Tesla Cybertruck Delivery: First Dozen High Tech Pickups to customers

Tesla Cybertruck Delivery: First Dozen High Tech Pickups to customers. Tesla handed over the initial batch of its innovative Cybertruck pickups to customers on Thursday, albeit two years behind the initial timeline. Manufacturing challenges persist, leading to uncertainty about large-scale production commencement.

CEO Elon Musk showcased the angular electric trucks at a factory event near Austin, Texas. The ceremony featured Musk driving the truck onto a dark stage, emphasizing its uniqueness and futuristic design. Despite delays, the Cybertruck marks a distinctive addition to the automotive landscape.

The truck targets the most lucrative segment of the U.S. auto market, traditionally dominated by Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis’s Ram trucks. However, since Musk’s unveiling four years ago, all three Detroit automakers have introduced their electric trucks. Ford, GM, and Rivian already have electric trucks available, with the electric Ram scheduled for release early next year.

Ford’s F-Series pickups, GM’s Chevrolet Silverado, and Stellantis’s Ram pickup lead national vehicle sales, collectively selling nearly 1.7 million large pickups through October, often priced over $100,000 per vehicle. Musk highlighted that the Cybertruck’s angular body is constructed from a Tesla-developed stainless steel alloy, necessitated by the material’s inability to be stamped conventionally. Musk emphasized stainless steel’s resistance to corrosion, eliminating the need for paint while enabling mass production.

The Cybertruck boasts 17 inches of ground clearance for off-road capabilities and accelerates from zero to 60 mph in 2.6 seconds. With four-wheel steering, the truck adapts its steering effort based on speed. Musk also noted its ability to carry over a ton in the bed and tow more than 11,000 pounds.

Tesla Cybertruck Delivery

At the Tesla Cybertuck Delivery event, Musk showcased videos of the Cybertruck surpassing a Porsche 911 in the quarter mile and towing another Porsche on a trailer. Another clip demonstrated its superior towing capability compared to a Ford Super Duty pickup.

Despite Musk’s initial announcement of production beginning in 2021 when the truck was unveiled four years ago, challenges in manufacturing the innovative vehicle with a rigid stainless steel body have surfaced. During the October earnings conference call, Musk acknowledged the difficulty in meeting the production target of 250,000 units per year until 2025.

He candidly mentioned that the Cybertruck posed significant challenges in mass production and cautioned investors about managing expectations due to the complexity of producing the trucks at an affordable price. Musk estimated a significant positive cash flow might take 18 months to a year to materialize.

“We have reservations from over 1 million individuals for the car, so the demand is there,” Musk stated. “However, the challenge lies in producing it at an affordable price. It’s an extraordinarily complex endeavor.”

Musk emphasized that Tesla could have easily manufactured trucks resembling those already in the market, but his vision was to create something groundbreaking and unique.

“These rare, exceptional products are incredibly challenging to bring to market in large volumes and achieve profitability,” he noted. He anticipates that an upcoming more affordable Tesla model will be more conventional and therefore significantly easier to manufacture.

Pricing

According to Tesla’s website, the rear-wheel-drive version of the truck is estimated to start at $60,990, while the top-tier “Cyberbeast” is estimated to start at $99,990. Reservations can be secured with a refundable $250 deposit. The trucks are projected to have a single-charge range of 250 to 340 miles (400 to 550 kilometers).

In 2019, when the truck was revealed, Tesla stated that the base version would initiate at $39,900, while a tri-motor, long-range model would be priced at $69,900. The truck was anticipated to achieve a range of 250 to 500 miles (400 to 800 kilometers) per electric charge.

During the event, Musk replicated a stunt from the 2019 Cybertruck unveiling, where a Tesla executive threw a metal ball at a prototype’s supposedly shatterproof windows, resulting in them spider-cracking. This time, an executive threw a baseball at the windows, and they remained intact.

At the delivery ceremony, a lineup of trucks approached a stage where buyers met Musk for photos, and he guided them to the vehicles, with most entering through the passenger side.

Source: AP

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