► Tesla Cybertruck goes on sale in US
► First production pick-up officially built
► Wedge intact, but pricier, lower range
Another day, another outlandish claim for the Tesla Cybertruck… This time maverick boss Elon Musk revealed the electric pick-up will soon have an option to turn it into a boat – with the ability to traverse 100m of water.
In his tweet, Musk claimed the Cybertruck would need little alteration, apart from upgrades to the door seals.
The Tesla Cybertruck went on sale to US customers earlier in December 2023, amidst some startling claims for the all-electric pick-up: it is priced from $60,990 (£48k) in America at launch, the fastest Beast range-topper can sprint from 0-60mph in 2.6 seconds and the truck is ‘bulletproof’ to withstand .45in and 9mm calibre small-arms fire.
New details emerged at the winter 2023 Cybertruck Delivery Event, which was watched by 3.7 million users on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter and now rebranded by owner Elon Musk.
After a long and painful gestation, it’s the first time we’ve seen the definitive production versions of the Cybertruck. The new truck is built at Tesla’s Giga factory in Texas and Musk called it ‘the most unique thing on the road.’ He’s not wrong.
Two powertrains are offered at launch: an 845bhp tri-motor set-up based on the Model S Plaid’s powertrain or a twin-motor, all-wheel drive version offering a more modest 600bhp. A cheaper, lower-spec rear-wheel drive Cybertruck is planned for 2025.
Tesla Cybertruck specs and prices
Tellingly, many of the original claims have been watered down and prices have gone up:
- Tesla Cybertruck RWD $60,990 (£48k), 250-mile range, 6.5sec 0-60mph, 112mph top speed, 20in wheels
- Tesla Cybertruck AWD $79,990 (£63k), 340-mile range, 4.1sec 0-60mph, 112mph top speed, 20in wheels
- Tesla Cybertruck Cyberbeast $99,990 (£79k), 320-mile range, 2.6sec 0-60mph, 130mph top speed, 20in wheels
The production Tesla Cybertruck has stayed true to the angular nature of all the set-square, wedge-profiled prototypes seen in the build-up to launch.
Its bodywork is unusual: the ultra-hard stainless steel is claimed to be resistant to dents and long-term corrosion – and the doors are bulletproof to light arms fire. Moreover, the glazing is shatterproof and can survive a baseball thrown at 70mph (above, though the design lead’s shot at the unveiling can more politely be described as a gentle lob).
Sceptics might have doubted if the long-delayed Cybertruck would ever materialise in production form, but the #1 production milestone in July 2023 was a step in the right direction ahead of the customer handover on 30 November 2023 (below).
The fully electric, apocalyptically-styled flatbed has a much lower range than originally quoted at launch pre-pandemic in 2019. Musk had promised a range of more than 500 miles, but that has shrunk considerably to 340 miles in production versions. Perhaps unsurprisingly, since the Cybertruck weighs a portly 3107kg. Yes, over three tonnes!
Speaking of weights, the Tesla pick-up does have a high towing capacity. Cybertruck will tow 4990kg and the flatbed can take 2.5 tonnes, with enough space for 4ft x 8ft materials, according to Tesla.
Production delays
Musk admitted at the summer 2023 annual shareholders meeting: ‘Cybertruck is a hard truck to make. You can’t just use conventional methods of manufacturing. We had to invent a whole new set of manufacturing techniques in order to build an exoskeleton car rather than an endoskeleton car so it is clearly not trivial, but we are making good progress on that.’
He recommitted to the plan for a 2023 launch. ‘Sorry for the delay. We’re finally going to start delivering production examples of the trucks later this year and the product is, if anything, better than expectations. Cybertruck is the car I will be driving on a day-to-day basis.’
The Tesla pick-up will join the Model 3, Model S, Model X and Model Y in the company’s line-up.
When can I buy the Tesla Cybertruck in the UK?
UK distribution remains unclear. The company hasn’t taken orders for the truck outside of America for a while and it sounds like it’ll have its hands full meeting demand just from the US. Musk said earlier in 2022 that the company has ‘more orders of the first Cybertrucks than we could possibly fulfil for three years after the start of production.’
The Cybertruck was first revealed in November 2019, at which point Brits could put down a £100 fully-refundable deposit. The page where you could do this is no longer accessible in the UK, although US customers can still place a deposit.
The truck has already been delayed several times, with aimed-for production dates of 2021 and 2022 both pushed back.
Tesla Cybertruck: what you need to know
The new Tesla Cybertruck is the wedgiest pick-up truck we’ve ever seen, like a break-out from the props department of Blade Runner.
The radically styled Cybertruck takes everything Tesla knows about electric cars and applies that knowledge to the booming pick-up segment. The flatbed is made from composite material and is claimed not to need a liner.
With clever V2G bi-directional charging, the Cybertruck can power tools or another EV from sockets in the loadbay (below). No wonder – the battery in the Tesla Cybertruck is huge, Tesla’s biggest yet at 123kWh.
Still not enough range? Then consider the ‘range-extender’ battery upgrade, which packs an additional 50kWh cells into the loadbay.
The best electric cars and EVs on sale today
Practicality and specs
This new Tesla is ‘designed to have the utility of a truck and the performance of a sports car,’ according to Musk. So it’ll tow a boat, horsebox or caravan up to six tonnes, and carry a greater load capacity than most leisure-oriented pick-ups sold in the UK.
That payload of nearly 1.6 tonnes fits in a covered loadbed of 1.9 metres – and the steeply raked cover means your cargo will be out of sight of roaming eyes. Tesla naturally showed off an all-electric branded ATV quadbike to fit in the boot.
What these first official photographs don’t show is the sheer size of the thing; it dwarfed even tall adults at its debut, and appears considerably taller than a Ford Raptor. The Cybertruck is also bristling with storage cubbies; Tesla quotes 100 cubic feet of lockable compartments, including the ‘vault, frunk, and sail pillars.’
Even the glass is armoured to resist break-ins (though it famously smashed during the world debut, to Musk’s horror).
It’ll go off-road – an important consideration in this rough ‘n’ tough marketplace – and the air suspension adapts 10cm up or down for extra ground clearance or to adjust when fully laden.
Perhaps the most startling aspect of the Cybertruck is its wedge-shaped styling and origami stainless steel construction: it’s more Italian styling house circa 1973 than California 2023. Just goes to show Musk’s endless appetite for surprising the car industry and turning automotive conventions on their head.
Musk claimed in a tweet that the pick-up was inspired by the Lotus Esprit from the James Bond franchise (not the first time he’s referenced this particular slice of Giugiaro-designed wedge). The ‘ultra-hard 30X cold-rolled stainless steel’ bodywork is designed to be tough, easy to manufacture and echo the shiny cool of a DeLorean; it was also developed in conjunction with Musk’s SpaceX team to be one of the most durable materials known to mankind.
Tesla Cybertruck interior
The interior of the Cybertruck packs space for five adults, with the three-abreast seating in the front row dropped for production. It’s a typically minimalist Tesla cabin, with barely any switchgear visible at all in this first cabin photograph (below). Note also the radically futuristic steering wheel that has more in common with arcade games than 2023-spec road cars.
The touchscreen is a huge 17-inches in size, as Tesla ramps up its digital touchpoints and tries to stay ahead of the likes of Ford, which now deploys suspiciously familiar 15in screen on its Mustang Mach-E electric car.
As with many things to do with Elon Musk, this is a rolling news story – and we’ll be updating this article as we learn more about the Tesla Cybertruck, which will challenge pick-up EV upstarts such as the all-electric Rivian R1T.