Tesla has just revealed its first ever pickup truck. It’s called the Cybertruck and it’s controversial, to say the least. The new all electric pickup truck features a completely new styling that worlds apart from Tesla’s design language that we’re used to seeing. It is so ridiculous, in fact, that people are blaming it for an almost 6% decrease in Tesla’s stock prices.
The design alone has been responsible for thousands of memes online regarding the design alone. Unlike cars that we see nowadays, that happen to be rounded off to be as aerodynamic as possible, this one is literally the opposite. It looks as if Tesla has been “cutting corners” with their design department. Regardless, if you want to look at the bright side, it is unique and will possibly turn heads.
Tesla truck be like pic.twitter.com/4fCgTt80r6
— Aureylian (@aureylian) November 22, 2019
Things do seem to get better once you move past the exterior design. When it comes to build quality, the Cybertruck’s “exoskeleton” is made from a 30x cold rolled steel which, apart from adding weight, will provide huge levels of durability that no other ordinary road car has. It is not bulletproof but it will withstand dents far longer than anything else.
In addition to that, Tesla is also featuring its armored glass in all the windows of the Cybertruck. It is supposed to be much tougher and shatter resistant than the regular glass used in regular cars. Tesla claimed it to be resistant to any damage from a small metal ball, however, during their demonstration at the reveal, it failed to survive. Guess Tesla has to work on it a little bit more.
Moving from the exterior, we come to the interior. Again, it’s something that you haven’t seen or expected in a road car. Up front, you have a steering wheel that’s not exactly a wheel and a large screen in the middle. Both seem to be mounted on a dashboard that looks like a marble kitchen counter. It’s nothing like we’ve ever seen before and we’re curious about what it’s made of.
Apart from that, the rest of the interior is surprisingly spacious. You can seat 6 people; 3 in the front row and 3 in the back. We don’t have enough information about any interior storage spaces yet so that’s something we’ll be looking forward to knowing. Maybe the marble kitchen counter dashboard has a huge glove box but we’ll have to wait to find out.
Coming out of the interior, let’s talk about performance. The Cybertruck puts out numbers that can overshadow any other existing pickup truck in its class. For starters, there are three main powertrain options available; A single motor RWD, a dual motor AWD, and a tri motor AWD. 0-60 mph times for the three variants respectively is under 6.5 seconds, under 4.5 seconds, and under 2.9 seconds. Needless to say, if you want the most performance, you need to go for the tri motor AWD option.
That’s not all. You can also get 500+ miles of range with the top end model along with a towing capacity of an amazing 1400 lbs. Adaptive air suspension is standard in all variants, which can give you up to 16″ of ground clearance for that much confidence while off roading. All these numbers are stellar, especially considering that this is Tesla’s first attempt at making a pickup truck. I think they nailed it in this department.
So, in the end, how much does all this cost? Well, the short answer is not that much. The Cybertruck is actually cheaper than what we expected it to cost. The prices of Cybertruck’s single motor RWD, dual motor AWD, and tri motor AWD variants are $39,000, $49,900, and $69,900 respectively. In addition to that, you can also get the self-driving feature for an additional $7000 if you want.
In case you liked the Cybertruck and you want to buy it, you can secure your purchase here. You just need to pay $100 for that and it’s funny refundable. Production for the single motor and dual motor variants is expected to start in late 2021. The tri motor variant, however, will not see production till late 2022.
After looking at all this, we feel the need to ask ourselves, do we really need it? Is the Cybertruck really worth what it costs with all its specs? And should the ridiculous exterior design be considered a deal breaker? Well, the answer to the first question is Yes. That is because the future is electric and we only had electric cars and SUVs. With the Cybertruck, we have a completely new category of electric cars unlocked.
The answer to the second question also happens to be Yes as it is priced competitively. It costs almost the same as the Ford F150 but offers much more when it comes to performance and utilities. However, the answer to the last question may just be No. The design of the Cybertruck is the root of all the controversy. As mentioned earlier, some people believe it alone was responsible for a sudden 6% dip in Tesla’s stock prices.
Most people just don’t simply like the design. Some may like it, on the contrary, but Tesla needs the majority to get good sales otherwise it will be at a loss. It’s a good thing the production of the Cybertruck is still far away, which might give Tesla an opportunity to reconsider their final design. Till that happens, this is what we have.