Story at a glance
- Tesla launched its first electric pickup truck, hoping to disrupt the market for one of America’s favorite vehicle types.
- The event went off the rails when multiple attempts to demonstrate the vehicle’s shatterproof glass wound up breaking two of its windows.
- Many think the truck is too expensive and, well, too weird looking to challenge the dominance of gasoline pickups like the F-150, though Ford itself is working on an electric version of its bestselling truck.
Elon Musk’s Tesla shared it’s long-awaited electric pickup truck this week. Tesla wants the new “Cybertruck” to compete with Ford’s best-selling F-150, but the electric truck’s unfamiliar, stainless steel-shelled design may limit its mass-market appeal.
Analysts don’t seem to think such an upset is likely. “It will be a niche product at best and poses no threat in the pickup market as we know it today,” Matt DeLorenzo, senior executive editor at Kelley Blue Book told CNN. “The other downside is that this truck will have no federal tax credits by the time it comes out.”
In an unveiling complete with flames and lasers, Musk listed the Cybertruck’s many features, including shatterproof windows.
Tesla’s lead designer attempted to showcase the toughness of the truck’s “armor glass” by hurling a metal ball at one of the windows, but instead of harmlessly glancing off, the glass shattered. A repeat demonstration on the rear window yielded another busted window, adding insult to injury for the truck that has already become the subject of numerous memes mocking its idiosyncratic design.
“Maybe that was a little too hard,” Musk quipped. The Tesla executive then proceeded with the rest of the presentation with the cracked windows serving as an ignominious backdrop.
Other automakers are at work on electric trucks of their own. Ford is developing an electric version of its F-150, the best-selling truck in America for 42 years, General Motors has its own battery-powered pickup slated for fall 2021 and startup Rivian launched an electric truck this year.
Tesla’s Cybertruck will come in three models. The single-motor rear-wheel drive option starts at $39,900, the dual-motor all wheel drive model is $49,900 and a tri-motor all-wheel drive edition fetches $69,900.
The top of the line tows 14,000 pounds, has a range of 500 miles on a single charge and can accelerate from 0 to 60 miles per hour in 2.9 seconds, according to Tesla. The base model’s range is 250 miles. The trucks will start rolling off the production line in late 2021.
Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Changing america
