Tesla Inc. CEO Elon Musk delivered the first batch of Cybertruck pickups to reservation holders at an event at the automaker’s Austin, Texas, factory, four years after first presenting the wildly styled vehicle to the public.
Tesla also revealed prices that were significantly higher than when the pickup was first shown as a concept.
“It’s going to be amazing to see all these cars driving around,” Musk said at the delivery event Thursday. “This is really going to change the look of the road.”
Musk detailed some features of the electric pickup, including 11,000 pounds of towing capacity and a 2.6-second zero-to-60 mph time on the top trim.
He also noted the pickup’s stainless-steel exterior is resistant to bullets.
On its website, Tesla said the base rear-wheel-drive Cybertruck will start at $60,990, excluding shipping. Tesla currently charges $1,390 in shipping for its other vehicles, along with a $250 order fee.
- The base model has an estimated range of 250 miles and accelerates to 60 mph in 6.5 seconds, Tesla said. Deliveries will start in 2025.
- A two-motor, all-wheel-drive Cybertruck starts at $79,990, excluding shipping, with an estimated range of 340 miles, 600 hp, and 0-to-60 mph acceleration in 4.1 seconds, Tesla said. Deliveries of that version will start in 2024.
- A top trim Cyberbeast starts at $99,990, excluding shipping, with 320 miles of estimated range, 845 hp and a 0-to-60 mph acceleration in 2.6 seconds, Tesla said. Deliveries of the Cyberbeast start next year, Tesla said.
The Cybertruck’s price has risen significantly since it was presented as a concept vehicle. Tesla also missed its range target for the top trim from four years ago. The Cybertruck originally was scheduled to launch in 2021.
At the concept reveal four years ago, Musk said pricing would start around $40,000 for a single-motor version with around 250 miles of range. The dual-motor version was expected at around $50,000 with 300 miles of range, and the three-motor version with 500 miles of range was to start at around $70,000. All prices are excluding shipping.
But Tesla quietly removed pricing from its website two years ago, and Musk said last year that the starting price would be higher than originally promised because of rising costs caused by inflation and other factors.
Before the launch event Thursday, analysts said that the Cybertruck will be a short-term hit regardless of the price.
While its angular, stainless-steel exterior is polarizing to the public, the pickup is expected to be in short supply for years because of a reservation backlog from Tesla owners, EV enthusiasts and newcomers to the brand, analysts say. The truck will likely also be an instant cultural phenomenon.
“Wherever Cybertruck goes, people will surround it, take selfies of themselves on it, next to it, inside of it, and post them on social media for the world to see,” said Gary Black in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter. Black is managing partner of Chicago-based The Future Fund, which owns Tesla stock.
Black said last week the Cybertruck will be more than just a novelty, given the size of the full-size pickup segment in the U.S. He also predicted the pickup would serve as a halo for the Tesla brand, drawing new buyers to its two sedans and two crossovers.
Industry analysts said the Cybertruck is likely to appeal to casual truck users and EV enthusiasts rather than traditional pickup owners in North America who are looking for maximum utility and mainstream looks.
“There will be a core group of Tesla fanboys who want one and are willing to spend big money to get one just for the visual statement it makes,” said Karl Brauer, executive analyst at iSeeCars. “But the bulk of the traditional truck market, which is huge, will have no interest in the Cybertruck.”
Brauer said the Cybertruck’s bed with sloping walls complicates loading and unloading cargo. And electric pickups in general, he added, don’t have the driving range for common truck tasks, such as hauling heavy loads and towing. Depending on the load, towing can cut EV range in half.
But Robby DeGraff, product and consumer insights analyst at AutoPacific, said the Cybertruck launch is a milestone event for the EV industry, whether the pickup sells well into the future or not.
“When the Cybertruck arrives in the hands of excruciatingly patient reservation holders, it will no doubt be one of the most controversial vehicles to emerge this decade,” DeGraff said last week. “Its design is polarizing — good polarizing for one camp, terrible for the other.”