Elon Musk (right) unveils his austere, hard-steel Tesla Cybertruck and an electric ATV in Los ... [+]
Elon Musk has reinvented the pickup for the 21st century as an austere, hard-edged electric beast. It’s going to look cool in future Terminator movies and draw open-mouth gapes rolling through tony neighborhoods in Los Angeles or Silicon Valley. It’s also unlikely to be a volume challenger to full-size trucks from Ford, GM and FiatChrysler in the near term, if ever.
Market reaction to the debut wasn’t positive. Tesla shares dropped 6.1% to $333.04 in Nasdaq trading Friday. As a result, Musk’s net worth took a $768 million hit.
The Cybertruck that rolled onstage late Thursday to a packed hall filled with Tesla fans in suburban Los Angeles is definitely a new spin on the top-selling vehicles in the U.S. that Musk said “have been the same for 100 years.” But rather than going for a more modest reinvention in styling, on the lines of startup Rivian’s R1T electric truck, Tesla decided that a very polarizing design, clad in cold-rolled stainless steel, was the right approach.
“It doesn’t look like anything else,” Musk said as several members of the Tesla design team scrambled out of the vehicle, dressed in black leather and looking like extras in a Mad Max film. Inspiration for the vehicle’s spare design was to create a mix between a truck and a stealth fighter jet, apparently. “We were able to make the skin out of ultra-hard stainless steel. Really hard.”
Franz von Holzhaussen, Tesla’s chief designer, demonstrated how tough that exterior was by hitting the front driver door with a sledgehammer that appeared to do no damage. The vehicle also has glass that Musk said was similarly super-strong, though a demonstration to prove that didn’t go as well. Von Holzhaussen severely damaged both front and rear passenger windows when he threw a hard steel ball at them.
“We’ll fix it in post,” Musk quipped, after cursing at the mishap.
A test to show off the super-strong glass on Tesla's new Cybertruck didn't go exactly as planned.
On the plus side, the base price starts at just $39,900, ranging up to $69,900 for a bigger battery and to get maximum towing capacity of 14,000 pounds. The base version will go 250 miles per charge, while the top-end variant gets double that. Musk said Tesla has started taking deposits for the vehicle.
He wasn’t clear on precisely when deliveries are likely to begin. Also, there was no mention of where the vehicle will be built.
“Elon had stated the Cybertruck ‘will be something quite unique, unlike anything.’ Mission accomplished,” Morgan Stanley equity analyst Adam Jonas said in a research note. “While some investors may see the design as more fitting for a work site in a Martian colony, true art and design lovers may appreciate that Tesla has tried to bring something totally different to the market here on Earth. Too Niche?”
Its starting price should and features should attract a few buyers in the electric truck market, said Akshay Anand, executive analyst at Kelley Blue Book. “It may not appeal to traditional needs-based buyers, but some of its performance and utility features combined with the design may appeal to wants-based buyers who want something radically different.”
The curious vehicle is something the sci-fi-loving Musk has wanted Tesla to do for years and a passion project reflecting his personal vision. “I do zero market research whatsoever,” he told an audience at a conference for space entrepreneurs in San Francisco this month. “If you don’t love the product, you should not expect that others will.”
A person places items into the front trunk cargo area of the Rivian R1T electric pickup truck during ... [+]
U.S. sales of full-size pickups, the world’s primary market for such vehicles, surpass 2 million units annually, and volume leaders Ford, GM and FiatChrysler’s Ram battle to retain buyer loyalty and bragging rights in a space where median prices approach $50,000. Rivian has positioned its vehicle as a premium, lifestyle brand with a $69,000 base price.
The Cybertruck’s range and towing capacity will give it credibility in the pickup space, and the specs laid out by Musk exceed those of the R1T from Amazon-backed startup Rivian that was unveiled a year ago, also in Los Angeles. Its truck will deliver up to 400 miles of driving range per charge, have the ability to haul up to 11,000 pounds and offer clever new types of storage.
Shortly after the Cybertruck’s debut, one automotive wag tweeted “PREDICTION: @Rivian will sell a lot of trucks.”
Alex Roy via Twitter
While Tesla’s pickup will undoubtedly attract unconventional buyers who want a very edgy vehicle, the styling of the Rivian model, which starts at about $69,000, may appeal to a broader segment of truck customers willing to try an electric variant. Ford and GM also have battery-powered pickups in the works, though neither company has revealed them.
“One of the key elements of the long Tesla – short Detroit 3 thesis in recent months has been that the impending Tesla pickup truck would shift the largest profit pool in the U.S. market from the D-3 to Tesla,” Barclays equity analyst Brian Johnson said in a research note on Friday.
“But after seeing the, shall we say generously, polarizing design (not even counting the broken glass during the demo), it’s clear that the legacy OEM executives ... including GM CEO Mary Barra and Ted Cannis (Ford’s Global Head of Electrification) can breathe a sigh of relief,” he said.
Cybertruck interior
