The first Tesla Cybertruck customers finally received their vehicles today. They've been patient: Tesla first announced the futuristic electric pickup in 2019, and pushed back deliveries several years as the company worked through design and production issues.
A dozen customers received their vehicles at a livestreamed delivery event. Tesla says it has over a million pre-orders for the truck, and aims to produce 200,000 of them per year. (Pre-orders require a $250 refundable deposit.)
Cybertruck Timeline:
Nov. 2019 - Product announced, preorders opened with production slated to begin in 2021.
Aug. 2021 - Tesla delayed production to 2022.
Nov. 2022 - Tesla delayed production to 2023.
Jan. 2023 - Tesla delayed "mass" production to 2024.
July 2023 - First vehicles rolled off the production line.
Oct. 2023 - Tesla says the first customers will get their vehicles on Nov. 30.
Tesla also finally confirmed the truck's price and range. It will come in three trims, according to the updated order page. The cheapest, rear-wheel drive model is not available until 2025. It starts at $60,990 with 250-mile range—a steep hike from the 2019 price of $39,990, The Verge reports—and goes from 0-60 in 6.5 seconds.
The two trims available in 2024 are the all-wheel drive version ($79,990 starting, 340-mile range, 4.1 seconds from 0-60), as well as the "Cyberbeast." The latter starts at $99,990 with a 320-mile range. It has the fastest 0-60 time of the three, at 2.6 seconds, and a whopping 845 horsepower.
(Credit: Tesla)"Once every five to 10 years, a really special, unusual product comes along," CEO Elon Musk said today. Most of his commentary sought to highlight the truck's performance, and dispel any ideas that the Cybertruck is "just a showpiece."
He first noted the tough exterior. "We had to come up with a special, ultra-strong, Tesla-designed steel alloy," he said. "This metal did not exist before."
To prove the point, a Tesla staffer threw a baseball at the truck, which bounced off with no visible dent. (A similar stunt in 2019 didn't go as well.) Then, a video of someone shooting a gun at it showed bullets bouncing off, not going through as Musk said would happen on competitor trucks. "The apocalypse could come along at any moment, and here at Tesla we have the finest in apocalypse technology," Musk said.
(Credit: Tesla)The Cybertruck can tow 11,000 pounds and has a 6-by-4-foot bed. A video at the event compared the Cybertruck's towing capability to that of a Ford F-150 Lightning, Ford F-350, and Rivian R1T. The Cybertruck is reportedly able to tow an extremely heavy piece of industrial equipment further than all three trucks.
Then, another video showed the Cybertruck beating a 2023 Porsche 911 in a race. "It can tow a Porsche 911 faster than a Porsche 911 can drive itself," Musk said. "It's a better sportscar than a sportscar, in the same package."
Performance when towing a large piece of equipment. (Credit: Tesla X Livestream)So who were the first 12 customers to get their Cybertrucks? The first two went to women, and the third a young man wearing a jacket that said, "Invest in women's sports" on the back—perhaps a bridge between the ladies and the string of men who received the rest of them.
The recipients were of all ages; one brought his young son, while another man appeared well past retirement age (When he got in his truck, someone in the crowd yelled, "Go, Lars!")
(Credit: Tesla X Livestream)"These are really going to change the look of the roads," Musk said. "The future will finally look like the future."
In the coming year, investors and customers alike will be eager to see how the truck's sales perform, as well as additional information that comes to light from its first few drivers.