them that are used once a year.
Also, fair point on the airstreams haha.
Forgive my stupid question; I haven’t been following the truck’s development/release closely, but is this the first time that the prices have been announced? For some reason $40k was stuck in my mind from the original announcement, but I may have been confused with the Model 3. And if Musk claims that the company has delivered some already, when did those early customers learn what the actual price of their trucks were?
I know the old adage: “If you have to ask, then you can’t afford it”, but it just seems so strange to me that people would commit to buying such a big-ticket item without knowing a) the details of what that item is and 2) what the final price would be.
Some people have so much money that this is couch cushion money.
Other wants to be first for the likes or the gram or the ticky tocks.
Then there are people who are just bad with money and don’t consider the future ramifications of their actions. if they can make the monthly payments, they can afford it.
As someone who sold cars for a short period of time, there are a surprisingly large number of people in the third category.
“I want it. I think I can afford the monthly payment. I’ll take it.”
When it was announced in 2019, the base model was supposed to sell for $39,900. I think it also had higher payload, towing and range numbers.
People who put their name down probably just want to flip it.
vaporware bullshit yet again
I am looking forward to videos of the Cybertruck being used as a jump ramp.
CboysTV will be doing that next year I’m sure
So this was the delivery event….but the models are available in 2025, 2024, and 2024.
What are we delivering?
Also, can’t wait to hear about insurance rates on these. Should be cheap to repair.
Hopes and dreams, my boy. Hopes and dreams.
I’m not really a CT fan, but it’s one day away from December 2023… A release party for 2024 can happen now
Much like my disdain for Tesla use of the term “Autopilot”…..I still think words matter. Release party? Sure. Launch event? Sure. Delivery? That would imply that things are, you know, getting delivered. Like showing up at showrooms and to folks who have ordered. So yeah, not a “delivery” event.
It would be like Domino’s pizza delivery tracker starting with a status of “Good news! Your pizza will be delivered sometime after awhile but we have to start making it first.”
They delivered some vehicles though. I feel like you’re just being a contrarian because of your admitted disdain
Not a Tesla hater. I’m in an on-the-road safety sensitive industry, so when you use a word like “autopilot” and it is neither auto nor piloting, I take serious umbrage. Same reason I don’t say accident, because in my industry there is always a causal relationship when something happens on the road. Nothing is an “accident”, it is the result of a root cause.
So does this event mean anything in the grander scheme? Nope. But I do laugh when words are used to drive hype and in this case stock value, but are really just empty marketing speak. Just like every time Dodge says “All New!” as they rollout a facelift on a 20 year old platform.
That and “We haven’t scaled production yet and our CEO has openly talked about how challenging that will be but we are trying and look, prices and specs and stuff! Yay!” Event, just doesn’t roll off the tongue….
Here I am relentlessly littering every thread with appeals to donate to Jason’s medical fund. I’m so annoying…
GoFundMe for JT.
Nice, I wasn’t aware and pitched in. Thanks for organizing it!
Encore
Cybertruck Cyberbeast is the stupidest fuckin name.
So is “Elon Musk” and yet, here we are.
It was his mother’s favorite fragrance.
I didn’t realize “Elon” was Afrikaans for “rank dick”.
It’s actually Hebrew for ‘oak tree’. I mean, if you want to be factual.
Still sounds like a fragrance.
Given Elon’s recent tweets (…uh…Xs?) , I think it’s merely a coincidence that his name means anything in Hebrew.
Oh, c’mon, I don’t like Boy Blunder either, but making fun of his given name is just way 3rd grade
I”ll see you on the playground at recess.
You’re on, buddy:
spitballs at 10 paces!
Mocking “colonel lingus” is shooting fish in a barrel.
Yeah but I have an excuse! Brain damage works both ways.
You can get away with a lot of shit….YMMV
Bike racks, 3:30
Elon’s Musk
Elon is a name in the Bible. Elon is the dad of some Canaanite girl that somebody shouldn’t have married.
