Over four years after first displaying the futuristic-looking Cybertruck, Elon Musk-led Tesla on Thursday (Nov 30) published the prices for the electric vehicle and began the deliveries. The Cybertruck will be starting at $60,990 for the lowest cost variant which is significantly more than what Musk had advertised in 2019 at around $40,000.
During the keynote, he drove a Cybertruck onto the stage amid cheers from the crowd before handing the keys to about a dozen customers at the event in Austin, Texas.
According to the Tesla website, the Cybertruck’s highest variant named Cyberbeast, an all-wheel drive version would be sold for estimated starting prices of about $100,000 and $80,000. These will be available next year.
While the rear-wheel drive Cybertruck has an estimated range of 250 miles and can go from 0 to 60 mph in 6.5 seconds, the all-wheel drive has an estimated 340-mile range, can go from 0 to 60 in 4.1 seconds. It has a top speed of 112 mph, 600 horsepower, and a towing capacity of 11,000 pounds.
Musk took to X (formerly known as Twitter) to post a video of Cybertruck going up against Porsche 911 whilst ferrying a Porsche 911 to display the power of the car. He also congratulated the Tesla team for making the deliveries possible.
Massive congrats to the incredible Tesla team, from design through to manufacturing, for making Cybertruck real! I love you.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 30, 2023
According to Musk, Tesla is expected to reach a production rate of approximately 250,000 Cybertrucks a year in 2025.
Musk tempers expectations
The car, radically different in its design has arrived at the production line, a little more than two years late. Since first launching the car, Musk has also tempered his expectations, saying it would take a year to 18 months to make the vehicle a significant cash flow contributor.
“We dug our own grave with Cybertruck,” Musk said during earnings call in October.
“This is simply normal when you’ve got a product with a lot of new technology, or for any new vehicle program but especially for one that is as different and advanced as the Cybertruck, you will have problems proportionate to how many new things you’re trying to solve at scale.”
The truck is made of shiny stainless steel, shaped into flat planes with few if any curves. Musk has said it is partly inspired by a car-turned-submarine in the 1977 James Bond movie “The Spy Who Loved Me.”.
The powerful car has already drawn more than a million reservation holders who have put down $100 as deposits.
(With inputs from agencies)
