So it’s finally happening. After a year of teasing and countless knock-off designs, Tesla has unveiled its new EV pickup truck. In the mere second it took for Elon Musk to breath its name, it was established as an icon for all eternity. And along with it, establishing “Cybertruck” as the monicre we would immediately associate with the form unveiled. The vehicle looks as future-driven, edgy, and eccentric as Elon himself. Feast your eyes.
Though the outer design has been compared to everything from the DeLorean time machine from Back to The Future to the drawing of 4-year-old Elon, you can’t deny the Cybertruck takes cues from science fiction. Elon himself says the inspiration was directly from the iconic sci-fi classic, Blade Runner and, the James Bond, The Spy Who Loved Me. Whether the Spinner or Everyman Car from the original Blade Runner, cars from Blade Runner 2049, or Bond’s Lotus Esprit S1, there’s definitely queues taken from each. But what’s interesting is that the material actually leant itself to the angular design.
The Cybertruck exoskeleton is manufactured from ultra-hard, 30x cold-rolled stainless steel which helps prevent long-term corrosion and dents caused by reckless drivers (yourself included). And with this, Elon puts the reason for the design on the material itself, saying, “Reason Cybertruck is so planar is that you can’t stamp ultra-hard 30X steel, because it breaks the stamping press”
Reason Cybertruck is so planar is that you can’t stamp ultra-hard 30X steel, because it breaks the stamping press
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 24, 2019
The weight of the truck, and what the all-metal exterior adds, is unknown, but is likely significant. It does, however, provide an absolutely tough-as-nails truck that allows you to do this:
Unfortunately, the demo truc wasn’t quite ready for repeated abuse on stage in front of millions. When demonstrating the Cybertruck’s ‘Tesla Armor Glass’, which was made to absorb impacts, it didn’t quite go as expected with, not one, but both windows breaking when Tesla Lead Designer, Franz von Holzhausen, threw a metal ball at it point-blank.
Yes, twice…
Elon’s explanation for this, the next day, was that the “Sledgehammer impact on door cracked base of glass, which is why steel ball didn’t bounce off. Should have done steel ball on window, then sledgehammer the door.”
Yup. Sledgehammer impact on door cracked base of glass, which is why steel ball didn’t bounce off. Should have done steel ball on window, *then* sledgehammer the door. Next time …
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 25, 2019
Except that, well, the sledgehammer was used on the front door and both windows cracked. Oh well, sledgehammer, micro-cracks, stage fright… who knows why they really cracked but even this isn’t likely to deter the hardcore Tesla fan. So what’s on the inside?
There are three versions of the Cybertruck planned: a single motor RWD, a dual-motor AWD, and a tri-motor AWD. The biggest difference is the number of motors which in turn affects their overall range, towing capacity, speed and, understandably, the cost.
The single motor rear-wheel drive is the cheapest, starting at $39,900. You can accelerate from 0-60 mph in less than 6.5 seconds and travel an average of 250+ miles before a recharge is needed for the car’s battery, with a 7,500 pound tow-capacity affecting those numbers as you would expect.
The dual-motor all-wheel-drive serves as the middle child, accelerating from 0-60 mph in less than 4.5 seconds. You’ll be able to travel an extra 50 miles compared to the single motor RWD, and while it might not seem like much, the dual-motor AWD allows you to tow a whopping 10,000 pounds. This version of the Cybertruck starts at $49,900.
The tri-motor all-wheel drive leaves the other two in the dust with a 0-60 mph acceleration time of less than 2.9 seconds. It can travel 500 miles before it needs a recharge and has a towing capacity of 14,000 pounds. This version will start at $69,900.
All versions of the Cybertruck come with 100 cubic feet of storage space, built-in autopilot, and adaptive air suspension for rough terrain. There’s no idea yet on how the autopilot will work off-road, but seeing as this is Tesla we’re talking about, they’ll most likely solve the issue before the truck rolls out.
While you can already pre-order the Cybertruck, production won’t start until late 2021. If you’re eying the high-end tri-motor AWD version, however, you’ll have to wait a year longer; production doesn’t start on that model until late 2022. The word is that 200,000 pre-orders have been made already in, literally, a word (or number) from Elon saying, ‘200k’, on Twitter:
200k
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 25, 2019
Overall, it has a lot going for it in the way of an all-electric truck with the actual capabilities you would expect in a truck. Wrapped in any other exterior is may have received a warmer, or colder, reception. The internet, social media, dinner tables, and people’s dreams have been ripe with discussion, adulating and poking fun, sharing pre-order confirmations and many a meme. Our favorite in all of this has got to be the image of ‘Cybertruck – Elon, Age 4’:
A lot of the focus has been on the design, and there’s more ‘behind the scenes’ we’d love to know about, but the tech can’t be overlooked either. What do you think of the Cybertruck? Like it? Hate it? Making a down-payment? Or rebelling and buying a ’76 C10 with a straight 6? Regardless, one thing is for certain, it has people talking about it, and for a company like Tesla, a CEO like Elon, and the dawning of EV trucks, that’s a very good thing.
You can find all the details on this futuristic pickup truck at Tesla.com.