To be fair, Stellantis is offering the Ram Ramcharger soon and the Ram Rampage in some markets now.
The Cybertruck Cyberbeast is dumber, but it’s not without competition. There’s also the BZ4X trying for dumb and forgettable in one fell swoop.
Much like Elon buying Twitter, I’m impressed by how far this self-own has progressed.
Is the range extender just going to be a box of power banks ?
Its a Harbor Freight generator in the bed.
Which will be the most reliable and well built component.
By Anker. 69% off msrp for Christmas.
I’ve seen Tesla succeed regardless of my opinions enough for me to weigh my own thoughts pretty lightly, but I really assumed elon was going to undercut Rivian on pricing. This just seems like an also-ran in a category that’s already more crowded than demand seems to warrant.
Yep. I reserve judgement until we see either sales numbers, or earnings results.
As vehicles I care for nothing they sell, but if Tesla did anything right, it’s make electric cars a non-worry for people buying them. Range is always as advertised, and the supercharger network was an effective moat while they grew sales volume. Early Model S cooling, Falcon doors, plus fit and finish aside, they’ve worked most of the bugs out of their lineup
I figure it’ll be a year or so for them to get up to meaningful production volume. The interesting thing will be to see if sales flag after the first two years when the people who wanted them most already have bought one, or if volume stays strong if not increases.
this is in it’s own category. No normal person is going to buy this over a Rivian or any other truck. The people buying these aren’t doing truck things. It will sell like hotcakes in Silicon Valley and Austin to males who can’t operate power tools and orchestrate their entire life through apps.
Elon is a douche bag! Why? Because Billionaire Elon Musk told advertisers that have fled his social media platform X over antisemitic content to “Go fuck yourself” in a fiery Wednesday interview.
There is no place in today’s society for such behavior and no matter how cool Tesla vehicles may be, I refuse to buy from such a vile individual.
<<< Rant Over>>>
But would you trust him with your deposit money today on a Truck* or Roadster tomorrow?
Or next year?
Or the year after that?
Or the year after that?
Or the year after…Never?
I feel for the people who work there. Tough time of the year to be job shopping, but I suspect there will be a fair few for whom this will be the last straw and they will get out before the ever-more-likely death-spiral
Elon is an embarrassment to his employees, no doubt!
Putting aside everything else, him saying “Fuck you” was pretty sweet. It’s not like he’ll be broke if Twixer folds. If I owned it and random corporations were trying to tell me what to do, I’d feel the same way. I saw an interview today where some guy I forget the name of was saying that the “FU” attitude is how every journo should act (not saying twix is journalism), but they can’t because their paychecks are tied to ad revenue. Dude is totally correct.
El Musko was on point on this.
I’ll just add you to the Douche bag list as well.
First of all, are you making the notoriously terrifying internet threat?
Secondly, Go for it if it makes you happy. I gotta say it’s pretty weird to even have an “internet douchebag list”. But, you do you.
☜ (◉▂◉ )
No u
“Hey! Us billionaires need to stick together! How are we supposed to screw over the non-billionaires if we don’t?”
When your billions of dollars business is dependent on other billions of dollars businesses to actually be profitable (instead of the poors), well, that’s something one might want to be cognizant of to keep those relationships. He brings up being “blackmailed” for his “freedom of speech” when it’s really about him just not understanding that you can say whatever you want, but that doesn’t mean people need to continue to support you when their base doesn’t agree.
Yes, he has FU money and can say FU to anyone he wants, but you seriously think that their shouldn’t be a modicum of respect for all? I mean you don’t make more money without respecting those giving you that money.
This is the big lie here — no one is telling Elon what to do. Elon is selling a product (advertising) and the big corps are not buying. He’s free to do what he wants, they’re free to do what they want. No harm, no foul.
If Elon cannot sell TwiX advertising, then it’s not Blackmail or whatever type of victim story he pushes. He’s just “building” a product that no one wants, kind of like the Cadillac Cimarron of Social Media.
