Elon Musk says 200,000 pre-orders have recently been confirmed. Here is how the orders break down.
Musk tweets several updates over the weekend. Several tweets are specifically about the number of pre-orders, but several others are to answer other questions about the truck.
Tesla Cybertruck Pre-orders
On Saturday, Nov 23rd – two days after the official debut of the Cybertruck – Elon Musk tweets that approximately 146,000 truck per-orders are received. Each pre-order requires a $100 deposit.
The tweet goes further to say on which trucks the people are choosing:
- 17% – single motor RWD, starts at $39,900
- 42% – dual motor AWD, starts at $49,900
- 41% – tri-motor AWD, starts at $69,900
Tesla says the single-motor and dual-motor versions of the truck will reach the market at the end of 2021. The tri-motor truck will be available in 2022.
On Sunday, Nov 24th – another tweet from the Tesla CEO confirms 200,000 deposits. Hence, the company made $20 million in pre-orders so far.
Cybertruck Design
Musk tweets: “Reason Cybertruck is so planar is that you can’t stamp ultra-hard 30X steel, because it breaks the stamping press.”
This comment appears to address the overall shape and simplicity of the trapezoidal truck. Tesla decided to build the truck out of the ultra-hard steel and stainless steel. Apparently, the choice of the exoskeleton unibody design and the steel alloy also dictates the overall shape of the truck.
This type of steel is very tough, dent resistant, and generally rust resistant as well. Elon Musk says it’s also bullet proof against a 9mm caliber weapon. This brings up many other big questions.
How will a big and heavy truck made out of this stuff behave in a collision? Will it just crush through whatever it hits? Are there sufficient crumple zone to cushion some of the impact.
If emergency personnel need to extract somebody trapped inside the truck, what is the procedure for this if the truck is equipped with non-breakable glass and impenetrable steel?
What’s Next From Tesla?
Tesla is currently selling the Model S, Model X, and the Model 3. A smaller Model Y SUV is coming next in early 2021.
The company unveiled the Tesla Semi truck and the next Tesla Roadster about two years ago. The Roadster requires a $255,000 pre-order deposit, but neither the Semi nor the Roadster have reached production yet. There is no official word on when they will reach production.
Elon Musk tweets the following this weekend: “Cybertruck is our last product unveil for a while, but there will be some (mostly) unexpected technology announcements next year.“
The Cybertruck is promised by the end of 2021. What happens with the Tesla vehicle lineup past 2022, it’s anybody’s guess at this point.
Here is how the Cybertruck compares against the competition.
