With dubstep as the soundtrack and neon lighting as the backdrop, Elon Musk handed the first Cybertrucks over to a select group of customers that included Reddit co-founder and VC fund Seven Seven Six founder Alexis Ohanian and Trousdale Ventures founder and CEO Phillip Sarofim.
The livestreamed portion of the Tesla Cybertruck delivery event was a short affair — around 30 minutes. But the event still had all the traditional trappings one has come to expect from Tesla: the pomp and pumpy music, VIP guests and, of course, Musk.
The Tesla Cybertruck deliveries come at least six years since Musk first tweeted about building a truck and four years since he debuted the futuristic-looking pickup.
Looking beyond some of the flashier features — it’s bullet proof — here’s everything we know so far. The tl;dr: the Cybertruck is a lot more expensive than the targets Musk shared in 2019. And what other details were shared, were scant. A few reviews, including one from Marques Brownlee, have been far more illuminating than what Musk or the official Tesla website have shared.
Three versions
Image Credits: Tesla/screenshot
The Tesla Cybertruck will eventually be available in three configurations.
The cheapest of the batch, a single-motor rear-wheel version with 250 miles of range, a 6.9-second zero to 60 miles per hour acceleration rate and a $60,990 base price, won’t be available until 2025. That leaves a dual motor all-wheel version and the so-called Cyberbeast, which has three motors.
The all-wheel drive variant has an estimated 340-mile range, top speed of 112 mph and $79,990 starting price. The Cyberbeast comes with an estimated 320-mile range model with 845 horsepower that can travel 0 to 60 miles per hour in 2.6 seconds, can hit a top speed of 130 mph, and comes with estimated $99,990 price tag. Both of these versions have a claimed towing capacity of 11,000 pounds.
The company is also going to offer a range extender that will push the all-wheel drive version to an estimated 470 miles and the Cyberbeast to more than 440 miles of range. But Tesla provides no other details about the range extender or the pricing. After the event, Musk did take to X, formerly Twitter, to give a slightly less opaque explanation. He said the range extender will be an “optional pack that fits in about 1/3 of the truck bed. Still room for plenty of cargo. It’s meant for very long trips or towing heavy things up mountains.”
Still no word on what it will cost. Either way, any EV truck or SUV priced above $80,000 won’t qualify for the $7,500 federal tax credit. Which means that middle tier variant with a range extender probably won’t.
The numbers above differ from the original specs first shared by Musk at the Cybertruck debut event in 2019. The company was planning on three variants, but the prices, towing and range have since changed. The production vehicle dimensions have also been reduced by about 5% from the prototype shown four years ago, making it slightly smaller than the Ford F-150 Lightning. In 2019, the company planned for its cheapest version to cost $39,900, and have a towing capacity of 7,500 pounds and more than 250 miles of range. The middle version was slated to be a dual-motor all-wheel drive priced at $49,900, have a towing capacity of more than 10,000 pounds and be able to travel more than 300 miles on a single charge. The third version was supposed to have three electric motors and all-wheel drive, a towing capacity of 14,000 pounds and battery range of more than 500 miles. That version, known as “tri motor,” is priced at $69,900.
Today, all of the production Cybertrucks have a drag coefficient of 0.335 (that’s good aerodynamics, fyi), 35-inch all-terrain tires on 20-inch rims, a six-foot by four-foot composite truck bed, a hidden gear locker and a front trunk. The company says that in all there is 67 cubic feet of lockable storage and it has a maximum payload of 2,500 pounds. Notably, the Cybertruck is a steer-by-wire vehicle, which should give it the ability to make tight turns and maneuvers.
Also of note, Tesla switched from a 12-volt to a 48-volt electrical system like other automakers such as Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen have done. The 48-volt system delivers more efficient power distribution and can provide enough amperage to charge things like power tools.
The Cybertruck also comes equipped with electronically adaptive air suspension that allows for up to 17 inches of clearance, if needed.
Tesla Cybertruck exterior
The Tesla Cybertruck still has the same trapezoidal shape and stainless steel exterior as presented back in 2019. There are a few changes however. The truck bed is no longer stainless steel, but lined with a composite. And those side mirrors? They are removable.
The exterior includes armored glass that is supposed to resist the impact of a baseball at 70 mph or class 4 hail. Testing the glass didn’t work so well back in 2019, with it actually shattering. This time chief designer Franz von Holzhausen successfully threw a baseball at the vehicle’s window without breaking it. Although it should be noted that back in 2019, von Holzhausen threw a metal baseball-sized ball. On Thursday, it appeared to be a regular old baseball and not one thrown 70 mph.
Inside the Cybertruck
Now that Tesla Cybertrucks are being delivered, there’s more information on some of the interior details and features.
As Musk handed over the Cybertrucks, he pressed what looked like a button on the B pillar to open the doors. It should be noted that the backdoors open at 90 degrees, a detail that wasn’t pointed out at the event but was revealed in a few of the review videos that have since been released. Once inside, drivers and passengers might notice an 18.5-inch infinity touchscreen in the front and a 9.4-inch touchscreen in the back. Apparently, there’s also a new interface, although Tesla doesn’t elaborate on how it differs from the current version.
Unlike the prototype, the steering wheel is a wheel and not a yoke. And another oddly placed item is the gear shifter, in this case buttons that allow the driver to move from park to reserve or drive, is placed up by where one would normally find the rearview mirror. Oh and yup, there is no rearview mirror.
Interestingly, and as noted by Brownlee, there is a front-facing camera outside of the Cybertruck — a first in Tesla’s world — which projects an image to that center screen to help the driver see any potential obstacles.
The Cybertruck also comes with a 15-speaker sound system that includes two dedicated subwoofers and distributed amplifiers. A built-in HEPA air filter (also in other Tesla vehicles), a wireless charging system and 65W USB-C and 120V/240V outlets are also included.