This was *after* he “apologized” for his very on brand for him tweet, in practically the same breath.
Yep, all is well now I suppose! ಠ‿↼ ((( not)))
Musk is so vile he has the world stanning for Bob fkn Iger.
Let’s get this straight:
$61K (before tax incentive) for a base CT w 250 mile range and the same color as every other CT sometime in a year.
Or two.
Maybe.
-vs-
$52,490 (after $500 power cord and delivery, before tax incentive) for an F150 Lightning Pro with 240 miles range in my choice of seven standard colors – and actual buttons & gauges in front of the driver.
My local Ford dealers have 2 of them in stock TODAY, with another on order with a few more options for $56K.
Or I could order one for myself and get it in a few weeks.
Duh.
Whut do I do?
Quit talking logically. Tesla stans are offended by that
But also, let’s be honest, no one is cross shopping the 2. Even if they’re not the typical Tesla stan, anyone that wants the CT wants it because it’s so outlandish and they would never be seen in an F150.
For the $6K difference, I can get a bunch of tattoos, piercings, MAGA stickers, a weird haircut and a bizarrely colored vinyl wrap on my F150 Lighting Pro.
And pose for outlandish photos on my Insta.
Next week.
Whoa now, let’s be realistic. Have you seen the prices on tattoos lately? It’s more like, “a FEW tattoos, a piercing, MAGA stickers, a weird haircut and a bizarrely colored wrap”. 😉
Depends whether hepatitis and a bit of color outside the lines is a deal breaker for you.
I don’t thing tattooed magas have piercings. Piercings are for librul snowflakes.
I said outlandish!
Definitely people are cross-shopping the two. I have a Lightning, but would consider a Cybertruck for the faster charging, better infrastructure, etc. I also have followed the Lightning from the very beginning, and Cybertruck availability, specs, and price are common discussion points amongst people considering the Lightning.
Of course there are plenty of people who would consider ONLY the Lightning or ONLY the Cybertruck, too, but there are also quite a few who are cross-shopping the two.
Fair enough. Yeah I would think anyone who actually wants a truck would get lightning or Rivian and someone who wants a status symbol would go cyberturd because it won’t really do truck things. I guess it’ll probably tow as well as any EV truck, but that bed will never be practical.
Rivian? Truck? Lol
*price subject to change at any time for any reason*
I thought the Lightning Pro is near unobtanium because it is for fleet? Literally trying to find a stripper in a parking lot? Pretty much ICE XL as an interior? + it has AWD though.
I would hold on judgement until there are test drives and tear downs. I am getting old, I never buy first year models even face lifted ones. To me the biggest let down is it is no 6 seater.
I’m just going by what the Ford website says their dealers have in stock near me -Including one Pro that stickers at under $51,000
https://shop.ford.com/inventory/f150-lightning/details/1FTVW1EL0PWG38043?zipcode=23223&year=2023&ownerPACode=06707&intcmp=vhp-seconNav-si&Radius=20&modeltrim=F-150%20Lightning_F24-PRO&Order=Distance&fromPopularBuild=false
As awful looking as everyone says this is [and they are correct] I don’t think thats its biggest problem. I just keep coming back to the market for EV trucks generally which is not that great. Sure, you’ll get a decent amount of conquest from other current EV truck owners who got tired of waiting, but the pool isn’t nearly as large as Musk thinks it is. It’s not just him either, GM, Ford, Stellantis…they all thought making an EV truck would be a money printing business, but its not turned out to be the case. Stellantis wisely pivoted to a hybrid for theirs and I think they will win in this generation of electrified trucks.
Its big, ugly, expensive, and doesn’t do anything the others trucks can’t except go not appreciably quicker from a stop and BE a loud rolling controversy.
It doesn’t even matter what it drives like on or off-road, this will fill the order books for the people it appeals to emotionally and then ignominiously fade into obscurity.
