Elon Musk took to the stage at the Tesla Design Center in Los Angeles today to unveil the company’s first electric pickup truck. The Cybertruck, as Musk has named it looks basically nothing like a pickup truck, but has all the features of one, and some extras.
The Cybertruck features an exoskeleton made out of ultra hard cold-rolled steel, which the company claims can withstand sledgehammers, and 9mm handgun bullets. The company did bang on the Cybertruck’s door with a sledgehammer to show off that it doesn’t dent or smash. The company also showed off its tests with a 9mm handgun bullet being fired at the Cybertruck.
Moreover, Musk mentioned that the material used in the Cybertruck’s exoskeleton is the same as what the company will be using in its Starship rocketship that it’s currently testing.
In terms of specs, the Cybertruck features a lockable exterior storage that’s a 100 cubic-feet in volume, and can support payloads of up to 3,500lbs. There’s also an adaptive air suspension that will come standard with all variants of the Cybertruck and allow it to stick close to the ground on freeways, and achieve clearances of up to 16-inches when off-roading. The suspension is adjustable on the fly as well.
According to Tesla’s tests, the Cybertruck does 0-60 in 2.9 seconds, and a quarter mile in 10.8 seconds, which are definitely impressive numbers. The company even showed off a video clip of the Cybertruck racing against the Porsche 911, and beating it, it looked like although we never got to see the end of that race, so I can’t be certain.
Autopilot, obviously will come standard with all variants of the Cybertruck as well. Speaking of variants, there are three of those with varying ranges, and towing capabilities, and price tag.
The Single Motor Rear-Wheel Drive Cybertruck with 250 miles of range, and a towing rating of 7,500lbs is priced at $39,900. The Dual Motor All Wheel Drive Cybertruck with 300 miles of range and a towing rating of 10,000lbs is priced at $49,900, and the most powerful, Triple Motor All Wheel Drive variant with a range of 500 miles and a towing rating of 14,000lbs is priced at $69,900.
Pre-orders for the Cybertruck are live on Tesla’s website, and production is slated to begin near the end of 2021. The Tri Motor AWD Cybertruck is slated to enter production in late 2022. That’s far away, but the interest in the Cybertruck is impressive, with the pre-order page having gone down with too many requests a few minutes ago.