Unless gravimetric energy density of batteries increases by roughly 4-fold, which I don’t see happening anytime soon, trucks and SUVs are not a good application for EV technology.
All along, there should have been a focus on efficient designs that are easily repaired and without a lot of needless complexity that get long ranges with small battery packs, so as to keep manufacturing cost down, operating cost minimal, while maximizing vehicle lifespan. Especially so at the bottom tier of the car-market in general, the sub-$25k price range, where an EV’s promise of economy and low carbon footprint could really shine. Such a car is not being sold in the U.S. to this day, unfortunately.
To some degree you are pretty much replicating the journey of today’s $100k gas powered luxury trucks which sell like hotcakes-
They all are available as utilitarian fleet models which then are larded up with options to make them luxotrucks and allow automakers to get their insane profit margins from them.
The big three should have created efficient EV “fleet” trucks with solid range, light weight and ability to get the job done, and then option up those models, rather than what seems to be happening, which is a high midrange truck which gets optioned both up and down to be able to hit all the price points.
The inherent aerodynamic qualities of vehicles designed to function as trucks and SUVs limits the potential for efficiency.
We could have streamlined sub-3,000 lb sedans able to seat 5 in comfort, getting 6-8 miles per kWh flying down the highway at 70+ mph. This in turn would allow for some extremely inexpensive battery pack designs to reach 200+ miles real-world range, which in turn could yield sub-$25k EVs that are appropriate as a sole car for a large swath of the population.
The limits of truck/SUV efficiency are probably in the neighborhood of 5 miles per kWh, this all being said, and they will look a lot less rugged, even if functionally, they might end up more rugged than their competitors.
Blame the CAFE regulations’ exceptions for light trucks. That’s why we still aren’t driving 1970’s style sedan land yachts. That single law created the SUV and luxury pickup market. It’s a freekin nightmare of (intended) unintended consequences.
Yep, and it sort of made sense at the time, when trucks were mainly bought by ranchers, farmers, and tradesmen and the thinking was they needed certain capabilities to do their jobs, capabilities which couldn’t be met by vehicles that complied with passenger car fuel economy standards, given the technology available in the 1970s. But, in a world where a quad cab pickup with a short bed is the new family sedan and where a hybrid full-size landyacht like the Avalon can get better than 40mpg highway, that line of thinking has long since become obsolete.
An Avalon is not a land yacht, it’s dramatically smaller than even a downsized late 80s fullsize sedan
It’s almost same exact length as a late 80s Olds 98, less than an inch difference
That’s because a late 80s Olds 98 was almost a midsized car at the time. An 89 LTD is 211 inches long. A 2023 Avalon is 196 inches long. 15 inches difference.
I maintain that a new Avalon is dramatically smaller than an 80s fullsize sedan.
An ’89 LTD was a 1970s full size sedan, they were just still building it in the ’80s
That’s what 80s fullsize sedans are man. Besides, a 92-2011 Crown Vic(considerably lighter and narrower than the LTD) is 212 inches long, and you can’t say that’s a 70s car. An Avalon is way smaller
> That’s why we still aren’t driving 1970’s style sedan land yachts
Laughs in LWB W116
The leather or velour edition?
Leather, power moonroof.
I am an envious person over here. My my…
As you should be. I can’t quite believe my luck to have found it.
Your last sentence sums up my feelings exactly. Everyone who wants one will buy one in the next year or two. And then orders will drop off. Similar to how the current EV market is slowing down, as many of the people who really want (and can afford) an EV have since purchased one.
The difference is that EVs will hopefully become more popular as the charging infrastructure builds out and prices fall (it’ll happen one days right?). But the Cybertruck will always be ugly, and Musk seems to grow less popular by the day.
I’m thinking along the same lines. Love it, hate it, or be indifferent to it, the CyberTruck is different from everything else on the road, and the novelty factor sells. There will certainly be a contingent of people who are eager to rush out and buy the weird new thing to be part of the hype. But what happens when the novelty wears off?
To answer the question “What happens when the novelty wears off?” see the following:
On the other hand, the Dodge Ram (2nd gen) and the 2008- Challenger were novel designs — in my mind — that have had legs, so maybe novelties can survive.
They made the beetle for a full 20 years, that’s longer than the 16 years for the challenger. Not the best examples.
They sold trillions of PT Cruisers.
Against all the odds, of all the late 90s/2000s cars you listed…I see more New Beetles (yep, the pre 2012 ones) on the road than any of the others. I guess I’m just surprised because of typical early 2000s VW build quality, but people really love their Beetles. I see 2012+ models almost every time I leave the house. My best friend bought a 2012 last year, even though something like a used Corolla would have technically been the smarter buy. She absolutely loves it. Of all the early 2000s retro-fad cars, I would argue that the Beetle and the Mini were the only ones that outlasted the initial wave.
Yeah, I think the Cybertruck has a very, very strong chance of becoming the best-selling electric pickup on the market – for the first year or two of mass production – but the lead won’t be sustainable once the initial demand is satiated
Actually the Ramcharger PHEV is due out the year after the RAM BEV. Not saying that the PHEV isn’t a smart move by Ram but it is ~2 years out.
What’s the range extender? It shows it in the configurator.
wishful thinking.
Probably a significantly overpriced generator so you can charge it.
I predict a big cloth sail with Elon’s face printed on it (Or maybe a burning doobie). When you run out of juice, you unfurl your sail. Ahoy, matey!
‘Tis a bolt-in bank of more battery that eats up bed space:
https://bsky.app/profile/chadkirchner.com/post/3kfgsx66arn27
It’s got to put it somewhere around 10,000 lbs total, right?
Have any journalists actually gotten to drive a production model? The biggest question I have is will an adult sized human with head attached be able to sit comfortably in the back seat? From the outside, headroom looks non-existent.
This is what I want to know as well! And it’s a bit odd because Elon isn’t a short man, I think he’s probably (truthfully) at 6ft even. He obviously wants to be driven around in this vehicle, so he would probably spend time in the back seat of the Cybertruck. Or maybe the rear headroom isn’t as bad as it seems from the pics?
Although, I have more headroom in the back seat of a Model 3 vs. a Model S… so… whatevs.
Define comfortably…
Not that I know of. I haven’t seen any reviews yet, and given the media-hating ways of Tesla’s public face, it seems like it’ll be a little while longer. I know David and a few others just wrote up some non-driving takes on production-spec Cybertrucks, but that’s all I’ve seen so far.
That being said…reach out if you take delivery soon and don’t care about burning any bridges with an honest review. I’m just a freelancer (and admittedly don’t wanna step on The Autopian’s toes too much here), but I’m *in* Austin and have been asking around to see if anyone’s down for a review drive. The main site staff here is pretty well spread across the rest of the country, too.
If anyone here has a Cybertruck en route…let someone drive your pointytruck. (I want to *read* a non-stan review of this thing, too.)
Welp, looks like I’m out of the loop (as usual—I’m on a weird, sad little island of Mostly Unemployed-ness and don’t have a ton of contact with other journalists anymore). Just saw both Cammisa and Top Gear post that they’re rolling around in ’em. Hopefully they’ll let the takes rip.
MKBHD has driven one. Hasn’t released the video review, yet, though.
Elon is only allowing access to “Influencers” – not “Journalists”
Because “Freedom of Speech” or something…
Surprised there’s no owner-NDA requirement–but if they “hand-picked” the first owners, they’d likely never have anything negative to say in the first place. Or let near it anybody who might.
How do you mount a ladder rack? Or a toolbox? Or rope cleats?
That’s what I thought.
They showed that off at the lithium refinery ground-breaking: https://insideevs.com/news/666182/tesla-cybertruck-tool-rack-roof-rack-teaser/
That is, to me, laughably TactiCool.
To be fair, a) the article stated that it’s unclear if it’s an official accessory, and b) it appeals to plenty of people so there’s lots of that out there
Mostly this, yes 🙂 But if they have attach points for the demo rack, I’m sure somebody will be able to whip up what they need.
Yeah, but it’s a special custom design, not the standard one that plunks down in any 8ft or 6.5ft bed, that the purchasing person at the fleet company has the part number memorized for. And I guarantee you it’s 3 times as expensive.
On the plus side, speaking as someone who prints vehicle graphics for a living, this thing should be piss-easy to wrap, if someone did want to use one for actual work.
The challenge is that any new battery optimized truck design will likely have this issue. Ford is talking about their “T3” truck already, and I’m doubting that Rivian is a standard design. Agreed on the wrap though — dead easy.
And where does the sun roof go?
When’s the last time you saw a ladder rack or rope cleats on a Rivian or 5.5′ bed f150?
The closest this thing is going to get to construction work is if the owner uses it to stop in and check the progress on his new ski lodge in Jackson Hole
Well… you did say it was going to cost $39,900. So it seems like delivering it on time at the original price was impossible?
Yeah but that’s not his fault, inflation made it rise. It’s totally under 40k in 2003 dollars when this thing was announced!
The Cybertruck was announced in November 2019. This is roughly an average 11% YoY price increase over 4 years to get to the $60,990 price, the inflation being compounded of course. This exceeds the CPI’s claimed inflation rate over those years, BUT it is slightly less than that claimed by the Chapwood Index, the latter which uses the actual cost of goods/services without the hedonic adjustments and substitutions.
So the starting price seems about right, if not a bit low.
LMAO
This truck definitely fits the aesthetic of the dystopian future that has arrived, and the even more dystopian future likely awaiting us. And I think that’s what Musk was going for with this monstrosity.
They are not getting a dime from me till I read the Terminator’s review.
That guy know his stuff. /s
Ahhhhnold might have a liking for these Cyber Trucks as far as I know.
This vehicle would fit right in with the world of Total Recall. Of course, they DID use a Centurion kit car on a Triumph Spitfire chassis converted into an EV, and it had enough torque to peel out. The vehicle fit the dystopian chiq look quite nicely. Then of course, the Johnny Cabs built out of VW Beetle platforms, the Boonie Bug, the R.Q. Riley Towncar, R.Q. Riley Phoenix, all also made appearances.
No door handles.
No dedicated storage for full size spare (optional straps and cover to put it in the bed)
I just canceled my order. I was just holding out hope it would have more “Truck” characteristics than it did. What a shame.
My brother in christ if it took you until 10 minutes ago to cancel your order, despite the mostly production vehicle being revealed weeks ago… And the whole “truck characteristics” that it never had…
I waited till they officially revealed the “Production” model. I was holding out hope for change.
Power to you I guess, I’m not brave enough for that
You’re arguing with a guy who is adamant that eliminating windows on the little suicide doors of an extended cab pick up truck is somehow a massive security improvement… despite there still being other doors, and other windows.
This is just reinforces my obvious opinion I’ve got about this fella…
Not adamant. Why have extended cab rear windows that don’t open, in a truck that doesn’t have rear seats? Personally I’d rather they be steel. Just like how if I was buying a cargo van I’d rather have metal siding than windows.
What’s curb weight for these things?
I believe the display in the San Diego Tesla store put curb weight in the 7000 to 8000lb (3175 – 3630kg) range.
To say I don’t want to be struck by one of these at anything more than fender bender speeds is an understatement. As a pedestrian, which I usually am? Total yikes.
I think it’s about 6,850 pounds?
Yeah, “Cyberbeast” is ~6,850 lb, and Dual Motor is ~6,600.
I have a difficult time believing these weight figures under the assumption that the car possesses its advertised characteristics(such as bulletproof windows). But they are what they are…
Yeah, I’m curious as to what they weigh in at for instrumented tests. Granted, the Model 3 and Model Y are a fair bit lighter than their competition, so it’ll be interesting to see what the numbers are when they’re put on scales.
I was expecting much closer to the legal limit of 10,000 lbs without having to get a CDL. Those steel panels must be close to razor thin.
What strikes me as questionable engineering is how are those 3mm (is that accurate?)thick SS panels attached? and does compression of the crumple zones result in protruding knife edges?
Musk had stated 3mm thick high strength Aerospec. SS that is roughly 5X standard body panel thickness. It will not easily deform!
This issue screamed at me from the get go. I don’t see how it could pass crash testing, unless they only look at concrete barrier testing and neglect vehicle on vehicle
3mm is surprisingly thick. This material must be half the weight of normal galvanized steel or close to it in order to get the claimed weight figures.
Doesn’t add up. Calling a Ralph Nader.
With you. My E350 Quigley 4wd work van weighs about 8,500lbs
Official NHTSA GVWR is in the 8000-9000lb category for the dual motor model, so it either has much lower payload than advertised, or that’s about the right curb weight.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again- I think this is built on one of their car platforms. This would explain the low weight in relation to the other EV truck offerings. Have I done research to confirm my suspicion? Absolutely not.
I’m trying to get something with a 4.0L engine to ~2850lbs with a full tank of fuel. Meanwhile, the number of vehicles over twice my curb weight increases.
Dual Motor version ($79k) is 6,603 lb, according to Tesla’s website, which makes it comparable to the Extended Range Lightning and less than the Rivian.
Lots of sharp edges to go with its curb weight and acceleration capability.
Acceleration matters, too. Average impact crash speed has been increasing a fair bit over the years (in addition to curb weight) as torque becomes democratized. I remember the interview Savagegeese did with Honda engineers on the new Pilot. And how they mentioned they focused the space frame for faster, 5000-plus pound other vehicle collisions, based on what insurance data was seeing in terms of trends.
This looks as bad as any current truck or SUV for pedestrian injury, which is extremely bad. I believe the height of the hood and angle of the front end is the biggest issues today based on the report from the Institute for Highway Safety. https://www.iihs.org/news/detail/vehicles-with-higher-more-vertical-front-ends-pose-greater-risk-to-pedestrians
You seem to believe cybertruck buyers give a isht about their fellow man
I doubt that many drivers of any vehicle care much about pedestrians. In an ideal world we would see some regulation like in Europe with regards to pedestrian safety. These giant front ends on trucks and SUVs have gone too far. Safety is one place where government regulation has really helped drivers. It would be great if that was extended to other road users.
7-8000lb is nothing special. Every crew cab half ton or fullsize SUV is over 6k, and every 3/4 ton pickup is over 7k. Not to mention the 80,000lb semi trucks that share the road with you.
The Ram hybrid will weigh at least 8k.
The Cybertruck existing is unlikely to increase the probability of a 7k+ vehicle running you over.
Not even close.
An F-150 SuperCrew is between 4300 and 5025 lbs based on engine and bed length. Even the Hybrid version tops out at 5500lbs.
That’s 1500 – 2700lbs short of being “over 7000”.
Okay I thought my Expedition was over 6, looks like more like 5500lb is typical for a crew cab or fullsize SUV, I was pretty close but yes I was off.
No crew cab is 4300lb.
I also didn’t say that an f150 was over 7k, I said a 3/4 ton is over 7k.
Ford’s spec chart sucks. Apparently a 2023 Ford F-150 SuperCrew (biggest cab) 3.3L Ti-VCT V6 with a 6.5 foot bed is 4616lbs. The SuperCab is 4345lbs, and the Regular Cab is 4021 pounds.
3/4s are kind of irrelevant because they don’t exist in a significant enough volume compared to the bazillion half-tons by comparison. Checked the Ford dealer’s inventory near me. There are EIGHTY half-tons, and THREE F-250s or heavier duty vehicles on their lot.
You must live in a big city, here in Idaho there are almost as many 3/4 tons as there are half to a, especially with new pickups.